Former Lab Members

Maya Nadimpalli (MS, 2012; PhD, 2015)

Dissertation: “Exposure to zoonotic Staphylococcus aureus among industrial hog operation workers and their household contacts in North Carolina, and dissemination into the household environment”
Current Location: Maya is a postdoctoral scientist with the Pharmacoepidemiology & Infectious Diseases Unit at the Institut Pasteur, in Paris. She is working with the Institut Pasteur of Cambodia to study how meat and fish consumption in Phnom Penh may contribute to human colonization with highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Contact: Maya’s website

Elizabeth Pierce (MS, 2014)

Dissertation: “Persistence of Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage among Industrial Hog Operation Workers and their Household Contacts in North Carolina”
Current location: Betsy currently works at Novoyzmes and lives in Carrboro, NC.
Contact: ebpierce@email.unc.edu

Katie Overbey (BS Environmental Science, 2014)

Honors thesis: “Sewage Impacts on Water Quality and Antibiotic Resistance in Beach Waters in the Galápagos Islands Ecuador”
Current Location: Katie recently finished her MS in Food Science at NC State University where she studied norovirus control and communication in schools. She is now working towards her PhD in Environmental Health Science at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and plans to study water quality testing and treatment.
Contact: koverbe1@jhu.edu

Robert Albury (MS, 2012)

Dissertation: “Detection of enterovirus in marine recreational waters of Southern California using quantitative and nested PCR techniques”
Current Location: Robert is currently working as a Hazardous Material Specialist with the University of Florida’s Environmental Health and Safety in Gainesville, Fl. He earned his Certification in Public Health from National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2015.
Contact: robertalbury65@gmail.com

Jennifer Shields (PhD, 2012)

Dissertation: “Utilization of microbial source-tracking markers to inform targeted remediation and predict potential pathogens in the Cape Fear Watershed”
Current location: Jen works at Procter & Gamble and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Contact: jengshields@gmail.com

Jianyong Wu (PhD, 2011); Stewart co-advised with Prof. Michael Emch

Dissertation: “Diarrheal diseases in rural Bangladesh: spatial-temporal patterns, risk factors and pathogen detection
Current Location: Jianyong is currently a Postdoctoral fellow at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. His research interests include waterborne pathogens, spatial epidemiology, and infectious disease modeling.
Contact: jianyong.wu@emory.edu

Kevin Myers (MSPH, 2011)

Technical Report: “Microbial water quality assessment near industrial swine operations in North Carolina
Current Location: Kevin is currently a Public Health Prevention Service fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  His first six-month assignment primarily involves conducting an evaluation of the Safe Injection Practices Coalition for the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion within the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Contact: vtt0@cdc.gov

Jakob Rowny (MS, 2011)

Thesis: “Characterization of nonpoint source microbial contamination in an urbanizing watershed serving as a municipal water supply
Current Location: Jakob is Principal at Parallel Wetlands Ecology, LLC, an environmental consulting firm in Vancouver, WA.
Contact: jakob.rowny@gmail.com

Hunter Story (BS in Biology, 2011); Stewart was research advisor

Honors Thesis: “Characterizing bacterial contamination of drinking water wells in North Carolina
Current Location: Medical Student at the Brody School of Medicine at Eastern Carolina University (ECU)
Contact: storyh11@students.ecu.edu

Emylee Prevette (MSPH, 2010)

Technical Report: “Beach sand analysis for indicators of microbial quality”
Current Location: Health Compliance Officer in Wilmington, NC