August 1, 2024 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Growing up in Greensboro, North Carolina, Bonnie Ertel dreamed of working with dolphins. The marine scientist and Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences (ENHS) student is already living that dream – but her work looks more different and is making a bigger impact than she could have imagined.
After studying environmental science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ertel moved to Charleston to earn a master’s in biology at The Citadel. It was there that she first met Geoff Scott, the Arnold School’s ENHS department chair and the director of the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences-funded Center for Oceans and Human Health and Climate Change.
“I was working with Dr. John Weinstein at The Citadel, and our lab partnered with the Center to study microplastics in oysters and what that may mean for seafood consumers,” Ertel says. “I have worked on various research projects regarding macro-and microplastic litter in our coastal ecosystems, but this project sparked my interest in how anthropogenic pollutants, such as microplastics, are impacting human health.”
Following her master’s graduation, Ertel enrolled in the Ph.D. in ENHS program to learn more about the intersection of the environment, animals and human health. It also provided an opportunity to study under Scott’s guidance.
“As an environmentalist interested in studying microplastics from a One Health perspective, I knew this program would be a perfect fit,” she says. “Dr. Scott has been instrumental in my time as a graduate student, for both my master’s and Ph.D. He encouraged me to apply to USC and has been incredibly supportive by providing me with opportunities to present my research at local, national and international meetings.”
For nearly a decade, that research has focused on plastic pollution – how it originates, how it travels, where it ends up, and how it affects environmental, animal and human health. When Ertel enrolled in the doctoral program in 2022, she also began a full-time position with CSS-Inc as a contractor to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston.
“Bonnie’s master's research at The Citadel identified exposure pathways for microplastics in molluscan shellfish to humans from seafood,” Scott says. “Now her dissertation research at NOAA is identifying exposure pathways from fish to dolphins as an early warning sentinel of human health and well being.”
As a marine mammal specialist, Ertel studies microplastics in the local dolphin population, which have proven to be excellent representatives of the Charleston ecosystem and whose health can serve as early indictors of public health risks.
When unlucky dolphins become stranded and die in the Charleston area, the South Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network collects gastrointestinal samples during their routine necropsies. As part of this team, Ertel’s role is to dissect and rinse the deceased dolphin’s stomachs and up to 140 feet of intestines.
Back in the lab, she looks for microplastics and collaborates with scientists at Virgnia Tech to identify polymers of ingested particles. She also looks at microplastics found in the dolphins’ diet, which overlaps with other local seafood consumers – including humans.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought that working with dolphins would mean studying their feces, and while this is not glamourous work, I do feel like I am making a meaningful contribution to conservation and public health,” Ertel says. “By taking a One Health approach, our research helps inform our understanding of microplastic exposure pathways and biological fate in our coastal ecosystem, animals and humans.”
She says that the flexible and supportive atmosphere of her doctoral program has been key to helping her pursue this path. Ertel has been able to conduct research along the coast and discover her own interests within the field.
“Throughout the scientific process, we tend to develop more questions than answers, and sometimes the hardest thing is figuring out which rabbit holes are worth going down,” she says. “That’s when it’s helpful to have good committee members and friends in the program to help narrow down your focus and goals.”
