Leslie Hart

About Dr. Hart

• Education

  • Ph.D. Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina

  • M.S. Environmental Studies, College of Charleston

  • B.S. Biology and Environmental Science, College of William and Mary

• Research Interests

  • “OneHealth” is the concept that human, environmental, and wildlife health are inextricably linked. Our impact on the environment can be detected and monitored through studies of wild animals and plants, which can warn of potential impacts to human users of the same natural resources.  The HOPE (Hypothesizing Onehealth Pollution Effects) research lab studies exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and microplastics in humans and dolphins, providing an opportunity to examine the connections between our oceans and human health.

• Affiliations

  • Co-Director, College of Charleston Center for Coastal Environmental and Human Health
  • Research Affiliate, University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health
  • Assessment Fellow, Center for Sustainable Development
  • Adjunct Faculty, Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • Adjunct Faculty, Marine Biology Graduate Program
  • Faculty Mentor, College of Charleston Women’s Health Research Team

• Honors & Awards

  • 2021 – Nominee, Distinguished Researcher Award, College of Charleston
  • 2019 – Nominee, William V. Moore Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Award, College of Charleston
  • 2018 – Nominee, South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award, SC SeaGrant
  • 2018 – ExCEL Award, Outstanding Faculty of the Year, School of Education, Health and Human Performance

• Courses Taught

  • HEAL 350: Epidemiology
  • HEAL 456: Biostatistics in Health Services
  • HEAL 470: Public Health Research Design and Analysis

• Publications

  *student co-authors

  • Hart, L.B., *Dziobak, M., Wells, R.S., Berens McCabe, E., *Conger, E., *Curtin, T., *Knight, M., and J. Weinstein. (In Press) “Plastic, it's what's for dinner. A preliminary comparison of ingested particles in bottlenose dolphins and their prey.”  Oceans.
  • Hart, L.B., *Dziobak, M., Wells, R.S., Ertel, B. and Weinstein, J. (2022) “Microplastics in gastric samples from common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) residing in Sarasota Bay FL (USA).” Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 947124.
  • Hart, L.B., *Lightsey, M. Johnson, K., *Golder, J., *Vassy, M.B. and Sundstrom, B. (2022) “A comparison of personal care product use between undergraduate students attending military and non-military universities: Possible implications for exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.” Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 7, 100117.
  • *Dziobak, M.K., Balmer, B.C., Wells, R.S., Pisarski, E.C., Wirth, E.F., and Hart, L.B. (2022) “Temporal and Spatial Evaluation of Mono(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate (MEHP) Detection in Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida, USA.” Oceans, 3(3), 231-249.
  • *Dziobak, M.K., Wells, R.S., Pisarski, E.C., Wirth, E.F., and Hart, L.B. (2022) “A Correlational Analysis of Phthalate Exposure and Thyroid Hormone Levels in Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida (2010-2019).” Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 12(7), 824.
  • *Dziobak, M.K., Wells, R.S., Pisarski, E.C., Wirth, E.F., and Hart, L.B. (2021) “Demographic Assessment of Mono(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate (MEHP) and Monoethyl Phthalate (MEP) Concentrations in Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncates) From Sarasota Bay, FL, USA.” GeoHealth, 5(5), e2020GH000348.
  • Hart, L.B., *Dziobak, M., Wells, R.S., Pisarski, E., and Wirth, E. (2020) “Sentinels of synthetics: A comparison of phthalate exposure between common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and human reference populations.” PLoS One, 15(10): e0240506.
  • Hart, L.B., *Walker, J., Beckingham, B., *Shelley, A., *Alten Flagg, M., *Wischusen, K., and Sundstrom, B. (2020) “A characterization of personal care product use among female college students in South Carolina, USA.” Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 30: 97-106.
  • Hart, L.B., Beckingham, B., Wells, R.S., *Alten Flagg, M., *Wischusen, K., Moors, A., Kucklick, J., Pisarski, E., and Wirth, E. (2018) “Urinary phthalate metabolites in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, FL, USA.” GeoHealth, 2(10): 313-326.
  • O’Hara, T.M., and Hart, L.B. (2018). “Environmental Toxicology”.  In: CRC Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine, 3^rd  Eds. F.M.D. Gulland and L. Dierauf. Pgs: 297-317.