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Charlie Sharpless (csharple)

by

Chair/Professor

Room 441
csharple@umw.edu
540-654-1405


Academic Degrees

B.A., The Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D., Duke University

Charles M. Sharpless, Associate Professor of Chemistry, earned a Ph.D. (1999) in analytical chemistry from Duke University and a B.A. (1989) in natural sciences from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Sharpless’ research interests center on photochemistry in natural and engineered systems, particularly as it regards water treatment and the environmental fate of aquatic contaminants such as industrial pollution and oil spills. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Research Corporation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Virginia Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Sharpless is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. His research appears in several high-profile peer-reviewed publications including Environmental Science Technology, Water Research, Environmental Sciences: Processes & Impacts, Aquatic Sciences, and the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science, and he frequently reviews manuscripts for those journals as well as grant proposals for federal and private funding organizations.

Charlie Sharpless in the News

Sharpless Receives Distinguished Research Award

Charlie Sharpless had a problem to solve. He was finishing his post-doctoral fellowship and wasn’t quite sure where to go next. He loved teaching and conducting research, but there were few positions at large research universities where he could mix these two elements. But with the University of Mary Washington, he Read more…

Sharpless and Laszakovits Paper Best of 2017

A paper published last year by chemistry professor and chair Charlie Sharpless, former student Julie Laszakovits and co-workers at the University of St. Thomas has been named one of the four best papers of 2017 by the editors of the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal, Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The Read more…

Professor Sharpless Publishes Articles

Chemistry Professor Charles Sharpless is the co-author of two recently published articles. The first, entitled "Photooxidation-induced changes in optical, electrochemical, and photochemical properties of humic substances," was co-authored with colleagues from U.C. Berkeley and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and appears in the current issue of the American Read more…

Charlie Sharpless Receives NSF Grant to Study Fate of Marine Oil Spills

Recent research shows that oil in marine systems ages in ways inconsistent with current models.  Specifically, the hydrocarbon fraction has long been assumed to get oxidized, become more water soluble, and then biologically or abiotically degrade, eventually to CO2.  Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have discovered that oxidized Read more…
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