Dr. Charles Jagoe

Dr. Charles “Chuck” Jagoe has been named the Distinguished Professor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Cooperative Science Center. He was trained as a zoologist and his interests include environmental sciences, ecology and toxicology. From 1990 to 2008, he was a researcher at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, and held adjunct faculty appointments in UGA’s Institute of Ecology, College of Public Health, and Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program. His work focuses on the transport, fate and effects of pollutants such as heavy metals and radionuclides in aquatic, terrestrial and coastal systems.

Dr. Jagoe’s work has included studies of heavy metals in the environment, including the chemical and physical factors and processes that control mercury speciation and bioavailability, studies of mercury bioaccumulation in fish and wildlife, evaluation of the risks of contaminant exposure to sensitive and endangered species, and research on the consequences of metal exposure to organisms and populations. As a radioecology researcher, he examined factors influencing uptake and accumulation of radiocesium in lower vertebrates, and the movement of radiocesium through food webs. He is also interested in the biological consequences of long term exposure of organisms and populations to environmental radiation and other mutagens, including the development of biomarkers of DNA damage and genetic effects in exposed organisms. He has also explored linkages between metal pollution and proliferation of antibiotic resistance in bacteria in freshwater and coastal environments.

A major theme of his work is the necessity of examining multiple levels of biological organization, from cells to populations, to better understand responses to environmental stress. He is interested in the effects of chronic, low level exposure to pollutants, and in developing and applying biomarkers of exposure or effect. He has worked with biomarkers of protein turnover, oxidative stress, metal binding proteins, and examined effects of pollutants from the cell and tissue level (biochemical and histological responses) to the organismal and population levels (alterations in behavior, growth, and reproduction). He is especially interested in questions that bridge the fields of ecology, public health and ecotoxicology, and improve risk assessment and environmental decision making.

Dr. Jagoe’s current projects include metal accumulation and effects in reptiles, development and application of transgenic and invertebrate animal models for environmental toxicology, assessment of speciation, bioavailability and toxicity of arsenic in contaminated soils, and evaluating factors that control soil to plant transfer of radionuclides and metals. He is also interested in developing and applying new mathematical and statistical techniques to assess environmental data and to assess risk. His research has involved lab and field studies in New England, Canada and the southeastern U.S., as well as field work in Russia and the Ukraine, including Chernobyl.