Experience

Dr. Nipper is a Senior Research Scientist with the Center for Coastal Studies and a Research Associate with the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Since 1997 she has had numerous collaborative projects with MERS, as part of an ongoing scientific collaboration between the university and this USGS field research station.  Her research interests have led her to develop toxicity test methods and survey the effects of contaminants on aquatic organisms in Brazil, New Zealand and the United States.  Her recent research has focused on the application of sediment and porewater toxicity test methods to assess the acute and chronic effects of contaminants and of their bio- and photo-transformation products on marine and estuarine organisms.  She has also participated in several assessments of the effects of contaminants in coral reef environments, including an assessment of the effects of contaminants associated with African dust  on Caribbean coral reefs, and effects of river discharges, contaminants of terrigenous origin and organic chemicals on coral reefs of the Hawaiian archipelago and the Mexican Caribbean.  Dr. Nipper has published a variety of papers in her area of expertise.  She supervises graduate students in the US and in Brazil, and is involved in teaching graduate courses on Aquatic Ecotoxicology in both countries.  She is core faculty of the Ph.D. Program in Coastal and Marine System Science, and adjunct professor with the Masters Program in Environmental Science, both at TAMUCC, as well as adjunct faculty with the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, in São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
 

Selected publications

Araújo, RPA, K Momo, E Gherardi-Goldstein, MG Nipper and PG Wells. 1987. Marine dispersant program for licensing and research in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. 1987 Oil Spill Conference, Proceedings, p. 289-292. American Petroleum Institute Publication no 4452, Washington, DC.

Nipper, MG, DJ Greenstein and SM Bay. 1989. Short- and long term sediment toxicity test methods with the amphipod Grandidierella japonica. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 8:1191 - 1200.

Nipper, MG, C Badaró-Pedroso, VF José and VA Prósperi. 1990. Marine bioassays and their applications in coastal management and biological monitoring. II Simpósio sobre Ecossistemas da Costa Sul e Sudeste Brasileira: Estrutura, Função e Manejo, Proc., vol. 1, p. 160-168.

Nipper, MG, C Badaró-Pedroso, VF José and SLR Melo. 1993. Toxicity testing with coastal species of Southeastern Brazil. Mysids and copepods. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 51:99-106.

Nipper, MG, VA Prósperi and AJ Zamboni. 1993. Toxicity testing with coastal species of Southeastern Brazil. Echinoderm sperm and embryos. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 50:646-652.

Nipper, MG and DS Roper. 1995. Growth of an amphipod and a bivalve in uncontaminated sediments: implications for chronic toxicity assessments. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 31:424-430.

Roper, DS, MG Nipper, CW Hickey, ML Martin and MA Weatherhead. 1995. Burial, crawling and drifting behaviour of the bivalve Macomona liliana in response to common sediment contaminants. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 31:471-478.

DeWitt, TH, DJ Morrisey, DS Roper and MG Nipper. 1996. Fact or artifact: the need for appropriate controls in ecotoxicological field experiments. SETAC News 16(5):22-23.

Burton, GA Jr, CW Hickey, TH Dewitt, DS Roper, DJ Morrisey and MG Nipper. 1996. In situ toxicity testing: teasing out the environmental stressors. SETAC News 16(5):20-22.

Nipper, MG, ML Martin and EK Williams. 1997. The optimization and validation of a marine toxicity test using the New Zealand echinoid, Fellaster zelandiae. Australas. J. Ecotoxicol. 3:109-115.

Nipper, MG and EK Williams. 1997. Culturing and toxicity testing with the New Zealand mysid, Tenagomysis novae-zealandiae, with a summary of toxicological reserach in this group. Australas. J. Ecotoxicol. 3:117-129.

Nipper, MG. 1998. The development and application of sediment bioassays with regulatory purposes. In: Wells, PG, Lee, K, and Blaise, C (Eds). Microscale aquatic toxicology - advances, techniques and practice, CRC Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, p. 631-643.

Nipper, MG, DS Roper, EK Williams, ML Martin, LF Van Dam and GN Mills. 1998. Sediment toxicity and benthic communities in mildly contaminated mudflats. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 17:502-510.

DeWitt,TH, CW Hickey, DJ Morrisey, MG Nipper, DS Roper, RB Williamson, L Van Dam and EK Williams. 1999. Do amphipods have the same concentration-response to contaminated sediment in situ and in vitro? Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 18:1026-1037. 

Nipper, M. 2000. Current approaches and future directions for contaminant-related impact assessments in coastal environments: Brazilian perspective. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Manage. 3:433-447.

Carr, RS, M Nipper, JM Biedenbach, RL Hooten, K Miller and S Saepoff. 2001. Sediment toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) studies at marine sites suspected of ordnance contamination. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 41:298-307.

Nipper, M, RS Carr, JM Biedenbach, RL Hooten, K Miller and S Saepoff. 2001. Development of marine toxicity data for ordnance compounds. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 41:308-318.

Nipper, M and RS Carr. 2001. Porewater toxicity testing: a novel approach for assessing contaminant impacts in the vicinity of coral reefs. Bull. Mar. Sci. 69: 407-420.

Carr, RS, M Nipper, WJ Adams, WJ Berry, GA Burton Jr, K Ho, D MacDonald, R Scroggins and PV Winger. 2001. Porewater toxicity testing: Biological, chemical, and ecological considerations with a review of methods and applications, and recommendations for future areas of research. Summary of a SETAC Technical Workshop, SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA, 24 p. Website: http://www.setac.org/files/porewatersummary.pdf

Nipper, M, RS Carr, JM Biedenbach, RL Hooten and K Miller. 2002. Toxicological and chemical assessment of ordnance compounds in marine sediments and pore waters. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 44:789-806.

Nascimento, IA, ECPM Sousa and M Nipper (eds). 2002. Métodos em ecotoxicologia marinha: Aplicações  no Brasil (Methods in marine ecotoxicology: Applications in Brazil). Artes Gráficas e Ind. Ltda., São Paulo, SP,  Brazil, 262 p. (in Portuguese).

Nipper, M. 2002. Toxicity testing with the calanoid copepods Acartia lilljeborgi (Giesbrecht, 1892) and Temora stylifera (Dana, 1852). In: Nascimento, IA, Sousa, ECPM and Nipper, M (Eds). Métodos em ecotoxicologia marinha: Aplicações  no Brasil (Methods in marine ecotoxicology: Applications in Brazil). Artes Gráficas e Ind. Ltda., São Paulo, SP, Brazil, p. 141-149 (in Portuguese).

Nipper, M. 2002. Statistical methods for the analysis of toxicity test results with liquid and sediment samples. In: Nascimento, IA, Sousa, ECPM and Nipper, M (Eds). Métodos em ecotoxicologia marinha: Aplicações  no Brasil (Methods in marine ecotoxicology: Applications in Brazil). Artes Gráficas e Ind. Ltda., São Paulo, SP, Brazil, p. 245-253 (in Portuguese).

Carr, RS and M Nipper (eds). 2003. Porewater Toxicity Testing: Biological, Chemical, and Ecological Considerations, SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA, 315 p.

Carr, RS and M Nipper. 2003. Historical overview of porewater toxicity testing. In: Carr, RS and M Nipper (eds), Porewater Toxicity Testing: Biological, Chemical, and Ecological Considerations, SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA, p. 1-10.

Nipper, M, GA Burton Jr, DC Chapman, KG Doe, M Hamer and KT Ho. 2003. Issues and recommendations for porewater toxicity testing: Methodological uncertainties, confounding factors, and toxicity identification evaluation procedures. In: Carr, RS and M Nipper (eds), Porewater Toxicity Testing: Biological, Chemical, and Ecological Considerations, SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA, p. 143-162.

Nipper, M, RS Carr, WJ Adams, WJ Berry, GA Burton, Jr, KT Ho, DD MacDonald, R Scroggins and PV Winger. 2003. Recommendations for future areas of research related to biological, chemical and ecological aspects of sediment pore water - the way forward. In: Carr, RS and M Nipper (eds), Porewater Toxicity Testing: Biological, Chemical, and Ecological Considerations, SETAC Press, Pensacola, FL, USA, p. 285-292.

Nipper, M and RS Carr. 2003. Recent advances in the use of meiofaunal polychaetes for ecotoxicological assessments. Hydrobiologia 496:347-353.

Carr, RS, M Nipper and GS Plumlee. 2003. Survey of marine contamination from mining-related activities on Marinduque Island, Philippines: Porewater toxicity and chemistry. Aquat. Ecosyst. Health Manage. 6:369-379.

Nipper, M, Y Qian, RS Carr and K Miller. 2004. Degradation of picric acid and 2,6-DNT in marine sediments and waters: the role of microbial activity and ultra-violet exposure. Chemosphere 56(6): 519-530.

Nipper, M, RS Carr, JM Biedenbach, RL Hooten and K Miller. 2005. Fate and effects of picric acid and 2,6-DNT in marine environments: Toxicity of degradation products. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 50:1205-1217.

Carr, RS, JM Biedenbach and M Nipper. 2006. Influence of potentially confounding factors on sea urchin porewater toxicity tests . Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 51: 573-79.

Melo, SLR and M Nipper. 2007. Sediment toxicity tests using the burrowing amphipod Tiburonella viscana (Amphipoda: Platyischnopidae). Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 66: 412-420.

Wauhob, TJ, M Nipper and E Billiot. 2007. Seasonal variation in the toxicity of sediment-associated contaminants in Corpus Christi Bay, TX. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 54(8):1116-1126.

Evans, AD and M Nipper. 2007. Toxicity of phenanthrene and lindane mixtures to marine invertebrates. Environ. Toxicol. 22:495-501.

Carr, RS and M Nipper. 2007. Sediment porewater toxicity study in Hanalei Bay, Kauai. In: Field, ME, CS Berg and SA Cochran (Eds.). Science and Management in the Hanalei Watershed; a Trans-disciplinary approach: Proceedings from the Hanalei Watershed Workshop, 21-22 February 2007, Hanalei, HI, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA, Geological Survey Open File Report 2007-1219, p. 13-15. http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1219/.

Evans, AD and M Nipper. 2008. The influence of biomass on the toxicity of hydrophobic organic contaminants. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 54:219-225.

Nipper, M, RS Carr, JM Biedenbach and VH Garrison. 2008. Toxicity of African dust and related components to marine organisms. In: Hofer, TN (ed.). Marine Pollution: New Research. Nova Publishers, Hauppauge, NY, USA, p. 279-295.

Carr, RS and M Nipper. Measurement of toxicity in reef sediments. In: Atlas of the Moloka`i, Hawai`i Fringing Coral Reef: Portrait of a Sediment-Threatened Ecosystem, Chapter VI.  USGS (in press).

Nipper, M, RS Carr and G Lotufo. Aquatic toxicity of explosives. In: Sunahara, GI, J Hawari, G Lotufo and R Kuperman (eds.) Ecotoxicology of Explosives and Unexploded Ordnance. CRC Press (in press).

Lotufo, G, M Nipper, RS Carr, J Conder and J Steevens. Fate and toxicity of explosives in sediments. In: Sunahara, GI, J Hawari, G Lotufo and R Kuperman (eds.) Ecotoxicology of Explosives and Unexploded Ordnance. CRC Press (in press).

Nelson, RW, M Niper, AL Lawrence and SA Watts. Parental dietary effect on embryological development response to toxicants with the sea urchin Arbacia punctulata (in review).

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