Twin U.S. Navy commanders from Pinetops earn doctorates together
Lifelong Pirates take advantage of distance learning to bring Doctor of Public Health degrees in environmental and occupational health to bear for U.S. service men and women.
A line the color of gold runs through the lives of twins Linda and Brenda Sharpe. It begins in their childhoods, when East Carolina University’s purple-and-gold sports teams and promotional depictions of college life fueled their dreams of professional careers. It continued in their 20s when they joined the blue-and-gold U.S. Navy as officers.
Linda Sharpe, left, and Brenda Sharpe both earned bachelor’s degrees and now doctorates at East Carolina University. The sisters from Pinetops completed their doctoral degrees over a period of six years while serving the nation full time as officers in the U.S. Navy. (Photos by Rhett Butler)
It continues now, in their fifth decade, as they wrap up distinguished academic careers at ECU and return to their duty stations as U.S. Navy commanders working in the nation’s capital.
On May 9, the sisters walked the stage inside the auditorium at the East Carolina Heart Institute and accepted their Doctor of Public Health diplomas, the culmination of six years of classes, research and writing, all while fulfilling their full-time duties as officers in the Navy.
It’s the end of an academic journey in public health that began more than two decades ago in Greenville.
“Our mom used to work in a factory, making toys in Tarboro,” Linda remembers. “She would always come home covered in plastic bits — all over. I said, ‘What is this plastic?’ She used to cough all the time. I thought to myself, ‘What’s happening?’”
In the 2000s, both women earned bachelor’s degrees from East Carolina in environmental health science with a concentration in industrial hygiene. The degree program studies work environments — air, water, soil and other media workers expose themselves to in the course of doing their jobs — and the ways contamination and harm can be measured and mitigated.
Both immediately pursued advanced degrees — Brenda in environmental health science at ECU, Linda in public health at A.T. Still University in Missouri.
Brenda finished first, in time for the economic collapse of 2008-09. Hiring freezes waylaid her dreams of an entry-level job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The week after graduation, I took my transcript from the graduate school down to the Navy recruiter’s office and was, like, ‘What do you have for me?’ They offered me a position right then and there based on my degree from ECU,” she says, and what’s more, she would be assigned to industrial hygiene, duties for which she was well prepared by her academics.
The ship’s safety programs were in their hands.
One year later, Linda left Missouri with her Master of Public Health degree. Having watched her little sister — younger by a minute — achieving such professional success in the Navy, she followed suit. Today, they are two of about 120 industrial hygienists in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps.
Within three months, Linda deployed to the USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed hospital ship with acute surgical facilities that provides natural disaster and humanitarian medical relief to points throughout the western hemisphere.
“That was my first dose of real Navy life,” she says.
But the armed services have provided both a high ceiling for professional achievement and, like the recruitment posters promise, a chance to see the world. Brenda spent years in Bahrain, a place she loved. Linda completed part of her doctorate coursework in Okinawa, Japan.
Both women have been assigned to aircraft carriers — the USS Harry S. Truman for Linda, the USS George H.W. Bush for Brenda — which can accommodate up to 5,000 crew members. “It’s a small city,” Brenda says.
Routine duties include air and noise sampling, assessing hazardous material usage and more. As assistant safety officers, they promoted and enforced safe work practices and prevented accidents and injuries. The ship’s safety programs were in their hands.
‘They bring valuable perspectives to our programs’
Both women decided to pursue doctorates in part to honor and protect the men and women in service, and in part because their alma mater designed degree programs that perfectly met their needs.
The Doctor of Public Health at the university was hybrid when it began in 2018 and transitioned to fully online during the pandemic. Whereas the Ph.D. emphasizes theory and academic bench research, the DrPH is practice-oriented, with a focus on leadership, real-world problem-solving, and applied research. Such students complete the same number of doctoral-level coursework over the same hours, comprehensive exams, a field-based practicum and an applied dissertation.
“We encourage all qualified prospective students to ask themselves which real-world environmental public health issues they are deeply concerned about and want to address,” said Dr. Greg Kearney, professor and founding program director.
“The success of the environmental and occupational health (EOH) track” — the Sharpes’ concentration — “really stands out. Since our first graduate in 2021, we’ve had 13, all of whom are gainfully employed and advancing in postdoctoral or leadership roles. That speaks volumes about the strength of the program and the caliber of students we attract.”
Dr. Suzanne Lazorick, chair of the department, said meeting working professionals where they are has been the aim of the graduate public health program from the start.
“This may be more challenging for our students actively serving in the military, but it is worth it to make this accessible to them,” she said. “They bring valuable perspectives to our programs and their fellow students. We want to contribute to their career development.”
A work environment with exposure standards and monitoring
Today, Linda Sharpe is Director of Homeland Defense inside the Headquarters Marine Corps Health Services Department. She offers force health protection guidance to the medical officer of the Marine Corps in the areas of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosives (CBRNE) and other occupational exposures.
Brenda Sharpe is Safety Manager for a Marine unit, the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, responsible for CBRNE consequence management. She ensures the safety of personnel in a CBRNE operation by analyzing the contaminate ambient environment and directing proper personal proactive equipment use.
“No one knows what industrial hygiene is or how we’re helping you,” says Brenda. “They ask, ‘What is industrial hygiene,’ and I’m, like, ‘Oh, let me explain to you!’ I get so excited when I’m asked this.”
When they were young, seeing their mother at home and coughing after a long day at work, they couldn’t have known about the study of environmental and occupational health and how it would shape their lives. Now, they cannot imagine a work environment without exposure standards and monitoring. They cannot even permit it on their watch.
“I was tired of seeing my mom come home full of plastic and coughing,” says Linda. “I remember I wanted to do something to change this.”
Find out more about degree programs in the Department of Public Health at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.