Dr. Jonathan O. (Josh) Sharp

Professor and Associate Department Head
Colorado School of Mines

Professor Sharp’s research focuses on understanding how microbial respiration impacts the fate of emerging contaminants, metals, and nutrients in the environment. A focus of this work has been on nature-based solutions such as constructed wetlands, riverbank filtration and aquifer recharge into sustainable water treatment infrastructure. He also works toward academic capacity building in southern Peru through collaborative university research that addresses soil and water pollution. Professor Sharp currently serves as Associate Department Head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines. He has received teaching and research accolades which include a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Colorado School of Mines Excellence in Research Award. He was named a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Science and the Society of Mining Engineering Henry Krumb Lecturer. Sharp received an A.B in geoscience from Princeton University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and conducted postdoctoral studies in Environmental Microbiology at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal in Lausanne, Switzerland.