Ph.D. Claudia Gunsch

Ph.D. Claudia Gunsch is the Muriel Theodorsen Williams E'46 Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University. She holds secondary appointments in the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on identifying genetic adaptation mechanisms from anthropogenic contaminant exposure, developing biosensors for pathogen and contaminant detection in water and air, and studying the impact of emerging contaminants on aquatic microbial ecology. She is the Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) and serves as an Associate Director for the Duke Microbiome Center. Her work has been funded by multiple federal agencies and private entities.

Claudia K. Gunsch is a Distinguished Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Duke University, specializing in Environmental Microbiomes, Precision Bioremediation, Microbiome Engineering, and the Built Environment. Her research explores the interactions between microbial communities and environmental contaminants, focusing on the bioremediation of pollutants such as nanoscale zero valent iron, silver nanoparticles, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. She investigates how microbial processes can be harnessed to mitigate environmental impacts and improve wastewater treatment systems. Her work also addresses the ecological effects of nanomaterials and the role of environmental DNA in assessing ecosystem health.