Environmental Process Engineering

Research with the Environmental Process Engineering (EPE) track of Environmental Engineering Scieince focuses on phenomena that govern the origin, transport, transformation, and impacts of contaminants in our environment and technologies for reducing the associated risks to human health and environment.

Research themes include:

  • chemical processes that affect the fate of trace metals in the environment,
  • transport and impacts of nanomaterials,
  • molecular biological methods to monitor and improve performance of engineered microbial systems;
  • biodegradation of organic contaminants,
  • development of advanced membrane processes for water treatment and reuse,
  • energy technologies and their impacts, and
  • discovering the properties, measurement and effects of ambient aerosols.

Opportunities for Graduate Study

PhD, MS

Doctoral and Master of Science study in environmental engineering at Duke is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on a broad slate of faculty in the Pratt School of Engineering and the Nicholas School of the Environment. Students have considerable flexibility in crafting a graduate program that suits individual interests, but the core of this curriculum is described in the Environmental Process Engineering study track.

MEng

The department also offers a program of study towards the Masters of Engineering (M.Eng) in Environmental Engineering. This 30-credit degree program includes course work towards departmental requirements, an area of specialization, business and management fundamentals, and an internship or applied research experience. There are currently four areas of specialization offered within this degree program:

  • Environmental Engineering and Public Policy;
  • Environmental Process Engineering;
  • Ecohydrology and Environmental Fluid Dynamics; and
  • Environmental Nanotechnology

Environmental Process Engineering Faculty

Marc A. Deshusses
Professor
Dr. Deshusses' broad research interests are related to the design, analysis and application of processes for the bioremediation of contaminated air, water and soils. One area of on-going research is bioreactors for air pollution control. Results from this work have resulted among others in a better...
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Richard T. Di Giulio
Professor (primary appt: Nicholas School of the Environment) and Director, Superfund Basic Research Center; Director, Integrated Toxicology Program.
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P. Lee Ferguson
Associate Professor (joint with Nicholas School of the Environment)
Environmental analytical chemistry and applications of high resolution mass spectrometry to trace organic contaminant analysis, environmental fate and effects of carbon nanomaterials in the aquatic environment, proteomics in environmental toxicology, and mechanisms of environmental endocrine...
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Claudia Gunsch
Assistant Professor
Identifying genetic adaptation mechanisms resulting from anthropogenic contaminant exposure; developing biosensors capable of pathogen and contaminant detection in water and air; studying the impact of emerging contaminants on aquatic microbial ecology; and the development of novel techniques for...
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David E. Hinton
Professor (primary appt: Nicholas School of the Environment)
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Heileen Hsu-Kim
Assistant Professor
Aquatic chemistry and geochemistry, trace element environmental chemistry, nanogeoscience, mercury biogeochemistry, water-particle surface processes.
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Joel N. Meyer
Assistant Professor (primary appt: Nicholas School of the Environment)
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J. Jeffrey Peirce
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Environmental engineering, cyberinfrastructure networks, sensors, geotropospheric interactions, engineering systems optimization. Professor Jeffrey Peirce has been a member of the environmental engineering faculty in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University for 28 years. He received...
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Desiree L. Plata
Assistant Professor
My research interests focus on improving the development of novel chemicals and engineered systems to include environmental objectives, along with traditional performance and cost metrics. In particular, I seek to (1) predict and mitigate environmental damage through physiochemical understanding of...
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David E. Schaad
Professor of the Practice and Associate Chair
Current research focuses on sustainable engineering, community development, water and wastewater treatment design, stormwater retention/detention and treatment design, hazardous waste remediation, urban hydrology, constructed wetland and stream restoration design, ecological stabilization,...
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Heather M. Stapleton
Assistant Professor of Environmental Chemistry (primary appt: Nicholas School of the Environment)
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Avner Vengosh
Professor (primary appt: Nicholas School of the Environment)
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Mark R. Wiesner
James L. Meriam Professor
Membrane processes, nanostructured materials, transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, colloidal and interfacial processes, and environmental systems analysis
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Adjunct Environmental Process Engineering Faculty

Jean-Yves Bottero
Adjunct Professor
Physical chemistry of organic, inorganic, and heterogeneous contaminants; physicochemical properties of surfaces; mechanisms of coagulation and flocculation; water and wastewater treatment
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Ross McKinney
Adjunct Professor
Design and operation of aerobic and anaerobic biological wastewater treatment systems
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Jerome C. Rose
Adjunct Associate Professor
Relation between nanostructure of materials and their reactivity and toxicity. Characterization of the structure of ultra-small (colloids and molecular clusters), and/or amorphous and highly divided materials down to the molecular scale.
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Daniel A. Vallero
Adjunct Professor of Engineering Ethics
Conducts measurement and modeling research in environmental systems, including tracer studies, development of pollution collection devices, and biosystem engineering.
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