Claudia Gunsch
Assistant Professor
Dr. Claudia Gunsch began her academic career at Purdue University where she earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1998. She then matriculated to Clemson University where she earned her M.S. in 2000 and immediately entered the doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin.
Gunsch comes to Duke with a wide range of research experiences in microbial engineering systems. Gunsch’s research has primarily focused on pollutant degradation as applied to groundwater and air pollution treatment. During the early stages of her graduate studies, her work focused on chlorinated compound degradation by bacteria in groundwater. During her doctoral work, she investigated the fungal degradation of aromatic compounds in biofiltration. As part of her innovative research, she incorporates quantitative molecular biological techniques into her research to link macroscale vapor-phase bioreactor performance to phenomena occurring at the microscale in the biofilm.
At Duke, Gunsch plans to continue her research with projects that further link biotechnology to environmental engineering applications. Some of the projects which she is incorporating into her research program include: 1) identifying genetic adaptation mechanisms resulting from anthropogenic contaminant exposure, 2) developing biosensors capable of pathogen and contaminant detection in water and air, 3) studying the impact of emerging contaminants on aquatic microbial ecology and 4) the development of novel techniques for controlling pathogen proliferation. In addition to her research interests, she teaches basic and advanced classes in environmental engineering such as such as environmental molecular biotechnology, environmental microbiology and biological processes in environmental engineering.
Contact Information:
- Office Location: 127 Hudson Hall
- Office Phone: +1 919 660 5208
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Email Address:
- Web Pages:
Education:
| PhD | University of Texas | 2004 |
| MS | Clemson University | 2000 |
| BS | Purdue University | 1998 |
Research Interests:
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 controlling pathogen proliferation
Specialties:
Microbial Engineering, biological remediation
Environmental Impacts
Environmental Engineering
Courses Taught:
- CEE 566.01 - ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
Representative Publications: (More Publications)
- S. Wang, R. Holzem and C.K. Gunsch, Effects of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds on a Mixed Microbial Community Originating from a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant, Environmental Science & Technology, vol 42 no. 4 (2008), pp. 1091-1095 [html].
- C.K. Gunsch, K.A. Kinney, P.J. Szaniszlo and C.P. Whitman, Relative gene expression quantification in a fungal gas-phase biofilter., Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol 98 no. 1 (2007), pp. 101-111 [abs].
- C.K. Gunsch, K.A. Kinney, P.J. Szaniszlo and C.P. Whitman, Quantification of homogentisate-1,2-dioxygenase expression in a fungus degrading ethylbenzene., Journal of Microbiological Methods, vol 67 no. 2 (2006), pp. 257-265. [abs].
- Gunsch, Claudia K. and Cheng, Qiang and Kinney, Kerry A. and Szaniszlo, Paul J. and Whitman, Christian P., Identification of a homogentisate-1,2-dioxygenase gene in the fungus Exophiala lecanii-corni: Analysis and implications, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, vol 68 no. 3 (2005), pp. 405 - 411 [s00253-005-1899-0] [abs].
- Verce, Matthew F. and Gunsch, Claudia K. and Danko, Anthony S. and Freedman, David L., Cometabolism of cis-1,2-dichloroethene by aerobic cultures grown on vinyl chloride as the primary substrate, Environmental Science and Technology, vol 36 no. 10 (2002), pp. 2171 - 2177 [es011220v] [abs].
- University of Texas Graduate Engineering Council Travel Award (2001, 2002 and 2003)
- University of Texas THRUST 2000 Fellowship (2000-2004)
- University of Texas Bruton Fellowship (2000-2004)
- University of Texas Environmental Engineering Departmental Fellowship (2001)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1999-2004)
- 1999 EPA STAR Masters Student Graduate Fellowship (Declined, Accepted the NSF Fellowship)
- Clemson University Environmental Engineering and Science Departmental Fellowship (1999)
- Clemson University Alumni Fellowship (1998)
- General Motors Scholarship (1998)
- Purdue Engineering Student Council Scholarship (1996 and 1997)
- Society of Women in Engineering Scholarship (1995)
- Chi Epsilon
- Phi Sigma Pi
- Phi Eta Sigma
- Alpha Lambda Delta
- American Society of Microbiology (1999-Current)
- American Chemical Society (1999-Current)
- Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (1999-Current)
- American Society for Engineering Education (2001-Current)