Gregory W. Characklis

Since 2001, Dr. Characklis has been on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. His primary research interests involve integrated planning of water supply and treatment strategies through the consideration of both engineering and economic criteria. Specific areas of interest include the use of water market transfers in mitigating supply risk, the impacts of water quality on resource value and allocation, and developing minimum cost strategies for water-related infrastructure. He also directs several laboratory and field studies that explore the role particles play in microbial transport, research with particular relevance in the development of water quality models used to evaluate the location and severity of microbial contamination.

Prior to joining UNC, Dr. Characklis spent two years as Director of Resource Development and Management at Azurix Corp., where his responsibilities centered around assessing the technical and financial merits of water supply development projects throughout the U. S., including most of the western states. Before entering the private sector, he spent two years in Washington, D.C. as a fellow with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) where he co-authored a study on industrial environmental performance metrics for U.S. manufacturers and conducted work related to market-based reform of environmental policy.

Dr. Characklis holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineering from Rice University and a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.  He and his wife Raquel have three children, daughters Katie (born 1999) and Kayla (born 2002), and son Will (born 2009).

... C.V. ...


Characklis Family 2006