Mark Wiesner

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Wiesner's research interests include membrane processes, nanostructured materials, transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, nano plastics, colloidal and interfacial processes, and environmental systems analysis.

Appointments and Affiliations

• James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Professor of Environmental Science and Policy
• Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society

Contact Information

• Office Location: 120 Hudson Hall, Durham, NC 27708-0287
• Office Phone: +1 919 660 5292
• Email Address: wiesner@duke.edu
• Websites:
  • Wiesner Research Group
  • International Network For Researching, Advancing, and Assessing Materials for Environmental Sustainability (INFRAMES)
  • Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT)

Education

• Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, 1985
• M.S. University of Iowa, 1980
• B.A. Coe College, 1978

Research Interests

Membrane processes, nanostructured materials, transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, colloidal and interfacial processes, and environmental systems analysis

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Fellow. Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. 2015
• Highly Cited Researcher 2015-2023. Clarivate Analytics/ Web of Science. 2015
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering. National Academy of Engineering. 2015
• Clarke Water Prize. National Water Research Institute. 2011
• Fellow. International Water Association. 2011
• AAAS Fellows. American Association for the Advancement of Science, The. 2009
• Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award. Duke University. 2009
• Fellow. American Society of Civil Engineers,. 2009
• Honorary Professor. Nankai University, Tianjin, China. 2007
• Pierre de Fermat Lauréat and Chair of Excellence. L’Institut National Polytechnique, Toulouse, France. 2004
• Frontiers in Research Award. Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. 2004
• Charles Duncan Award for Scholarship and Teaching. Rice University. 1998
• Rudolph Hering Medal. American Society of Civil Engineers. 1995
• Rudolph Hering Medal. Environmental Engineering Division, ASCE. 1995
• J.J. Barr Award. National Association of Water Companies. 1985
• Member. Phi Beta Kappa. 1978
• Undergraduate Investigator. National Science Foundation. 1978

Courses Taught

• ENVIRON 899: Master's Project
• CEE 692: Independent Study: Advanced Topics in Civil and Environmental Engineering
• CEE 691: Independent Study: Advanced Topics in Civil and Environmental Engineering
• CEE 564: Physical Chemical Processes in Environmental Engineering
• CEE 560: Environmental Transport Phenomena
• CEE 494: Research Independent Study in Civil and Environmental Engineering

In the News

• Which Duke Scholars Made the Most Cited List? (Nov 16, 2023 | Duke Research Blog)
• Modeling a ‘River of Plastic’ (Dec 9, 2022 | Pratt School of Engineering)
• Global List of Highly Cited Puts Duke in Top Ten (Nov 19, 2019)
• Duke Faculty Plentiful On ‘Highly Cited’ List (Nov 27, 2018)
• Ten Years In, What Has CEINT Taught Us? (Oct 31, 2018 | Pratt School of Engineering)
• All That Is Gold Is Not Biochemically Stable (Aug 28, 2018 | Pratt School of Engineering)
• Energy Initiative Awards Seven New Seed Grants (Apr 28, 2017)
• When Art Tackles the Invisibly Small (Dec 12, 2016 | Duke Research Blog)
• Four Pratt Faculty Listed Among Most Highly Cited (Jan 26, 2016)
• Duke Days in China Features Research Presentations by Faculty (Oct 21, 2015)
• A Digital Poetry of Gold Nanoparticles (Oct 6, 2015)
• Two New Studies Set Ground Rules for Nanotechnology Research (Aug 19, 2015)
• Wiesner Named Chair Of Duke CEE (Mar 30, 2015)
• Wiesner and Daubechies Named National Academy of Engineering Members (Feb 6, 2015)
• Mark Wiesner comments: Silver too small to see, but everywhere you look (May 28, 2014 | The New York Times)
• CEINT’s French Connection Provides Students with International Ties (Apr 13, 2014)
• Duke goes small to make big breakthroughs with $15M grant (Nov 13, 2013 | Triangle Business Journal)

Representative Publications

• Liu, Y; Yang, J; Bai, L; Qu, D; Liu, Z; Wang, Z; Wiesner, MR; Liang, H, Mechanistic insights of nanofillers tuning polymer microstructures for enhanced separation performance of nanofiltration membrane, Separation and Purification Technology, vol 341 (2024) [10.1016/j.seppur.2024.126847] [abs].
• Wohlleben, W; Rose, J; Wiesner, M; Vikesland, P, Introduction to the advanced materials themed collection: are advanced materials a progress towards sustainability?, Environmental Science: Nano, vol 11 no. 9 (2024), pp. 3671-3673 [10.1039/d4en90028f] [abs].
• Chernick, M; Kennedy, AJ; Thomas, T; Scott, KCK; Sipe, JM; Hendren, CO; Wiesner, MR; Hinton, DE, Morphologic alterations across three levels of biological organization following oral exposure to silver-polymer nanocomposites in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), Environmental Science: Nano, vol 11 no. 8 (2024), pp. 3317-3334 [10.1039/d4en00368c] [abs].
• Sipe, JM; Berger, W; Bossa, N; Chernick, M; Scott, KCK; Kennedy, A; Ballentine, M; Thomas, T; Hendren, CO; Wiesner, MR, Quantifying mechanical abrasion of AgNP nanocomposites: influence of AgNP content on abrasion products and rate of microplastic production, Environmental Science: Nano, vol 11 no. 7 (2024), pp. 2968-2977 [10.1039/d3en00888f] [abs].
• Amos, JD; Zhang, Z; Tian, Y; Lowry, GV; Wiesner, MR; Hendren, CO, Knowledge and Instance Mapping: architecture for premeditated interoperability of disparate data for materials., Scientific data, vol 11 no. 1 (2024) [10.1038/s41597-024-03006-8] [abs].