Nicole C Rockey

Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Nicole C. Rockey’s research aims to reduce infectious disease burden by better understanding the persistence of viral pathogens in the built environment. She uses both laboratory and modeling approaches to establish transmission risks and identify engineering interventions that will aid in developing robust, sustainable responses to microbial threats. Dr. Rockey joined the Duke Faculty in August 2023 after completing a postdoctoral position at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Contact Information

Education

  • B.S. University of Texas, Austin, 2013
  • M.S. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2016
  • Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2021

Research Interests

Environmental persistence of endemic and emerging pathogens, mechanisms of virus inactivation, environmental virology, development and identification of engineering controls to reduce infectious disease burden, detection of microbes in air, water, and on surfaces

Courses Taught

  • EGR 95FS: First Year seminar in Focus
  • EGR 101L: Engineering Design and Communication
  • CEE 701: Graduate Colloquium
  • CEE 661L: Environmental Molecular Biotechnology (GE, MC)
  • CEE 566: Environmental Microbiology
  • CEE 494: Research Independent Study in Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • CEE 205: Practical Methods in Civil Engineering
  • CEE 132L: Engineering the Planet
  • BME 565L: Environmental Molecular Biotechnology (GE, MC)

Representative Publications

  • Rockey, Nicole C., Valerie Le Sage, Linsey C. Marr, and Seema S. Lakdawala. “Erratum for Rockey et al., "Seasonal influenza viruses decay more rapidly at intermediate humidity in droplets containing saliva compared to respiratory mucus".” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2026, e0250825. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02508-25.
  • Stachler, Elyse, Andreas Gnirke, Kyle McMahon, Michael Gomez, Liam Stenson, Charelisse Guevara-Reyes, Hannah Knoll, et al. “Establishing Methods to Monitor Influenza (A)H5N1 Virus in Dairy Cattle Milk, Massachusetts, USA.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 31, no. 13 (May 2025). https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3113.250087.
  • Pan, Jin, Nisha K. Duggal, Seema S. Lakdawala, Nicole C. Rockey, and Linsey C. Marr. “Mucin Colocalizes with Influenza Virus and Preserves Infectivity in Deposited Model Respiratory Droplets.” Environmental Science & Technology 59, no. 4 (February 2025): 2192–2200. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c10886.
  • Shetty, Nishit, Meredith J. Shephard, Nicole C. Rockey, Hollie Macenczak, Jessica Traenkner, Shamika Danzy, Nahara Vargas-Maldonado, et al. “Influenza virus infection and aerosol shedding kinetics in a controlled human infection model.” Journal of Virology 98, no. 12 (December 2024): e0161224. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01612-24.
  • Rockey, Nicole C., Valerie Le Sage, Meredith Shephard, Nahara Vargas-Maldonado, Michelle N. Vu, Cambria A. Brown, Krishna Patel, et al. “Ventilation does not affect close-range transmission of influenza virus in a ferret playpen setup.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121, no. 33 (August 2024): e2322660121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322660121.