Natalie Kruse-Daniels
Dr. Natalie Kruse is a Professor and Director of the Environmental Studies Program in the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in Athens, OH. Her research focus is on water quality impairment from legacy mining and oil and gas operations, the impact of climate induced hydrologic change on water quality, watershed scale characterization and management, and data-rich approaches to environmental problem solving. She teaches courses on watershed management, international water issues, and field methods. She supports student research in watershed characterization and treatment, acid mine drainage impaired systems, remote water quality monitoring, environmental education, and watershed management.
Dr. Kruse has directed grants and projects funded by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the United States Department of Energy, the Research Partnership for Secure Energy for America, the American Electric Power Foundation, and the Sugar Bush Foundation. This work has supported extensive water quality investigation and watershed process characterization and testing, development of a GIS tool to predict post-mining water level, development of multiple online water quality tools and databases, design and testing of treatment technologies for hydraulic fracturing produced water, characterization of PCBs, dioxins, and furans in a post-industrial setting, and development of outreach and educational materials for use in K-12 environments.
Dr. Kruse is the inaugural winner of the Janet and George Voinovich Faculty and Staff Leadership Award and the 2012 Claire and Charles Ping Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from Ohio University. Dr. Kruse is a member of the international scientific committee of the International Mine Water Association and winner of the Association’s 2009 Best Paper Award in the journal, Mine Water and the Environment. Dr. Kruse earned prestigious British Marshall Scholarship, Morris K. Udall Scholarship, and Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.
Dr. Kruse is a member of the Manasseh Cutler Scholars Program Internal Steering Committee and frequently a chair of Cutler Scholars Interview Committees. Dr. Kruse serves as the director of the District 12 Science Day and the Southeast Ohio Regional Science Fair. She sits on the Ohio Academy of Science Junior Academy Council.
Dr. Kruse earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University in Northeast England and pursued a post-doctoral research position in the Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research at Newcastle University.