Claudia L. Rocha

Claudia L. Rocha is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biology, Swain Family School of Science and Mathematics, The Citadel. She teaches courses in Microbiology, General Biology for Engineers, Introduction to Biology for majors, and Foundations of Biology for non-majors. Her research focuses on bacterial ecology in the context of climate change, particularly the detection and characterization of human pathogens in nuisance flooding waters on the Charleston peninsula.

• Education: Ph.D. with Honors in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina; B.S. in Microbiology from Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

Her work investigates Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, two bacterial pathogens linked to environmental changes. Key research themes include microbial responses to climate-driven ecological shifts, water quality monitoring, and public health implications of bacterial proliferation in coastal areas.