PhD Student Outcomes

Launch into a High-Impact Career

Whether the compass guiding sense of purpose points toward a startup, or a career in academic research or industry, from Duke CEE you’ll launch into a career that means something to you—and to the world.

A person stands before the skyline of New York City

Meet Our PhD Students

Our students have the freedom to focus making impacts on the topics most important to them. Click to hear their stories.

Kim Bourne: Modeling Interactions Between Society & the Environment
TRISHA DUPNOCK: Converting Waste to Energy
CLAY SANDERS: Optimizing Structures & Materials
JOSIN TOM: Modeling Turbulent Flows

Success in Numbers

Our PhD graduates go on to make important contributions across a range of opportunities.

44%

go on to careers in industry, government and nonprofits

with leading organizations such as Boston Consulting Group, Geosyntec, HDR, Sandia National Lab, USDA, USEPA and Veoli

31%

go on to positions in academia

at places such as Bucknell, Ohio State, Portland State, Texas Tech, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Washington State

16%

go on to further training

including post-doctoral fellowships

Meet Duke CEE Alumni

Woman in construction hat and vest at a construction site. She is looking back over her shoulder at the camera and smiling.
5/15/25 Pratt School of Engineering

What’s Owed to an Overture?

Duke Civil & Environmental Engineering alumni look back on lessons learned from their uniquely structured senior capstone class.

Deb Liu
5/2/25 Duke Magazine

A Turning Point

Find out how Deb Liu’s civil engineering degree from Duke helped her blossom into a technology executive with notable stops at Meta, eBay, PayPal and Ancestry.com.