Birthe Kjellerup is a Professor at the University of Maryland in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a co-founder of the Center of Excellence for Microbiome Sciences at University of Maryland. She also serves as the Chair for Civil Empowerment in her department. Dr. Kjellerup has trained as an environmental engineer and microbiologist specializing in beneficial and detrimental aspects of biofilms and microbial communities for over 25 years. She has pioneered the application of biofilms on sorptive materials for bioremediation and energy recovery from wastewater and used them to develop novel bioremediation strategies. Lately, focus has been on the impact of the emergent fungus Candidozyma auris (previously Candida auris) that has been widely isolated for wastewater while being a severe problem in healthcare settings. Dr. Kjellerup has a strong background in team based multidisciplinary research, where she has obtained more than $10 million from local, state and federal funding agencies in the past 10 years. Dr. Kjellerup has served on more than 50 graduate committees and is the primary advisor for 6 graduate students and five undergraduate students. She also serves as a senior editor for the journal Biofilm published by Elsevier and is involved in leadership positions for American Society for Microbiology.