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Gabrielle String, Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Population Health, will use her role as a Lehigh University/United Nations Faculty Fellow to advance global water and sanitation policy, contributing expertise on safe drinking water systems and hygiene practices at the U.N.

String was one of the first faculty members selected for the first-of-its-kind Faculty Fellows program, which launched in September. In this role, she has received a badge to the United Nations, enabling her to engage with committees, connect with new research opportunities, and help inform international policy discussions.

Through the fellowship, String will build on her work tied to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure the availability and management of water and sanitation by 2030.

String said that this opportunity has given her the chance to interact with United Nations diplomatic offices in New York, compared to the field offices she had experience with in the past. Through her experience working with the U.N., she hopes to help some of her peers in the program take full advantage of the opportunity. 

“One thing that I have enjoyed is just being able to chat with some of my fellow colleagues about learning the language (of the United Nations), because it is its own language. It has its own processes, the way that the UN operates,” String said. “If you've never done this before, if you are like a traditional academic researcher, it can be really intimidating.” 

Before String applied to be a faculty fellow, she already had an extensive background working with the United Nations.

From 2025 to 2026, her PhD research, which evaluated UNICEF implementations of rural community-managed water under a program called water safety planning, was funded by UNICEF. As a postdoctoral fellow, String continued working in the “cluster” research space of water, sanitation and hygiene, or WASH, led by UNICEF. 

“She's considered a global expert in her field, as much a researcher as a practitioner when it comes to WASH,” said Bill Hunter, Director of Fellowship Advising and U.N. Programs. “So it was a very easy decision to bring her onto the group, and, in some ways, we've relied on her, as well as the paradigm – as the example – of the opportunity here.”

Hunter runs the Faculty Fellows program, which was made possible when Lehigh University received a new status as an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) non-governmental organization (NGO). It is currently the only program of its kind in the world. 

The current 16 Faculty Fellows were selected through a competitive application process in which they explained how they could contribute to a specific Sustainable Development Goal through their participation. The Fellows have diverse academic interests and span all five colleges at Lehigh.

Through the Faculty Fellows program and Lehigh University’s ECOSOC status, String is able to apply for new opportunities, such as attending the 2026 UN Water Conference. She had previously attended in 2023, but will now be able to officially represent Lehigh University. 

In addition to her vast experience with the United Nations, Dr. String’s personal character sets her apart as a Faculty Fellows applicant.

“Some people just complain about a situation or scenario, and she steps up and says, I'm ready to make a difference,” Hunter said. “I'm profoundly awed by Professor String’s strength in her ability to put humanity and the needs of humanity over sometimes her own safety and security.”

String’s strengths as a researcher are also evident in the personal connections she builds. At Lehigh, String advises, teaches, and works alongside cohorts of Ph.D. students, including Mastura Morshed Nawmi. Nawmi says that String naturally inspires the teams she interacts with.

“I feel like she has this extraordinary sense of how to bring out the best from the person in front of her,” Nawmi said. “As a student, when I get the space to talk about what I'm really passionate about, it's easier for me to communicate what I want to achieve and what my research goals are. And I feel like that happens with most people who are currently working with her.” 

Currently, String is working on numerous research projects, evaluating both international and local water and sanitation issues. Through a collaboration with Emory University, she is researching global handwashing practices, an understudied area in her field. On a local level, String has also been investigating the water quality in the Lehigh River. 

She is also returning to some of the work she completed during her postdoctoral studies, evaluating water storage containers. In partnership with a local company that manufactures novel paper-based water filtration systems, String has lab-tested these filters and been distributing them in Bangladesh as a water treatment option. 

String’s wide-ranging career has been shaped by her frustration with the gap between human necessities and access for populations worldwide. 

“I think something that really motivates me is being able to confront injustices. And I do think that the fact that water, sanitation, and hygiene are so fundamental and foundational to our existence, and to our dignity as well. And, I'm really highly motivated by ensuring that people everywhere have access to a fundamental right.” 

What motivates String to continue her work is not the prospect of new research but the hope of a world where her work is no longer needed. 

“I would be so happy if we woke up in five years and everybody has access to safe drinking water,” String said. “If everybody has access to a sanitation system where waste is safely contained and treated—whether on-site or off-site—and I’m no longer needed in this role, that would be ideal. I’d have nothing left to research.”