Rate My Professor Anne Camper

Anne Camper is a Regents Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Associate Dean for Faculty and Administration in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering at Montana State University. She arrived at MSU in 1971 as an undergraduate student in microbiology, earning her B.S. in Microbiology in 1975 with honors and an Environmental Health option, M.S. in Microbiology in 1977 with an emphasis on bacterial physiology and environmental microbiology, and Ph.D. in Civil (Environmental) Engineering in 1995, the first doctorate awarded in civil engineering at the university. After her B.S., she conducted research for her M.S. and continued as a researcher in microbiology, plant and soil sciences, and engineering until starting her Ph.D. Upon graduation, she joined the Civil Engineering faculty, promoted to Professor in 2004. Since 2001, she has served as Associate Dean, cultivating external funding, developing graduate education and outreach, fostering research growth, and assisting in college management. She briefly served as interim Vice President for Research, Creativity, and Technology Transfer in 2013 and was the first chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of University Women, receiving a special award in 2016.

Internationally recognized for expertise in biofilms and water quality, Camper’s research specializations include biofilms in drinking water systems, microbial ecology in low-nutrient environments, bacterial regrowth, corrosion in distribution systems, disinfection strategies, membrane fouling, and health effects. A member of the Center for Biofilm Engineering research team since 1986 and research area leader since 1992, she has led projects funded by AWWA Research Foundation, NSF, EPA, and DARPA. Key publications include “Growth and persistence of pathogens on granular activated carbon filters” (1985), “Effects of motility and adsorption rate coefficient on the transport of bacteria through saturated porous media” (1993), “Involvement of humic substances in regrowth” (2004), “Selective removal of DNA from dead cells from mixed bacterial communities by ethidium monoazide” (2006), and “Challenges and Opportunities for Tribal Waters: Addressing Disparities in Safe Public Drinking Water on the Crow Reservation in Montana, USA” (2018). Major awards and honors encompass Montana University System Regents Professor (2013, first woman), Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2014), Wiley Faculty Award for Meritorious Research (2002), AWWA Best Paper Award (2004), and leadership roles such as Chair of American Society for Microbiology Division Q (2007-2010) and National Research Council committee member (2004-2006). She holds a patent on phenanthridium derivatives for cell viability detection (2007).