Claire Fortenberry, Ph.D.

Claire began working with Varro in October 2025 following five years as a spacecraft fire safety and aerosol monitoring subject matter expert at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. During her time at NASA, she served as the principal investigator for two technology demonstrations on the International Space Station towards improving dust monitoring capabilities for future space flight vehicles. As a lead for spacecraft fire detection research, she developed and implemented ground, flight, and modeling studies towards better understanding smoke aerosol formation, dynamics, and detection in unique spacecraft environmental systems. Claire holds a Ph.D. in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and a B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.