Leadership

Leadership

Gozde Goncu-Berk, Ph.D.

Founding Director- Gozde Goncu-Berk, Ph.D. I Associate Professor of Design I WearLab I [email protected]

Gözde Göncü-Berk, PhD is an Associate Professor of Design at the University of California, Davis, the inaugural Maria Manetti Shrem Endowed Chair in Design, Fashion & Textiles, and Founding Director of the Maria Manetti Shrem Institute for Sustainable Design, Fashion & Textiles. Her work reimagines fashion and textiles as critical infrastructures for care, resilience, and planetary futures.

Through the WearLab (Wearable Technology Research Laboratory), Dr. Göncü-Berk leads interdisciplinary research on wearable technologies and soft systems that engage the body as a site of sensing, interaction, and transformation—spanning health, disability, performance, and extreme environments, including outer space. Grounded in sustainability, inclusivity, and human-centered design, her research integrates textile-based sensing, actuation, and responsive materials to explore how clothing can support diverse bodies, lived experiences, and regenerative futures.