Chris Buckley is a chemical engineer and heads the Pollution Research Group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has undertaken contract research in the field of urban and industrial water management since 1976.

Public sector involvement includes research on Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines, urine diversion toilets, grey water, innovative water supply, decentralised wastewater treatment, water conservation and water demand management, permitting industrial effluent discharges and water reclamation and reuse.

He and his colleagues participate in Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation projects related to sanitation for the poor. He coordinates the R&D for Borda (a German INGO focused on basic needs services for the poor). A partnership with the eThekwini Municipality provides scientific support for the roll-out of innovative water and sanitation solutions for the unserved. The Water Research Commission of South Africa have been the primary funder of the Pollution Research Group for the past 40 years.