Dr. Rechenburg serves as the Executive Manager for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management and Risk Communication at the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, Germany where she is responsible for the research and supervision of international research projects (Cameroon, East Africa) in the field of environmental microbiology in particular water, sanitation and health.
In projects for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control she has looked at the impact of climate change on water–borne diseases. Her research interests include water, sanitation and hygiene, the impact of point sources and diffuse pollution on water quality, and the hygienic-microbiological aspects of sanitation systems, including water reuse.