Professor Karnik's research interests include micro and nanostructured materials, and graphene and nanoporous membranes. Professor Karnik is the recipient of a 2015 J-WAFS seed grant for his project, "Enabling Distributed Water Quality Management by Dry Sample Preservation and Centralized Analysis," and a 2016 J-WAFS Solutions grant for his project, "Development of Low-Cost Water Filter Using Sapwood Xylem"