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Our people

Under the leadership of Professor Dan Parsons, the Energy and Environment Institute gathers together world leading scientists, across this multidisciplinary space, to conduct impactful research on the global challenges presented by environmental change and securing a low-carbon energy supply.

Professor Dan Parsons

Institute Director

Dan's research investigates how earth surface systems respond to climate and environmental change and explores societal adaptations to mitigate the impact of these changes.

Professor Xudong Zhao

Director – Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies & EEI Deputy Director

Xudong is a globally recognised energy researcher whose focus is around sustainable building services, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Dr Joshua Ahmed

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Josh is a fluvial geomorphologist interested in large river morphodynamics, floodplain evolution, and channel behaviour on this planet and beyond.

Joanna Arnett

Institute Administrator

Joanna provides administrative support to Energy and Environment Institute team assisting in supporting the Institute’s activities and operations.

Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow

Anne studies sediment transport processes and its effect on large-scale river and estuary morphology in numerical models

Dr Elena Bastianon

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Elena’s research interest is morphodynamics and sediment transport.

Pip Betts

Flood Innovation Centre Project Manager

Pip is responsible for operational management and project delivery of FLIC. She manages and oversees project finances and claims. Pip oversees project marketing and communications, as well as events delivery. She is also responsible for stakeholder relationship management.

Jack Chamberlain

Creative Producer - Risky Cities

Developing co-created, artistically ambitious projects combining science, arts and heritage to raise climate awareness and build flood resilience in our communities.

Tilly Costigan

Energy and Environment Institute Project Officer

Tilly provides project support for to the EEI Programme Manager by collecting and collating project activity data, particularly expenditure and outputs, as well as assisting with planning and organising output activity.

Professor Thomas Coulthard

Professor of Physical Geography

Tom’s research interests relate to modelling of flooding and fluvial geomorphology. He chaired the 2007 independent review into the Hull floods and was lead author on its influential report.

Dr Giles Davidson

Project Lead, Ark - National Flood Resilience Centre

Giles has led and developed a number of major projects at the University. Working with colleagues in the Energy and Environment Institute and project partners from the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, he is currently focussed on bringing Ark-National Flood Resilience Centre to fruition. More information about Ark can be found at www.arkfloodcentre.co.uk

Dr Pauline Delorme

EvoFlood Postdoctoral Research Associate

Pauline is a researcher with the EvoFlood project, focusing on river-floodplain systems and their evolution in response to climate change.

Joanne Dewey

Executive Officer

As executive support to the Director of the Energy and Environment Institute Jo plays a key role in co-ordinating the Institute’s business, developing its activities, managing projects, and co-ordinating HR and finance functions.

Dr Robert Dorrell

Reader in Environmental Fluid Dynamics

Rob’s research covers multiphase, turbulent and stratified flows and is applied to offshore wind, via the Aura partnership project.

Dr Roberto Fernández

Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow

Roberto is a geomorphologist currently working at the science-arts interface to understand how erosion sculpts the landscape.

Dr Nicola Fletcher

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Nicola is working on a NERC funded project in association with Southampton - Effects of Environmental Context on Species Trait Expression in Moderating Projections of Marine Ecosystems Future.

Dr Steven Forrest

Lecturer in Flood Hazard and Risk

Steven’s research focuses on bridging the theory-practice gap in flood resilience with a particular emphasis on governance, civil society, and serious gaming.

Florence Halstead

THYME Research Assistant

Florence is a member of the THYME project; working closely with school teachers and curriculum specialists across the Key Stages to develop a mixed media tool kit to support age appropriate development and learning relevant to the bioeconomy.

Dr Julie Hope

Post Doctoral Research Assistant

Julie’s research centres on the role of benthic microalgae and bacteria on biological stabilisation as part of the Geostick project.

Karl Hornsby

Laboratory Technician

Dr Cecilia de Ita

Flood Innovation Centre Researcher

Cecilia works on the 'Mapping the Gaps' project, led by the Flood Innovation Centre, in partnership with Aviva, to deliver effective models for post-flood support.

Hiatt Jackson

Flood Innovation Centre Technology Research Manager

Hiatt works with SMEs to develop and support innovation projects, running diagnostics to determine the innovation intervention required, working collaboratively and developing tailored packages of support.

Dr Elena Kuvshinova

Flood Innvoation Centre Technology Research Manager

Elena works with SMEs to develop and support innovation projects and assess projects, running diagnostics to determine the innovation intervention required. Elena also brokers and assembles tailored packages of support and works collaboratively with SMEs to deliver these projects.

Senior Research Fellow

Jing is working on the heat pump technology and has experiences in solar collector, solar PV, heat pipe and thermodynamic cycle.

Dr Charlie Lloyd

Postdoctoral Research Assistant

Charlie Lloyd's research is focused on quantifying mixing processes and sediment transport in stratified flows, using both experimental and numerical techniques.

Senior Research Fellow

Xiaoli is a Senior Research Fellow whose interests are in renewable/Sustainable energy technologies, energy efficiency technologies and energy in the built environment

Dr Jonathan Malarkey

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Jonathan’s research concerns sediment transport processes associated with waves and currents in shallow water marine environments, using both computer models and experiments.

Professor Briony McDonagh

Reader in Historical Geography & Director of the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships Centre for Water Cultures

Briony’s research focuses on histories of landscape and environmental change. She runs the AHRC Risky Cities project, learning from the past to build climate and flood resilience today and for the future. She is also Director of the University's Doctoral College.

Dr Stuart McLelland

EEI Deputy Director, Programme Leader - MSc Flood Risk Management & PGDip Offshore Wind & the Environment

Stuart's research focuses on physical modelling of flow processes and sediment transport dynamics. He heads up the Aura CDT's PGDip Offshore Wind & the Environment and the EEI's innovative MSc in Flood Risk Management.

Dr Agota Mockute

COP26 Research Fellow

Agota is a civil engineer with a passion for wind energy, researching wave loading on offshore wind turbines and their dynamic structural responses.

Amy Hindhaugh Ness

Institute Administrator

Amy helps to provide administrative support to the activities and operations of the Energy and Environment Institute

David Ovuakporie

Flood Innovation Centre Administration Officer

David provides administrative support to the Flood Innovation Centre team, acting as first point of contact for SMEs and other stakeholders.

Andrea Prince

Research and Enterprise Senior Administrator

Andrea provides support to the Energy and Environment Institute team assisting in supporting the Institute’s activities and operations

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Sam is working with Living with Water in Hull and East Yorkshire to understand local residents' flood experience, knowledge and concerns, and to explore ‘resilience’– feeding results into policy and practice.

Amy Richardson

Energy and Environment Institute Marketing Manager

Amy is responsible for Energy and Environment Institute marketing and communications, with a particular focus on the THYME project and the Flood Innovation Centre.

Dr Christina Roggatz

Research Fellow

Christina works on the chemistry & interactions of organisms in future oceans using computational models, analytical chemistry and bioassays.

Dr Stephen Simmons

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Steve is developing our understanding of sedimentary processes through the application of novel acoustic measurements of flow and sediment transport.

Dr Edward Skevington

Post Doctoral Research Associate

Edward is working on development and mathematical analysis of equations which describe gravity currents.

Dr Danielle Smith

Aura CDT Programme Manager

Researcher for the Flood Innovation Centre

Kate is a post-doctoral researcher with interests in the cultural anthropology of water, landscapes and flooding.

Energy and Environment Institute Programme Manager

Jenny is responsible for several programmes within the EEI, including the delivery of the THYME programme, which looks to grow the regional bioeconomy in partnership with the Universities of York and Teesside and the regional industry partners, the EVOFLOOD and Immerse programmes.

Dr Robert Thomas

Senior Research Fellow

Rob's research centres around Geomorphology and Flood Risk with an interest in the development and use of novel technologies to study hydraulics, sediment transport, slope stability and the impacts of fauna and flora on those processes.

Dr Grigorios Vasilopoulos

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Greg’s interests are centred on understanding Earth surface processes and morphodynamics. He is currently looking at flood risk and resilience on the Mekong delta and how this may be altered in the future.

Dr Simon Waldman

Lecturer in Renewable Energy

Simon’s interests centre around renewable energy and the use of regional-scale hydrodynamic modelling to support human activities, understand their effects, and improve planning and policymaking.

Josh Wolstenholme

Research Assistant

Josh is supporting the THYME project to map bioeconomy assets across the THYME region. He also leads on the 'Hedgerows: Mapping the Gaps' project.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Xuxu focuses on small-scale bedform (ripple) developed with cohesive materials including both physical and biological cohesion to quantify interactions of near-bed hydrodynamics, sediment transport dynamics and turbulence over developing bed.

Dr Chun Keat Yew

Flood Innovation Centre Technology Research Manager

Chun works with SMEs to develop and support innovation projects, running diagnostics to determine the innovation intervention required, working collaboratively and developing tailored packages of support.

Cheng Zeng

Research Fellow

Cheng’s research covers solar heat storage and building energy efficiency.

Dr Zishang Zhu

CSET Deputy Director & Administration Manager

Zishang is a Senior Research Fellow, interested in green-building and low-carbon city design/planning, sustainable building technology integration and Machine-Learning based building/city optimisation.

PhD community

Sophie Al-Mudallal

PhD Biological Sciences

Impacts of Seabed Vibration on Sediment Structure and Infaunal Organisms

Mohammed Al-Saleem

PhD Energy Technology

A novel data centre cooling system using a micro-channel loop heat pipe system

Lucrecia Alvarez

PhD Physical Geography

Quantifying and modelling global large river fluxes of microplastic

Sarah Bee

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Victoria Bessonova

PhD Computer Science (Aura CDT)

The future of global offshore natural capital with climate change

Dax Blackhorse-Hull

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Julian Blumenroeder

PhD Biological Sciences

Microplastic in remote marine food webs

Bas Bodewes

PhD Physical Geography

Catastrophic Flows: Scaling flood events and ecohydraulics in experimental models

Maisy Bradbury

PhD Physical Geography (Aura CDT)

Scour Protection and the Test Tank of Secrets

Adam Brassington

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Frederick Bricknell

PhD History (Water Cultures)

Water, Drought, Indentureship and Slavery in the nineteenth century British Empire

Lydia Bryan-Smith

PhD Computer Science

Using Big Data, Internet of Things and AI to dynamically map flood risk

Jack Buckingham

PhD Physical Geography

The Ecological fate of microplastics in Antarctic marine environments - a source to sink approach

Jordan Burgess

PhD Biological Sciences

The impacts of windfarm associated noise on commercially important invertebrates

Harry Burton

PhD Physics (Aura CDT)

Low Power High Performance Neuromorphic Circuits for Remote Sensing and Monitoring in the Offshore Wind Sector

William Burton

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Chloe Carter

PhD Physical Geography

Natural Flood Management: Optimising design to reduce geomorphic impact

Fiona Chong

PhD Biological Sciences

Linking functional and demographic traits to predict population viability of marginal coral populations

Ye Chen

PhD Physical Geography

Knickpoint migration and longer-term submarine channel evolution in Bute Inlet, BC, Canada.

Ethan Clark

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Stephen Collier

PhD Biological Sciences

Mapping and modelling flows upstream of pumping stations to minimise fish and eel entrainment

Clare Collins

MSc Environmental Sciences

Analysing microplastic ingestion in Antarctic fish species

Ellie-Mae Cook

PhD Biological Sciences (Aura CDT)

Cumulative and in-combination effects of offshore infrastructure on ecological resources

Yu Cui

PhD Energy Technology

Advanced Carbon and Energy Management and Eco-design Platform for Urban Districts

Vasudha Darbari

PhD Physical Geography

Sand mining sustainability: Quantifying rates and locations of sand mining using high-resolution satellite data

Yu Deng

PhD English (Water Cultures)

Discourse and governance of UK flooding and coastal erosion

Nilotpal Dhar

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Sarah Dickson

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Sergio Duran

PhD Physical Geography

Catastrophic Flows: Simulating Catastrophic floods on Mars

Oliver Evans

MSc Biological sciences

The movements of downstream migrating silver eels at fish-friendly pumping stations

Yi Fan

PhD Energy Technology

The solar assisted space heating and hot water supply technologies

Saphia Fleury

PhD Human Geography

The exploitation of children on the move in the context of environmental change

Sojiro Fukuda

PhD Physical Geography

Palaeo-Environmental Reconstruction from Seafloor Landscapes

Edward Gilbert

PhD Biology (Panorama NERC DTP)

Testing new genomic tools for identifying the winners and losers of climate change

Eleanor Goodfellow

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

David Goodman

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Yousef G Akhlaghi

PhD Energy Technology

Performance analysis of a Counter Flow Dew Point Evaporative Cooler in Data Centres using Artificial Intelligence

Florence Halstead

PhD Physical Geography

International perspectives and cultural perceptions of flood risk evolution with climate change

Paul Hambly

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Jason Harrison

PhD Electronic Engineering (Aura CDT)

Fibre optic sensors for cable lifetime performance

Jordan Holden

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Mathew Holliday

MSc (by Research) Chemical Engineering

Production of Nano-celluloses and Nano-carbons from Spent Pea Biomass for Waste Water Treatment and it is Techno-economic analysis

Robert Houseago

PhD Physical Geography

Catastrophic Flows: The Influence of Vegetation on Coastal Dynamics

Gemma Hoyes

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Jessica Hurley

PhD Earth Sciences

The physiological effects of microplastic ingestion

Jennifer James

PhD Physical Geography

Ecological responses to environmental change: an experimental approach to the causes of extinction

Joshua Johnson

PhD Physical Geography

Modelling the geomorphological impacts of Natural Flood Management interventions using a novel coupling of physical and computational experiments

David Jordan

PhD Physical Geography

The dynamics of in-stream vegetation and its impacts on fluvial flows

Siti Khadijah Hamzah

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Quan Le

PhD Physical Geography

Sand mining sustainability, Quantifying rates and locations of sand mining using high resolution satellite data

Enora Lecordier

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Andrew Lee

PhD Psychology

Yunhai Li

PhD Engineering

A Novel Environment-Interactive-Wall for Zero Carbon Heating and Cooling for Buildings

Haowen Liu

PhD Mechanical Engineering

Design and optimisation of novel thermoelectric cooler geometry

Thomas Logan

PhD Biology (Panorama NERC DTP)

Reconciling lethal control of an iconic native species (red deer Cervus elaphus) with nature conservation within a multiple-use landscape.

Flavia Manieri

PhD Human Geography

Living with Water: Perceptions of floods and flood risk in Hull, Past, Present and Future

Hannah Marsden

PhD Chemical Engineering

From textile waste to advanced carbon materials for wind turbine blade manufacturing

Catherine Mascord

PhD Physical Geography

Worms On Film: How, Where and When did Metazoans begin Bioturbating Microbial Substrates?

Rick McCumskay

PhD Physical Geography

Time dependent ultraviolet degradation of marine plastics.

Cian McGuire

PhD Physical Geography

A foraminiferal solution to the Contourite/Turbidite problem

Phoebe Medlicott-Revell

PhD History (Water Cultures)

Water Cultures in Conflict at Pebble Mine, Bristol Bay, Alaska

Freija Mendrik

PhD Physical Geography

The transport mechanisms of microplastics in major rivers and their surrounding coastlines: A case study in the Mekong River, SE Asia

Luke Michno-Neville

PhD Physical Geography (Water Cultures)

Living on the Edge: Surviving and thriving in the Holocene Humberhead Levels

Favad Mobahriz

PhD Chemical Engineering

Wind to Hydrogen and ePTA: Chemical Manufacture through Electrolysis

Paolo Moccetti

PhD Biological Sciences

Quantifying the evolutionary response to anthropogenic selection in migrating species

Aryan Moody

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Oliver Morgan-Clague

PhD Mechanical Engineering (Aura CDT)

Numerical modelling of wind turbine blade manufacture

Blessing Mucherera

PhD Human Geography (Water Cultures)

The Cultural Production of Flood Injustices

Woolganathan Naidoo

PhD Marine Sciences (Aura CDT)

Economic and Socio-cultural implications of offshore wind on fishing communities

Luke Neal

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Ewan Norris

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Sara Peixoto

PhD Biological Sciences

Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of environmental DNA for monitoring and management of priority invasive species

Ben Pickett

PhD Geology (Aura CDT)

Palaeo record of Tsunami risk to Offshore Renewable Energy Infrastructure

Peng Qin

PhD Engineering

Advanced Computational design/planning tool for district-scale carbon and energy prediction, management and optimisation

Callum Rothon

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Isha Saxena

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Robyn Seymour-Jones

PhD Physical Geography

Quaternary Evolution of Mediterranean Lakes

Victoria Scott

PhD Microplastics Researcher

Vicky is researching the effects of multiple stressors on aquatic organisms, including plastics and climate change predictions.

Emily Settle

PGDip and PhD Offshore Wind and the Environment

Aura CDT in Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Samson Shittu

PhD Energy Technology

Optimisation of thermoelectric generator and hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric system for power generation

Gregory Smith

PhD Earth Science

Catastrophic Flows: Quantifying the sedimentation of ignimbrites: understanding the behaviour of pyroclastic density currents through experimental modelling

Simon Smith

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Lisa Somerville

PhD Computer Science (Aura CDT)

Evaluating the impact of motion travel on cognitive ability of offshore workers: a VR experience.

Kelly Stanford

MSc Physical Geography

Art and tabletop games as effective interdisiplinary tools for communicating flood resilience

Xin Tang

PhD Engineering

A novel tri-functional cooling photovoltaic/thermal (RC-PV /T) system

Serena Teasdale

PhD Physical Geography

Sticky Coasts: Characterising the role of biological cohesion in modulating erosion in coastal fringe environments

Felicitas ten Brink

PhD Earth Science

Impacts of Microplastic pollution on intertidal food webs

Eamonn Tuton

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Thya van den Berg

PhD Physical Geography

Linking landscape processes and bioeconomies through translation of pollen archives

Marijke de Vet

PhD Physical Geography

Turbulent-Laminar transitions in flows laden with cohesive sediment

Amber Wagstaffe

PhD Biological Sciences

The evolution of functional disparity in the avian skull

Nemi Walding

PhD Earth Sciences

The PDC flow units problem: Deposit heterogeneity from varying cohesive behaviourand sediment flux

Connor Walker

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Zhichu Wang

PhD Engineering

Investigation of the Novel Photons Up-conversion PV Cells Enabling the Enhanced Solar Efficiency beyond the SQ Limit

Kate Warnock-Smith

PhD Law and Environment

Children's environmental human rights and marine plastic pollution

Anna Weatherburn

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Connor Whelan

PhD Engineering

The suspension and sedimentation of variable buoyancy microplastic particles

Connor Whiteford

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Daniel Whitt

PhD Physics (Aura CDT)

Wind Sourced Energy Storage

Aimee Wiggins

PhD Physics

Sticky Biomolecules – From Sediments to Astrobiology

Wayne Willis

PhD Earth Sciences

Systemic Behavioural Change - COVID vs Carbon

Michael Winter

PhD Biological Sciences

Nematode genomics and metagenomics to address agricultural threat

Josh Wolstenholme

PhD Physical Geography

The efficacy and long-term evolution of Natural Flood Risk Management interventions: a combined experimental and numerical modelling approach

Felicity Wood

PhD English (Water Cultures)

English literature, water, health, and wellbeing in estuary communities, 1500-1700

Nilufan Xiaokaiti

PhD Physical Geography

Latitudinal Forcing on Deep Ocean Continental Shelf Seawater Mixing

Min Yu

PhD Energy Technology

A novel high efficiency solar PV/T heating and power system

Jenna Zunder

PG Dip Offshore Wind Energy and the Environment

Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Associates

Dr Anna Bird

Lecturer in Geology

Anna is a lecturer in metamorphic geology who also works on Quaternary sediments.

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Dr Chris Skinner

Visiting Research Fellow

Chris specialises in using computer models to see how floods change our landscapes and how these changes influence future flood risk.

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Dr Vasiliki Skoulou

Lecturer

Vicky's research is focused in the field of thermochemical treatment (pyro-gasification processes) of lignocellulosic biomass residues/fossil fuels/waste for bioenergy-biofuels-biochemicals.

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Honorary fellows

Professor emerita Lynne Frostick

Lynne's specialisms are in flood and coastal risk management, ecohydraulics and estuarine hydraulics and sedimentation

Professor emeritus David Gibbs

David's research focuses on local and regional green economic development, sustainable cities and sustainability transitions theory

Fellow emerita Dr Jane Reed

Jane's expertise is mainly in diatom-based palaeoecological reconstruction of long-term climate change from analysis of lake sediment cores.

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