Meet the team

I am a (human) geographer by training and multi-disciplinary researcher by choice; and have, to date, had the good fortune of practising these ‘trades’ within the three related disciplines of Geography, Environmental Studies and, currently, Area Studies.

I am a poet and critic publishing on contemporary poetry, environmental writing and ecocriticism, with a focus on interdisciplinarity. 

My research centres on directing, performance practice and the creation of new work.

I have published widely on theatre practice, especially directing, and significantly on the work of Odin Teatret and Eugenio Barba. I have recently completed the monograph The Director and Directing: Craft, Process and Aesthetic in Contemporary Theatre (Palgrave Macmillan).

I am co-artistic director ...

Robert Lee is Professor of Law of Birmingham Law School. He is a former Head of School and Director of the Centre for Employability, Professional Legal Education and Research (CEPLER). He has acted as specialist adviser to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the House of Commons and the National Assembly for Wales and has worked for the Department for the Environment in Northern ...

I am a composer of electroacoustic music, specialising in acousmatic composition and multichannel audio.

Dr Walters Nsoh is an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Birmingham. His research relates primarily to the intersection between property (land) law and environmental law, the legal and policy challenges to nature conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources. His book The Privatisation of Biodiversity? - New Approaches to Conservation Law(Edward Elgar Publishing ...

Raya AL-Dadah is a Reader in Sustainable Energy Technologies and Head of the Sustainable Energy Technology Laboratory. She took lectureship position at UoB in 1995, promoted to senior lecturer in 2014 and to a reader in 2019. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Refrigeration, Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, member of the Higher Education Academy and associate member of the ...

Bushra Al-Duri is a Professor in in Sustainable Process Engineering.

Her track record exceeds 132 publications, including 46 conference papers, 22 keynote lectures and 28 PhD studentships.  Her specialty covers fundamentals and design of high-pressure high-temperature processes, to convert hazardous waste to useful compounds, clean water and energy. Her latest work involves assesses a novel ...

Maria Chiara Arno (Chiara) is a Birmingham Fellow, working across the School of Chemistry and the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

With a background in polymer chemistry and nanoparticle design, Dr Arno’s research interests span across a diverse range of disciplines, including Polymer Chemistry, Materials Science, and Life Sciences. Her current research is focussed on the ...

Melanie’s research is at the interface between chemistry, chemical engineering and physics. She has 15 years experience of developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments to probe chemistry and flow in complex systems and has published over 30 papers and book chapters in this area.

Melanie is also a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more ...

Nigel Cassidy has over 30 years’ academic and industrial experience in near-surface geophysics, geotechnical engineering and numerical modelling. His research focuses on the development of remote monitoring, modelling and inversion techniques to solve practical environmental and geo-engineering problems.

Nigel has published 70+ peer-reviewed international journal papers, articles and book ...

Professor Fernando is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics.  This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, philosophers, linguists, economists, artists, writers, lawyers, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address ...

Dr Seyed Ghaffar is the Head of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, Dubai, and an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (CEng, FICE).

In April 2021, Professor Andreas Hornung was appointed Emeritus Professor at the University of Birmingham.

Andreas Hornung holds 21 patents and has published more than 340 scientific publications to date.

The main strategic topic of Hornung’s work today is the development of decentralized power providing units combined with pyrolysis, gasification and digestion units – called the ...

Dr Ingram is part of the University of Birmingham’s interdisciplinary Positron Imaging Centre, which is responsible for conceiving and developing Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) – a pioneering tool for studying the fundamentals of flow in physics and engineering.

Dr Mehdi Jangi is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering.

His key research interests are application of computational modelling in decarbonising power and heat and sustainable materials, CFD modelling of complex fluid systems involving chemical reactions, turbulence, and multiphase phenomena, and has published over 70 papers in top ranked journals in this area.

Please contact Dr Jangi ...

Professor Jefferson graduated from Loughborough University, with a BEng (hons) Degree in Civil Engineering. He then continued to read for a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering.

After completion of his doctorate in 1992, he worked for three years as a lecturer at Loughborough University. After which he joined Nottingham Trent University as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in 1995, becoming a Principal ...

Dr. Mike Jenkins is an Associate Professor in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham. He is a research active polymer scientist and thermal analyst with over 20 years of professional experience in these fields, he also leads the polymer characterization and thermal analysis research group.

To date, he has authored over 60 refereed journal papers in the area of ...

Matt Keith is an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering with a primary research interest in the recycling of complex materials.

Matt has published multiple research articles and conference papers alongside writing book chapters on the recycling of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs). His PhD research investigated the use of supercritical fluids and different catalysts in ...

Gary has over 20 years expertise in resource efficiency and the development of processes to recover, upgrade and remanufacture materials and chemicals.

Gary works at the interface of chemical engineering/chemistry/materials and has expertise in high pressure engineering and thermo-chemical processing, specifically in reaction engineering, separation technology, polymer/composite processing and ...

Dr Taghi Miri is a Chemical Engineer with over 20 years of research experience. Dr Miri's has been involved with a number of different industries ‎ , including Marlow Food, CSM Bakery, Mondelez, P&G, Smithers Rapra. His research covers a range of topics, including:

• Plant-based food processing and safety
• Future food: process and safety challenges of food reformulation
• Novel Food ...

Rachel O’Reilly holds a Chair in Chemistry within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1998 with a BA in Natural Sciences, and in 1999 with an MSc in Chemistry and completed her PhD in 2003 from Imperial College London. She has held a number of prestigious fellowships from the ...

Dr Helen Onyeaka is an industrial microbiologist with over 25 years of experience. Her career in microbiology to date has been varied with experience gained in industry as well as academia (both teaching and research).

Dr Onyeaka lectures and leads modules on various postgraduate and undergraduate courses in Food Microbiology, Food Safety and Chemical Engineering. She supervises PhD and MSc ...

Dr Emily Prestwood is the Development Manager for Birmingham Energy Institute. She is working with academics, researchers, students, and external partners to build the profile of the University’s energy research regionally, nationally and internationally, and supporting the real world application of research innovation to provide technical and policy solutions to key energy challenges.

Emil ...

I am a mixed methods researcher interested in science and society, including: media representations of science, technology and society; public perceptions of sciences and emerging technologies; and how beliefs about science and technology can inform our identities and change the way we live.

Jonathan Seville is Professor of Formulation Engineering at the University of Birmingham.

Formulation Engineeringconcerns the design, manufacture and use of products which are structured to create desirable effects when they are consumed or used. Examples are foods, pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods such as cleaners, and speciality products such as paints, catalysts, detergents ...

Dr Sharifi is a Lecturer in Water Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham. In the last 10 years, he has worked on several research projects in the areas of Hydrology, Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering.

Dr Sharifi’s primary research interests lie in the area of river and environmental hydraulics, rainfall-runoff modelling, multi-objective ...

As a Research Impact Development Partner (Medical Technologies), Nik supports the development and embedding of systems, processes and culture that contribute to excellence in research impact, with a strong focus on Medical Technologies, while developing relationships with partners and other stakeholders in line with the College’s strategic research themes.

Prior to his current role, Nik ...

Kit Windows-Yule is a Turing Fellow, a two-time Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow, and an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, working jointly with the School of Physics and Astronomy’s Positron Imaging Centre.

Kit’s research interests concern the dynamics of particulate, fluid, and multiphase systems, and the development of novel experimental and numerical ...

Professor Joe Wood leads the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering research group in the School of Chemical Engineering.

He has published over 110 refereed research articles including journal papers and book chapters, plus over 85 conference papers covering a range of topics in catalysis, catalytic reactor operation and environmental engineering.

He has received major grants from EPSRC and works ...

Dr Mohamed Abdallah has wide experience in applying mass spectrometric techniques for analysis of trace levels of environmental pollutants in biotic and abiotic matrices including different human tissues. He has particular interest in assessing the risk from human exposure to emerging contaminants using various exposure and pharmacokinetic models. Abdallah is also actively engaged in ...

Dr Natasha Cornea’s research sits at the intersections of urban and development geographies, focusing on urban environmental governance and politics in Indian and Zambian cities. Conceptually her research draws on post-structuralist and situated approaches to urban political ecology, the everyday state and everyday governance.

Dr Natasha Cornea is part of the Birmingham ...

Lucy is a glycobiologist and studies how gut microbes and pathogens use human-derived glycans as a nutrient source. Current projects include 1) looking at how infant-associated bacteria use glycans in breast milk and 2) how common human bacterial pathogens use mucins.

Lucy is part of the team at the Institute of Microbiology and Infection. 

Sophie is an aquatic biogeochemist, specialising in carbon and nitrogen cycling and micro- and nanoplastic pollution in large river systems. Sophie is interested in the transport, processing and fate of carbon, nitrogen and plastic pollution with a particular focus on greenhouse gas dynamics. A major research focus is understanding how aquatic biogeochemistry will be affected by future global ...

Simon is an interdisciplinary lecturer in geography with broad research interests around human interactions with water and landscapes.  Much of his work focuses on “Anthropocene geomorphology” - unique landforms resulting from interactions between human activities and natural processes. Examples include how waste plastic is being incorporated into sediments and fluvial transport ...

Stuart is an environmental chemist whose research addresses all aspects of the environmental sources, fate and behaviour of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). He has particular interests in human exposure to POPs with a focus on indoor pathways. He is also active in research that explores the environmental forensics utility of chirality.

Stuart is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an ...

Dr Liam Kelleher is a research fellow at the Institute for Global Innovation (IGI) working on the Water Challenges research theme. Liam’s interests are in the area of spectroscopy (Raman and others), data analysis and the study of nano and microplastics.

Please get in touch if you want to chat further.

Professor Peter Kraftl is best known for his research on children’s geographies, focusing on children and young people’s experiences of and interactions with environmental processes – such as sustainable urban design, environmental resources and pollution. He also publishes on geographies of education and architecture. He is currently national co-lead for the Children, Young ...

Iseult Lynch is an Associate Editor for Environmental Science: Nano, and Deputy director for the Facility for Environmental Nanomaterials Analysis and Characterisation (FENAC) at the University of Birmingham.  Her research focuses on the environmental interactions of nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces with biological entities from macromolecules to organisms.

She has a very ...

Dr Katie Reilly is an environmental scientist with a focus on ecotoxicology and anthropogenic stressors in aquatic environments. Katie also has a keen interest in science communication and public engagement centered in environmental issues, often with a focus on microplastic pollution effects, and has experience working with a range of audiences.

Jon Sadler is a biogeographer and ecologist whose research focuses on species population and assemblage dynamics in animals (sometimes plants). His work is highly interdisciplinary, bisecting biogeography, ecology, urban design, riparian management and island Biogeography. It uses approaches that combine detailed field studies, field and laboratory experimentation, sometimes with social science ...

Professor Sambrook Smith investigates the linkages between river processes and sedimentology at scales ranging from individual pores within a river bed up to km-long bars in large rivers.

The World’s largest rivers suffer from a paucity of knowledge about how they currently function, how they have evolved through time and how they may respond to future environmental changes. This lack of ...

Uwe is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow funded by the German Research Foundation. His research at UoB focusses on the fate and transport of microplastics in freshwater sediments. His main research interests are related to unravelling water flow and contaminant transport processes in streambeds and near-stream shallow aquifers.

A summary of his current research project can be found here: https://gep ...

Professor Valsami-Jones’ research interests focus on understanding reactivity at the nanoscale, particularly interactions of nanoparticles with pollutants and biota and biomineralisation processes. She has carried out research on the interaction of a variety of carbon- and metal-based nano-objects with biota in vitro and in vivo and has pioneered novel methods of labelling ...

Dr Allahyari is an Assistant Professor in Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. Her research primarily focuses on Operations Research, Optimization, Heuristics, Decision Support Systems, and Business Analytics for the areas of Logistics, Network Design, Operations and Supply Chain Management.

She has previous experience working with ...

Dr Sami Bensassi joined Birmingham Business School in January 2013. He is currently a Reader in Trade and Development Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris-Nanterre.

His research interests lie at the intersection of trade, development and institutions. His recent work has focused on trade informality, corruption and conflict zones.  Dr Sami Bensassi's research ...

Professor Robert Elliott is an applied economist who works at the intersection of international economics, development economics, environmental and energy economics and international business. He has a particular interest in the Chinese economy, firm behaviour, natural disasters and the impact of globalisation on the environment.

He is an editor for the Sustainable Future Policy Lab, ...

Dr Emma A. Foster is an Associate Professor in international politics. Emma’s research interests include gender and sexuality studies, (de)politicisation and anti-politics, international sustainable development policy and development studies more broadly.

Emma co-convenes the Gender and Feminist Theory Group, a vibrant research group hosted in POLSIS and bringing together academics ...

Julie is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics. This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, philosophers, linguists, economists, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

A senior fellow and strategic leader, with experience across public sector and private organisations.

He is passionate about improving lives through cost-effective public services, delivered with (not just "to") communities.

His research interests focus on public service reform and the use of "evidence" by public agencies. This includes how managers and practitioners can access the best ...

Professor David Maddison is Director of the Birmingham Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics and Management (BCEEEM). He is also co-editor of the journal Climate Change Economics.

David Maddison is a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of ...

Nana's professional and research interests relate to sustainability policy and governance frameworks required to transition towards a responsible and sustainable future. This includes environmental sustainability issues, e.g. ambient air pollution and their impact on public health in Low-Medium Income Countries (LMICs).

His current problem-solving oriented research focuses on Circular Economy, ...

Jennifer is a lecturer based in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences with a background in immunology.

In the Medical School, Jennifer teaches on modules in all years of the Biomedical Sciences BSc and is the Academic Support Tutor for the programme. She also teaches on the MBChB and MPharm programmes.

In Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences Jennifer is ...