Professor Nicoletta Leonardi B.Eng., M.Eng., Ph.D., FHEA

Professor, EPSRC Fellow Geography and Planning

About

Personal Statement

Professor. Personal Chair of Coastal Dynamics. I am a civil engineer specializing in coastal studies and computer modelling and an EPSRC Fellow. I joined the University of Liverpool in 2016 after completing my PhD at Boston University, USA. I have an international reputation for the study of coastline evolution, geomorphology, hydrodynamics and coastal management strategies focusing on engineering with nature and coastal wetlands. Evidence of the sustained excellence in my work includes a prize from the Italian National Academy of Sciences (Accademia dei Lincei) for my studies on coastal wetlands and EGU award as an Outstanding early career scientist.

I am an EPSRC Fellow with the project ''ENARM: Engineering with Nature: combining Artificial intelligence, Remote sensing and computer Models for the optimum design of coastal protection schemes' (2021-2026). I have been the PI for a Royal Geographical Society funded project Building coastal resilience one sediment grain at the time: field measurements and community engagement on nature-based solutions for coastal protection. I was co-I on a MarRI-UK project on the use of artificial intelligence, satellite data and computer modelling for the autonomous detection of subtidal bathymetric changes. I have been the UK PI for a United States Geological Survey project with Boston University on the impact of hurricanes on coastal wetlands. I have been Co-I on the NERC-funded project BlueCoast.

Awards
• European Geosciences Union (EGU) Geomorphology Division Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award 2022
• Alan Beeston Early career research of the year, University of Liverpool, 2022
• School of Environmental Sciences award for outstanding contribution to research, School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool, 2022
• Italian National Academy of Sciences (Accademia dei Lincei), 2016 – “Giuseppe and Paolo Gatto” Prize for the study of coastal wetlands.
• Director’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, 2015. This award recognizes “outstanding teaching achievements and teaching fellows who went above and beyond the call of duty in the teaching mission of Boston University”

• Honorary Research Fellow at the National Tsing Hua University, 2020-2023
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Recognition reference: PR136980; Date of recognition 13/11/2017