About
Professor of Coastal Dynamics, Nicoletta Leonardi is a civil engineer specialising in coastal dynamics, coastal geomorphology, sediment transport, and hydro-morphodynamic computer modelling, with a strong focus on climate-driven coastal change, coastal resilience and Nature Based Solutions. She is an EPSRC Fellow at the University of Liverpool, leading the project "ENARM: Engineering with Nature – combining Artificial Intelligence, Remote Sensing and Computer Models for the optimum design of coastal protection schemes (2021–2027)". This project develops decision-support tools for coastal adaptation, integrating AI, numerical modelling and remote sensing to inform environmentally sustainable coastal protection strategies.
Before joining the University of Liverpool, she completed her PhD at Boston University (USA). She has an established international reputation for research on coastline evolution, hydrodynamics, estuarine and wetland geomorphology, and coastal management strategies, with particular emphasis on nature-based solutions, coastal wetlands, climate adaptation measures. Her work contributes to the understanding of coastal flooding, storm impacts, and coastal erosion, integrating process-based modelling, remote sensing, and machine learning.
Evidence of the sustained excellence and impact of her research includes a prize from the Italian National Academy of Sciences (Accademia dei Lincei) for her studies on coastal wetlands, and an Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award from the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for her "contributions to a new understanding of the geomorphic evolution of coastal landscapes, and deconstructing the drivers of coastal change through development and application of novel modelling tools" (EGU award citation).
Professor Leonardi has been Principal Investigator on a Royal Geographical Society-funded project, "Building coastal resilience one sediment grain at a time, which combined field measurements and community engagement to evaluate nature-based solutions for coastal protection". She was Co-Investigator on a MarRI-UK project applying artificial intelligence, satellite data and numerical modelling for the autonomous detection of subtidal bathymetric change, and UK Principal Investigator on a United States Geological Survey project with Boston University examining the impacts of hurricanes on coastal wetlands. She was also Co-Investigator on the NERC-funded BlueCoast project.
🔗 Google Scholar:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vqOZDsYAAAAJ&hl=en&citsig=ANk4lt5NMX2Xn5mrelNJ0glDOIsc
Awards and Recognitions
• 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. 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