Profile
I am a Doctoral Prize Fellow in the School of Architecture, Building, and Civil Engineering, developing my research on urban form and disaster risk within the DAEDALHUSS Pilot Study (Designating All Encompassing Disaster-risk Assessment on the Layout of Historical Urban Streets and Squares).
I have a PhD in Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction from Loughborough University, and an MSc in Architectural Engineering from Universita’ degli Studi di L’Aquila (Italy). I was trained in the UNESCO International Training Course on Disaster Risk Management for Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto (Japan). I am active in the area of Disaster Risk Management For Cultural Heritage, where I operate in synergy with a network of international and UK academic and non-academic partners. My communication and training activities for an integrated approach to heritage and DRR are aimed at built environment professionals, heritage professionals, and civil protection.
Since 2014 I have been teaching architecture-related disciplines within international and multicultural contexts between Italy, Turkey, and the UK. As a lecturer, I worked in the School of Fine Arts and Architecture at Antalya International University (Turkey), teaching in the areas of Urban Design and Sustainability, and Construction Materials and Technologies (2015-2017). At Loughborough, as a University Teacher in the Architecture School, I led the modules of Design Studio A (undergraduate) and Contemporary Cities: Theory and Design (postgraduate), and supported the modules of Design Skills, Architectural History, and Critical Theory (2021-2023). I am currently leading the module of Disaster Risk Management for the Built Environment, part of the Civil Engineering programme.
As a built environment professional, between 2010 and 2015 I operated in the post-earthquake reconstruction in L’Aquila (Italy) where I was involved in projects of retrofit and restoration of RC and traditional stone masonry structures (2010-2015).
At Loughborough University I also worked as a Doctoral Leader in the Institute of Advanced Studies (2020), co-chaired the SABCE Hub Committee (2018-2021), and joined, then led, the Doctoral Researchers Representative team in the ABCE School (2018-2020).
Awards
- C-DICE Research Development Grant (2023)
- Loughborough University Doctoral Prize Fellowship (2023)
- Loughborough University Doctoral College Research Student Prize (2020)
- Highly commended in SABCE Doctoral Researcher Excellence Award (2020)
- Finalist in the Santander Impact Award (2019)
External activities
- Member of the Interdisciplinary pan-Wales network for Climate Heritage (September 2023)
- Invited expert at the OAR and Italian Civil Protection professional webinar series on post-earthquake reconstruction (November 2022)
- Guest lecturer at the 2021 ISAR International Architecture Summer School on Post Disaster Reconstruction, ‘Reviving depopulated towns’ (July 2021)
- Invited expert at the ICCROM international training course ‘First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis’ (November 2019)