Dr Emma Ferranti BSc MSc PhD AFHEA

• Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy 2011
• PhD Geography, Lancaster University 2011
• MSc Environmental Hazards, Lancaster University 2006
• BSc (Hons) Geography / Geology International, University of Leeds 2001

Emma was awarded her PhD in Geography from Lancaster University for her research that combined synoptic climatology and GIS to examine changing rainfall patterns in Northern England. After postdoctoral research posts in air quality with the Environment Agency and Lancaster University. In 2013, Emma moved to the University of Birmingham where she has worked as a Research Fellow on several different projects in GEES and School of Engineering. This includes holding Principal Investigator and/or Co-Investigator roles on national and international projects, and leading internal and external grant applications. To date, successful awards total £600k.

Emma currently holds an EPSRC Living with Environmental Change Fellowship (2018-2024, PI £321k) and a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (2016-2019, PI £90k).  

• The EPSRC fellowship, Bringing the Mediterranean to Birmingham, examines the impact of extreme heat on the interconnected infrastructure of the Midlands, and considers sustainable and biophilic heat adaptation solutions that would make the region a better place to live. Project Partners include HS2, Network Rail, Highways England, Birmingham City Council, Worcestershire County Council, Staffordshire County Council, techUK, and Met Office.
• The NERC MEDIATE fellowship facilitates knowledge exchange in the field of green and grey urban infrastructure. This includes regular workshops and meetings professional practitioners organised via the Trees & Design Action Group and West Midlands RTPI, and producing guidance documents for practitioners. First Steps in Urban Air Quality for Built Environment Practitioners (Ferranti et al., 2018) has had ~ 1,600 downloads January-September 2018.

Emma is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She currently supervises final year and MSc engineering dissertation projects, and teaches online group tutorials.

Recent research projects include:

Since 2018: EPSRC Living With Environmental Change Fellow, University of Birmingham

Bringing the Mediterranean to Birmingham examines the impact of extreme heat on the interconnected infrastructure of the Midlands, and considers sustainable and biophilic heat adaptation solutions that would make the region a better place to live. Project Partners include HS2, Network Rail, Highways England, Birmingham City Council, Worcestershire County Council, Staffordshire County Council, techUK, and Met Office.

Since 2016: Engineering Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

Several projects on transport resilience and adaptation to climate change including: visit to Rio de Janeiro to assess transport resilience with local partners through interviews; grant writing; journal article writing; workshop organisation; supervision of research assistants. She was recently awarded GEES pump-priming funds (£3K) and EPSRC GCRF IAA funding (£16K) for a project on mega-event legacies and sustainable, greener, climate-resilient cities (South Africa and Brazil).

Since 2016: NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow, University of Birmingham

The MEDIATE fellowship facilitates knowledge exchange on a wide range of topics (air quality, biodiversity, infrastructure developments) in the field of green and grey urban infrastructure. This includes regular workshops and meetings professional practitioners organised via the Trees & Design Action Group and West Midlands RTPI, and producing guidance documents for practitioners.

2014 - 2016: Summersense Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

Working closely with Network Rail this project explored the impact of heat on the railway network and evaluated the potential for innovative heat-risk management.

2013: SUMNs Research Fellow, University of Birmingham

Managing the legacy of Birmingham Urban Climate Laboratory (BUCL), including organising and delivering an end-user focused workshop, ultimately to ensure BUCLs long-term sustainability.

2012- 2013: Breathe Easier Research Associate, Lancaster University

Design and field tests of a new Passive Air Sampler to monitor particulates at Scunthorpe Steelworks, and investigate new analyses techniques (e.g. albedo, magnetic remanence).

• Co-facilitator of Trees & Design Action Group (TDAG) a network and charity that brings together individuals and organisations to improve knowledge and good practice to support the role of urban trees through better collaboration in the planning, design, construction and management and maintenance of our urban places.
• Co-Lead for the Infrastructure Theme at the Resilience Hub at COP26 in Glasgow. Curated a series of global events on infrastructure resilience delivered within the Blue Zone, including Chairing session, and presenting original research.
• Invited author for the Infrastructure Chapter (interdependencies section) of the Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk (2021) advice to government for the third Climate Change Risk Assessment.
• Member of the Infrastructure Operators Adaptation Forum (IOAF) working with infrastructure professionals, national and regional government, and the Climate Change Committee to ensure national infrastructure is resilient to climate change.
• Defra Forest & Woodlands Advisory Committee (North-West & West Midlands) and Urban Forest & Woodlands Advisory Committee, both roles advising Forestry Commission (since 2021).
• Birmingham City Council Urban Forest Master Plan Advisory Group & Tree Board (since 2020).
• Member of the NERC Advisory Network (since 2019), NERC Peer Review College (since 2020), and EPSRC Peer Review Associate College (since 2017).
• International Conference Scientific Steering Group Committee: Trees, People and the Built Environment 4 (2021).
• Institute for Global Innovation Clean Air: Engagement lead (since 2019).
• Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) Interdisciplinary Leadership Fellow (since 2016)