Dr Sarah Greenham BSc (Hons) MSc PhD

Dr Sarah Greenham

Department of Civil Engineering
Research Fellow

Contact details

Email
s.greenham@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Sarah conducts and leads highly interdisciplinary, impact-focused research. She utilises knowledge, methods, and insights across engineering, environmental, and socio-economic disciplines to maximise the co-benefits of climate change adaptation and nature-based solutions for infrastructure and the built environment.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, 2023
  • MSc in Climate Change and Sustainability, Brunel University London, 2018
  • BSc (Hons) in Urban Planning, Design and Management, University College London, 2011

Biography

Sarah joined the University of Birmingham in 2018 where she began her PhD in Civil Engineering. The research conducted for her PhD thesis, “Quantifying the impacts of heat and climate change on London Underground’s infrastructure” was completed in collaboration with stakeholders at Transport for London (TfL), which own and operate the London Underground network. The research features in TfL’s adaptation strategy and its adaptation reporting to UK Government.

Currently, Sarah works across multiple exciting interdisciplinary research projects on climate change adaptation in the built environment, which are motivated by stakeholder engagement and decision-first principles to deliver practical and accessible tools, resources, and support for policymakers. She co-designed award-winning geospatial methodologies for mapping climate risk and vulnerability across Birmingham and the West Midlands, UK, which are embedded into local and regional authority planning. Sarah co-leads work packages across her current projects (CARMINE, funded by EU-Horizon; and WM-Adapt, funded by UKRI) to enhance climate risk mapping, and develop policy pathways to support research and innovation across multiple levels of governance for climate change adaptation.

Postgraduate supervision

Sarah currently supervises four PhD students conducting the following research projects:

  • Operational network resilience to weather events to improve future climate resilience
  • Novel machine learning techniques in quantifying the relationship between urban trees and climate change
  • What is the role of urban forest strategies in climate resilience?
  • Every tree matters: Closing the establishment-performance gap to ensure trees deliver Nature-based Solutions

She is willing to supervise Undergraduate and Masters student dissertation projects, supervise PhD students in the following areas:

  • Impacts of weather and climate change on infrastructure and the built environment
  • Geospatial/GIS-led analysis of environmental factors on society e.g., heat, flooding, storms, air pollution
  • Nature-based solutions and climate-sensitive urban design
  • Policy implications of adapting to climate change

Research

Current research projects:

Past research projects:

  • Increasing decision-makers' capacity to adapt transport infrastructure to the impacts of heat and climate change: A TfL case study, funded by EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account. Research Fellow and Principal Investigator, 2024-2025
  • Climate risk and vulnerability assessment for the West Midlands (WM-CRVA), funded by NERC. Research Fellow and Co-Investigator, 2024
  • Clean air science for the West Midlands (WM-Air), funded by NERC. Impact Fellow for Work Package in Urban Design and Green Infrastructure, 2022-2024
  • Adaptation for Transport Resilience to Climate Change in LICs in Africa and South Asia (AfTR-CC), funded by IMC Worldwide. Research Fellow, 2021-2022

Other activities

  • Member of and PGR Liaison for the Resilient Systems and Climate Action research group
  • Lead Author (Infrastructure chapter) of the fourth UK National Climate Change Risk Assessment
  • Member of the Infrastructure Operators Adaptation Forum (IOAF)
  • Member of the Transportation Adaptation Steering Group (TASG)
  • Member of UNECE Group of Experts on Assessment of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Inland Transport
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Alumnus, Summer Program 2019

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Greenham, S, Ferranti, E, Jones, S, Zhong, J, Grayson, N, Needle, S, Acton, J, MacKenzie, AR & Bloss, W 2024, 'An open access approach to mapping climate risk and vulnerability for decision-making: A case study of Birmingham, United Kingdom', Climate Services, vol. 36, 100521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2024.100521

Greenham, S, Workman, R, McPherson, K, Ferranti, E, Fisher, R, Mills, S, Street, R, Dora, J, Quinn, A & Roberts, C 2023, 'Are transport networks in low-income countries prepared for climate change? Barriers to preparing for climate change in Africa and South Asia', Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol. 28, no. 8, 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-023-10078-1

Sultan, H, Grayson, N, Jones, S, Pike, D, Greenham, S, Needle, D, Sadler, J & Frew, E 2023, 'Green space and environmental justice — a new metric to guide resource allocation', Journal of Town and Country Planning , vol. 92, no. 6, pp. 410-418. <https://www.tcpa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Nov-Dec23.pdf>

Ferranti, E, Cook, S, Greenham, S, Grayson, N, Futcher, J & Salter, K 2023, 'Incorporating Heat Vulnerability into Local Authority Decision Making: An Open Access Approach', Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 18, 13501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813501

Greenham, S, Ferranti, E, Powell, R, Drayson, K & Quinn, A 2023, 'The impact of heat on London Underground infrastructure in a changing climate', Weather, vol. 78, no. 6, pp. 170-175. https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4421

Commissioned report

Cork, N, Greenham, S, Ferranti, E, Haskins, B, Harris, D & Bloss, W 2025, Mapping climate risk & vulnerability onto the West Midlands transport network: A guidance document produced by the WM-Air project. University of Birmingham.

Greenham, S, Ferranti, E, Cork, N, Jones, S, Zhong, J, Haskins, B, Higgins, W, Grayson, N, Needle, S, Acton, J, MacKenzie, AR & Bloss, W 2024, Mapping Climate Risk and Vulnerability in the West Midlands: A guidance document produced by the WM-Air project. University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00004371

Greenham, S, Jones, S, Ferranti, E, Zhong, J, Acton, J, MacKenzie, AR & Grayson, N 2023, Mapping climate risk and vulnerability with publicly available data. A guidance document produced by the WM-Air project. University of Birmingham.

Greenham, S, Workman, R, Ferranti, E, McPherson, K, Quinn, A, Street, R, Dora, J, Fisher, R, Mills, S, Packham, K & Baxter, W 2022, Climate-Resilient Transport: A policy guide for low-income countries in Africa and South Asia. <https://transport-links.com/hvt-publications/climate-resilient-transport-a-policy-guide>

Ferranti, E, Greenham, S & Wood, R 2021, Adaptation pathways for infrastructure operators and policymakers.

Acton, J, Anderson, P, Andres, L, Angus, M, Amor, P, Arrowsmith, J (ed.), Asmelash, H, Bartington, S (ed.), Bengtsson, F, Bhullar, L, Bloss, W, Bonet, B, Börner, S, O Bonsu, N, Bryson, JR, Burns, V, Burrows, A, Calvert, C, Cassidy, N, Cavoski, A, Chadyiwa, M, Chapman, H, Chapman, L, Cockram, M, Degendardt, L, Dickinson, D, Ding, Y, Dobrzynski, D, Dolo, M, Dora, J, Ercolani, M, Ersoy, A, Farag, H, Ferranti, E, Fisher, R, Freer, M, Goldmann, N, Goode, CE, Greenham, S, Gulati, S, Hadfield-Hill, S, Harper, G, Hegerl, G, Hillmansen, S, Holmes, J, Huang, JJ, Huser, C, Jackson, R, Jaroszweski, D, Jefferson, I, Johnson, J, Kaewunruen, S, Kelly-Akinnuoye, F, Kettles, G, Kraftl, P, Krause, S, Leckebusch, GC, Lee, R, Lockwood, B (ed.), Lohse, J, Luna Diez, E, Lynch, I (ed.), MacKenzie, R, Maddison, D, Makepeace, J, Mann, V, Marino, R, Mavronicola, N, McDonald, M, McGowan, K (ed.), Metje, N, Ng, K, Nicol, J, O'Sullivan, C, Phalkey, N, Prestwood, E, Pyatt, N, Quinn, A, Radcliffe, J (ed.), Ravi, M, Reardon, L, Reeder, T, O’Regan, P, Remedios, L, Roberts, J, Rogers, C, Rungskunroch, P, van Schaik, W, Swan, J (ed.), Thomson, I, Toft, H (ed.), Tong, J, Botello Villagrana, F, Walton, A, Wason, C (ed.), Weir, C, Wood, R & Zhong, J 2021, Addressing the climate challenge. University of Birmingham. https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003451

Conference contribution

Greenham, S, Ferranti, E, Cork, N, Jones, S, Zhong, J, Haskins, B, Grayson, N, Needle, S, Acton, J, MacKenzie, R & Bloss, W 2025, Scaling up from local to regional: progress in mapping climate risk and vulnerability across the West Midlands for decision-making. in T Blanuša & M Gush (eds), Proceedings of the III International Symposium on Greener Cities: Improving Ecosystem Services in a Climate-Changing World (GreenCities2024). 1 edn, Acta Horticulturae, vol. 1429, International Society for Horticultural Science, Wisley, Woking, UK, pp. 439-448. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1429.53

Brettle, D, Chapman, L, Clark, T, Ferranti, E, Greenham, S, Griffiths, N, McDermott, I & Needle, S 2025, Urban forestry citizen science and community-based stewardship in Birmingham - the UK's second largest city. in Proceedings of 27th European Forum on Urban Forestry "Urban Forests for Resilient and Healthy Cities" (EFUF 2025). European Forum on Urban Forestry, 27th European Forum on Urban Forestry 2025, Zurich, Switzerland, 3/06/25. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16384791

Other contribution

Greenham, S, Workman, R, Ferranti, E, McPherson, K, Quinn, A, Street, R, Dora, J, Fisher, R, Mills, S, Packham, K, Baxter, W & Roberts, C 2022, Climate-resilient transport: a policy guide. <https://transport-links.com/download/climate-resilient-transport-a-policy-guide/>

Review article

Fisher, R, Ferranti, E, Greenham, S & Quinn, A 2024, 'Climate change resilience beyond the mainline railway: a review', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering, vol. 177, no. 5, pp. 20-26. https://doi.org/10.1680/jcien.23.00101

View all publications in research portal