Jennifer McKinley

A fully-funded PhD position is available at Newcastle University, focusing on the design and evaluation of multi-functional Blue Green Infrastructure (BGI) under climate change. BGI is a solution to mitigate surface water flooding and offers benefits for biodiversity, health, and water quality. The project aims to develop an interactive framework using optimisation tools to explore decision spaces in BGI design, considering policy levers, management strategies, climate change projections, rainfall events, and broader design constraints. The research will also address multiple benefits such as ecological connectivity and urban heat mitigation. The PhD is part of the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water, funded by the Fernhill Foundation through Community Foundation Ireland. Supervisors include Professors Claire Walsh and Hayley Fowler (Newcastle University) and Professor Jennifer McKinley (Queens University Belfast). The studentship provides a £24,000 annual living allowance, research grant, and covers tuition fees. Eligibility is restricted to UK and Irish nationals. The application deadline is 20 September 2025, with a start date in January 2026. Interested candidates should visit the provided link for further details and application instructions.