ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´

Contact

• workRoom A9 Sir Clive Granger Building
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 84 66143
• Emily.O'donnell@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Emily holds an MSci in Geographical Sciences from the University of Bristol in 2006 (First Class Hons) and PhD in Geography (carbon cycling in subglacial environments) from the University of Bristol, where she received the award for Best Research Degree Thesis in the Faculty of Science in 2012/2013 and a Postgraduate Commendation for Excellence in a Doctoral Thesis. After completing her PhD, Emily lectured in Physical Geography at the University of Bristol and moved to the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ in 2013. Emily was a postdoctoral researcher and project manager on several national and international interdisciplinary research projects, exploring the multiple flood risk benefits of Blue-Green Cities (Blue-Green Cities), transformative change in urban flood risk management (Urban Flood Resilience), and multifunctional blue-green infrastructure for climate change adaptation (Blue-Green Futures). She started her research and teaching position in September 2022.

Expertise Summary

My research experience spans the following areas:

Urban Flood Risk Management

Blue-Green Cities

Climate Adaptation

Urban Heat Vulnerability

Blue-Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Drainage Systems

Social Learning (e.g. Learning and Action Alliances)

Public Perceptions

Stakeholder Engagement

Professional affiliation

Fellow of the

Teaching Summary

I am the current Course Director for the MSc Global Environmental Sustainability.

I teach on the undergraduate degree programmes for Geography (BA/BSc), as well as the MSc programmes in Environmental Leadership & Management and Global Environmental Sustainability, on the following modules:

Global Frontiers in Sustainability (GEOG4110) (module convenor)

Project Preparation Design and Management (GEOG4116)

Climate Change Decision-making in Context (GEOG4095)

Freshwater Management (GEOG3115) (module convenor)

Beer: Environment, Place and Culture (GEOG3067)

Rivers in the Landscape (GEOG2008)

Techniques in Geography (GEOG2081)

Research Tutorial (GEOG2030)

Global Challenges (GEOG1093)

Dissertation supervision

Tutorials

PhD supervision:

Katherine Hart - A river catchment classification framework to optimise and inform future freshwater monitoring and policy in the UK.

Yizhou Wen - Enhancing urban climate resilience to connect the Nature-Based Solutions and Urban Metabolism. UNNC.

Paulina Baranowska - Exploring the Diagnostic Value of the Stable Oxygen Isotope Signature in Nuclear Forensics.

Megan Hatton - Modelling Flood Risk Along Selected Sites of the Great Ouse River: A Social Perception Approach.

Wei-Ling (Osteen) Chang - Executive Risk Communication and Foreign Population's Awareness of Disaster Risk Management in Taiwan.

MRes supervision:

Ragnar Mularczyk - Investigating the potential for green roofing in Nottingham, UK. Awarded in April 2024.

Research Summary

My research specialises in urban flood risk and water management, climate adaptation, Blue-Green Cities, social learning, and stakeholder engagement. I am interested in how cities are addressing… read more

Selected Publications

• O'DONNELL, E., GOSLING, S. N., KUNDA, J. J. and PRIESTNALL, G., 2026. Sustainable Cities and Society. 149, p.107729
• WEN, Y., O'DONNELL, E., SONG, L., LONG, T., LOBO, J., CHEN, W-Q. and CHAN, F. K. S., 2026. Landscape and Urban Planning. 272, p.105665
• ZHU, Y., FENG, M., FANGFANG, N., O'DONNELL, E., CHAN, F. K. S. and WANG, Z., 2026. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 66, p.103555
• DAWSON, D. A., O'DONNELL, E., BOND, S., WILLIS, T., HUCK, H. and SHERWOOD, M., 2025. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 18(4), p.e70127

• View all publications

Current Research

My research specialises in urban flood risk and water management, climate adaptation, Blue-Green Cities, social learning, and stakeholder engagement. I am interested in how cities are addressing current and future urban water and extreme heat challenges associated with climate change, urbanisation and ageing infrastructure, and how visions may be developed for Blue-Green urban futures; where multifunctional Blue-Green infrastructure (e.g. green roofs, swales, rain gardens and ponds) is delivered by cross-organisational collaborations to generate environmental and societal co-benefits. I work closely with UK local government and industry stakeholders to explore options for multifunctional blue-green infrastructure that can deliver benefits to the environment, society and the economy while creating environments resilience to future climate change.

I am currently working on:

1. Exploring public perceptions of urban rivers (e.g. Nottingham's River Leen) and sustainable drainage systems to better understand how people engage with blue-green spaces in urban environments, and how spaces can be improved to generate social and environmental benefits.

2. Understanding vulnerability to extreme heat (e.g. ) and exploring the cooling potential of blue-green infrastructure for enhancing adaptive capacity.

3. Co-producing strategies that identify urban climate risks and adaptation options with academics, practitioners and policymakers.

Past Research

Urban heat exposure and vulnerability

Visioning sustainable futures

Urban flood risk management using blue-green infrastructure

Postdoctural research: I was involved in several national and international research consortia exploring how urban flood and water management could be transformed to address the impacts of climate change while delivering co-benefits to the environment, economy and society. I led the research on four interdisciplinary projects:

• Blue-Green Cities (2013-2016, EPSRC) that developed new strategies for managing urban flood risk as part of wider, integrated urban planning intended to achieve environmental enhancement and urban renewal
• Urban Flood Resilience (2016-2021, EPSRC) that aimed to enable the coordinated planning, design and operation of closely coupled urban water systems necessary to achieve transformative change in urban flood risk and water management
• Blue-Green Futures (2019-2021, British Academy), a UK-USA-China-Netherlands collaboration the explored how multifunctional infrastructure could address water challenges under Blue-Green futures
• River Leen (2019-2021), investigating how the delivery of Blue-Green infrastructure could drive economic growth and place making, funded by the ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ Interdisciplinary Research Cluster Initiative.

• WEN, Y., O'DONNELL, E., SONG, L., LONG, T., LOBO, J., CHEN, W-Q. and CHAN, F. K. S., 2026. Landscape and Urban Planning. 272, p.105665
• O'DONNELL, E., GOSLING, S. N., KUNDA, J. J. and PRIESTNALL, G., 2026. Sustainable Cities and Society. 149, p.107729
• ZHU, Y., FENG, M., FANGFANG, N., O'DONNELL, E., CHAN, F. K. S. and WANG, Z., 2026. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 66, p.103555
• DAWSON, D. A., O'DONNELL, E., BOND, S., WILLIS, T., HUCK, H. and SHERWOOD, M., 2025. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 18(4), p.e70127
• O'DONNELL, E., SNELLING, A. M. and LAMOND, J. E., 2025. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 18(1), e12868
• O'DONNELL, E., DOLMAN, N., EVERETT, G., KAPETAS, L., NCUBE, S. and THORNE, C., 2024. Chapter 8: Managing flood risk in Blue-Green Cities. In: LAMOND, J., PROVERBS, D. and BHATTACHARYA MIS, N., eds., Research Handbook on Flood Risk Management Edward Elgar Publishing. 97-111
• SNELLING, A. M., LAMOND, J. E., EVERETT, G., O'DONNELL, E., AHILAN, S. and THORNE, C., 2023. Urban Water Journal. 21(2), 181-189
• QI, Y., CHAN, F. K. S., FENG, M., GRIFFITHS, J., HUTCHINS, M., O'DONNELL, E., THORNE, C., LIU, L., ZHANG, C. and LI, X., 2023. River. 2(1), 109-125
• KRIVTSOV, V., AHILAN, S., BIRKINSHAW, S., DAWSON, D. A., EVERETT, G., GLENIS, V., KAPETAS, L., KILSBY, C., LAMOND, J. E., MENDOZA TINOCO, D., NCUBE, S., O'DONNELL, E., POTTER, K., VILCAN, T., WRIGHT, N. and THORNE, C., 2022. Blue-Green Cities: Achieving Urban Flood Resilience, Water Security, and Biodiversity.. In: BREARS, R., ed., The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures Palgrave Macmillan.
• O′DONNELL EC, NETUSIL NR, CHAN FKS, DOLMAN NJ and GOSLING SN, 2021. Water. 13(4), 544
• GREEN, D., O'DONNELL, E., JOHNSON, M.F., SLATER, L., THORNE, C.R., ZHENG, S., STIRLING, R., CHAN, F.K.S., LI, L. and BOOTHROYD, R.J., 2021. Green infrastructure: the future of urban flood risk management? Wires Water. 8, e1560
• O'DONNELL, E. C, GOSLING, S. N., NETUSIL, N. R., CHAN, F. K. S. and DOLMAN, N. J., 2021. Journal of the British Academy. 9(9), 143-182
• QI, YUNFEI, SHUN CHAN, FAITH KA, GRIFFITHS, JAMES, FENG, MEILI, SANG, YANFANG, O'DONNELL, EMILY, HUTCHINS, MICHAEL, THADANI, DIMPLE R., LI, GANG, SHAO, MENGQI, XIE, LINJUN, LIU, SITONG, ZHANG, CHUNGUANG, LI, XINAN, LIU, LINGYUN and ZHONG, MING, 2021. WATER. 13(19),
• PLUCHINOTTA, IRENE, PAGANO, ALESSANDRO, VILCAN, TUDOREL, AHILAN, SANGARALINGAM, KAPETAS, LEON, MASKREY, SHAUN, KRIVTSOV, VLADIMIR, THORNE, COLIN and O'DONNELL, EMILY, 2021. SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY. 67,
• QI, Y., CHAN, F. K. S., O'DONNELL, E. C., FENG, M., SANG, Y., THORNE, C., GRIFFITHS, J., LIU, L., LIU, S., ZHANG, C., LI, L. and THADANI, D., 2021. Frontiers in Water.
• O'DONNELL, EMILY C and THORNE, COLIN R, 2020. Drivers of future urban flood risk. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. 378(2168), 20190216
• O'DONNELL, EMILY, MASKREY, SHAUN, EVERETT, GLYN and LAMOND, JESSICA, 2020. Developing the implicit association test to uncover hidden preferences for sustainable drainage systems. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. 378(2168), 20190207
• O'DONNELL E, THORNE C, AHILAN S, BIRKINSHAW S, BUTLER D, DAWSON D, EVERETT G, FENNER R, GLENIS V, KAPETAS L, KRIVTSOV V, LAMOND J, MASKREY S, O'DONNELL G, POTTER K, VERCRUYSSE K, VILCAN T and WRIGHT N, 2020. Blue-Green Systems. 2(1), 28-45
• MASKREY S, VILCAN T, O'DONNELL E and LAMOND J, 2020. Environmental Science and Policy. 107, 198-205
• O'DONNELL E, THORNE C, YEAKLEY JA and CHAN, FKS, 2020. Journal of the American Water Resources Association.
• QI, Y., CHAN, F. K. S., THORNE, C., O'DONNELL, E. C., QUAGLIOLO, C., COMINO, E., PEZZOLI, A., LI, L., GRIFFITHS, J., SANG, Y. and FENG, M., 2020. 12(10), 2788
• O'DONNELL, E. C. and THORNE, C., 2020. Urban flood risk management: the blue–green advantage. In: THORNE, C., ed., Blue-Green Cities
• O'DONNELL, E. C., MASKREY, S., SKENDERIAN, M., O'BRIEN, H., VANN, J. and THORNE, C., 2020. Overcoming barriers to innovation in urban flood risk management. In: THORNE, C., ed., Blue-Green Cities
• FENNER, RICHARD, O'DONNELL, EMILY, AHILAN, SANGARALINGAM, DAWSON, DAVID, KAPETAS, LEON, KRIVTSOV, VLADIMIR, NCUBE, SIKHULULEKILE and VERCRUYSSE, KIM, 2019. Achieving Urban Flood Resilience in an Uncertain Future WATER. 11(5),
• O'DONNELL, E, LAMOND, J and THORNE, C.R., 2018. Environmental Science & Policy. 80, 1-8
• TANG, Y-T, CHAN, F.K.S., O'DONNELL, E, GRIFFITHS, J, LAU, L, HIGGITT, D.L and THORNE, C.R, 2018. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 1-14
• O'DONNELL, E, THORNE, C and YEAKLEY, J. A, 2018. Journal of Flood Risk Management.
• O'DONNELL, E, LAMOND, J and THORNE, C, 2017. Urban Water Journal. 14(9), 964-971
• O'DONNELL, E, WOODHOUSE, R and THORNE, C, 2017. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Management.
• O'DONNELL, E, WADHAM, J, LIS, G, PICKARD, A, STIBAL, M, TRANTER, M, DEWSBURY, P and FITZSIMONS, S, 2016. Identification and analysis of low molecular weight dissolved organic carbon in subglacial basal ice ecosystems by ion chromatography Biogeosciences. 13, 3833-3846
• WADHAM, J, HAWKINGS, J, TELLING, J, CHANDLER, D, ALCOCK, J, O'DONNELL, E, KAUR, P, BAGSHAW, E, TRANTER, M, TEDSTONE, A and NIENOW, P, 2016. Biogeosciences. 13, 6339-6352
• HAWKINGS, J, WADHAM, J, TRANTER, M, LAWSON, E, SOLE, A, COWTON, T, TEDSTONE, A, BARTHOLOMEW, I and NIENOW, P, 2015. Geochemical Perspectives. 1, 94-104
• THORNE, C, LAWSON, E, OZAWA, C, HAMLIN, S and SMITH, L, 2015. Journal of Flood Risk Management.
• EVERETT, G, LAWSON, E and LAMOND, J, 2015. Green infrastructure and urban water management. In: SINNETT, D, BURGESS, S and SMITH, N, eds., Handbook on Green Infrastructure: Planning, design and implementation Edward Elgar. 50-66
• LAWSON, E, 2015. In: UDG Autumn Conference & Exhibition 2015.
• E. LAWSON, J. WADHAM, M. TRANTER, M. STIBAL, G. LIS, C. BUTLER, J. LAYBOURN-PARRY, P. NIENOW, D. CHANDLER and P. DEWSBURY, 2014. Biogeosciences. 11, 4015–4028
• LAWSON, E, THORNE, C, AHILAN, S, ALLEN, D, ARTHUR, S, EVERETT, G, FENNER, R, GLENIS, V, KILSBY, C, LAMOND, J, MANT, J, MASKREY, S, MOUNT, N, SLEIGH, A, SMITH, L and WRIGHT, N, 2014. In: Flood Recovery Innovation and Responses, 2014 Poznan, Poland. WIT Press.
• LAWSON, EMILY C., BHATIA, MAYA P., WADHAM, JEMMA L. and KUJAWINSKI, ELIZABETH B., 2014. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. 48(24), 14248-14257
• WRIGHT, N, THORNE, C and LAWSON, E, 2014. In: 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics HIC 2014, New York City, USA.
• WADHAM JL, ARNDT S, TULACZYK S, STIBAL M, TRANTER M, TELLING J, LIS GP, LAWSON E, RIDGWELL A, DUBNICK A, SHARP MJ, ANESIO AM and BUTLER CEH, 2012. Nature. 488(7413), 633-7
• STIBAL, MAREK, WADHAM, JEMMA L., LIS, GRZEGORZ P., TELLING, JON, PANCOST, RICHARD D., DUBNICK, ASHLEY, SHARP, MARTIN J., LAWSON, EMILY C., BUTLER, CATRIONA E. H., HASAN, FARIHA, TRANTER, MARTYN and ANESIO, ALEXANDRE M., GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY. 18(11), 3332-3345
• STIBAL, MAREK, LAWSON, EMILY C., LIS, GRZEGORZ P., MAK, KA MAN, WADHAM, JEMMA L. and ANESIO, ALEXANDRE M., ANNALS OF GLACIOLOGY. 51(56), 1-8