Ilaria Micella

Italy

Innovative forecasting approaches to assess future trends in pollutant flows from land to water systems for advancing sectoral water quality services, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

I moved my first steps in environmental sciences world with a BSc in Environmental and Land Planning Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy). In 2018, I moved to Bologna (Italy) to enrol in the international double degree programme “Earth Resources Engineering” at the Alma Mater Studiorum University, choosing a major in Earth resources management. In my class, I was one of the two winners of the programme’s scholarship for obtaining a double degree. Accordingly, I spent the second year of my MSc at the University of Liege (Belgium), where I joined the Environmental and Geological Engineering MSc programme. In 2020, I graduated with a thesis on evaluating the risk of groundwater pollution through the combination of hazards and groundwater vulnerability maps.

During all my studies I have always been interested in Climate studies; therefore, after finishing my engineering curricula, I enrolled in a second level master programme in Science and Management of Climate Change at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). This experience was important for the development of new skills and critical thinking. I developed a new point of view to look at all the environmental issues I have always worked on, and also a holistic view of water-related problems. I have had several experiences working with public environmental agencies and universities. The first one was a curricular internship I did for my Master thesis research. I worked on environmental data mining and manipulation for the Département de l’Environnement et de l’Eau (DEE) and for the Département des Permis et Autorisations (DPA) at Service Public Wallonie (SPW). Later, in 2021, I collaborated with the DAIS department of Unive and CMCC as a trainee involved in the European Horizon 2020 EMERGE project (Evaluation, control and Mitigation of the Environmental impacts of shipping Emissions).

My interests comprehend integrated system analysis and modelling, water quality and quantity evaluation, hydrogeology, climate change management and adaptation, risk assessment, ecology and political ecology.