Research Team

Prof Becky Lunn, MBE

Principal Investigator

Becky Lunn is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair and is Head of the Centre for Ground Engineering and Energy Geosciences in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE). She is an experienced Government Energy Advisor, including six-year membership of the UK Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. She is currently a member of EPSRC’s Science Advisory Team for Engineering and has led >£6M of research projects funded by EPSRC, NERC, Innovate UK and industry. She was awarded the Geological Society’s Aberconway Medal (2011) for research with the nuclear industry.

Becky has a significant track record of supporting Women in Engineering and is one of the most highly regarded female academics in Scotland/UK in this area. In recognition of her research and her support of women in engineering, the Saltire Society named her one-of-ten ‘Outstanding Women of Scotland’ in 2015. Her activities in support of women in STEM led to an invitation to the Prime Minister's reception on International Women's Day. She was honoured with an MBE for her contribution to Higher Education by the Queen in 2017.

Dr Jessica Gagnon

Research Fellow

Jessica Gagnon (she/her) has worked in higher education in the US and UK for 20 years. Sge is a sociologist of higher education whose research is primarily focused on inequalities in higher education. She co-wrote the research funding grant bid for and led the Office for Students funded Changing Mindsets project, a two year, multi-university research project focused on the unequal experiences and outcomes of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and socio-economically disadvantaged students in the UK. She was also a researcher for the University of Portsmouth led Learning Gain project, a multi-university, mixed methods project focused on understanding staff, student, employer, and parent perceptions of learning gain and the value of higher education degrees.

Jessica has a PhD in Education and an MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Sussex, an MA in Higher Education from Santa Clara University, and a BA in English and Journalism from Framingham State University. She is a first-generation student from a working-class, single mother family. In addition to her research, she has taught at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels, particularly modules focused on research methods in the social sciences.

Dr Marco Reggiani

Research Associate

Marco Reggiani (he/him) has been researching urban development, place identity, mobilities, and public life – particularly in the context of Japan. He has a PhD in Architecture from the University of Tokyo, and a Master in Building and Architectural Engineering from the University of Bologna. In addition to his research, he has taught and tutored at the postgraduate level and has two years of experience as an architect.

Marco is passionate about diversity and inclusion, and he has published and presented results of his work in a variety of international venues. In 2016, he co-founded the research and design collective Urban Research Table. He is also the author of Giappomania an illustrated nonfiction book about Japanese culture and lifestyle translated in four languages.