Kristen is a University Associate Professor in Engineering, Environment and Sustainable Development, and a chartered civil engineer with an interest in how resilience and sustainability concepts can be applied in decision making associated with the planning and design of infrastructure projects.
Before returning to a role in academia, Kristen worked for several years as a consulting engineer in the water and transport sectors.
Her research now focuses on systems analysis to advance approaches for managing risks and system resilience. Using cross-disciplinary research methods and examining information from different system levels (from international policy to local or even individual decision-making behaviours), she investigates governance issues in the management of critical infrastructure and the delivery of major projects. Her research encompasses developing quantitative network models and, more unusually for an engineer, analysing qualitative data through stakeholder liaison techniques. Her group’s work spans systems engineering, resilience analysis, disaster risk management, disaster recovery, climate change adaptation and decarbonisation.