Emily So

Professor Emily So serves as Deputy Head of the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cambridge and directs the Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment (CURBE). A chartered civil engineer with extensive field experience, she holds leadership roles in the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership and chairs the Faculty EDI Committee.

Her research focuses on urban risk and resilience, particularly in earthquake-prone regions. Combining structural engineering with epidemiological approaches, she develops innovative casualty estimation models and engages directly with affected communities worldwide. Her work spans seismic safety, disaster epidemiology, and remote sensing applications for rapid damage assessment.

Professor So's publication trends reveal strong emphasis on machine learning for disaster risk modeling, with recent work featuring graph neural networks, deep clustering for urban morphology, and LSTM-based population forecasting. Her research bridges engineering, social sciences, and data science to address resilience in developing nations.

• 2010 Shah Family Innovation Prize (Earthquake Engineering Research Institute)
• Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE)
• Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) member advising UK government

As Director of CURBE, she leads interdisciplinary collaborations with EEFIT, Global Earthquake Model (GEM), World Bank, and USGS. Her field investigations following major earthquakes inform practical solutions for vulnerable communities, notably contributing to the 2017 World Building of the Year design in China. Current work includes sabbatical research for 2025-2026 focused on decolonizing architectural approaches to disaster resilience.

Professor So maintains active roles in professional organizations and international disaster response frameworks, with her CURBE team developing methodologies now implemented globally for seismic safety improvements.