Luisa Orsini

Professor Luisa Orsini is a Professor of Evolutionary Systems Biology and Environmental Omics at the University of Birmingham's School of Biosciences, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ). She holds an Alan Turing Fellowship and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her roles also include Co-founder and CEO of Daphne Water Solutions and Founder/CTO of EnviSion BioSequencing and BioComputing.

Education: PhD (2003) from University of Messina/Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn, Italy; MSc in Environmental Science (1999) from Istituto Universitario Navale, Naples, Italy. Her postdoctoral training spanned institutions in Belgium, Finland, and Austria, funded by prestigious fellowships such as the Belgian Research Council (FWO) and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Research focuses on two core themes: biodiversity-environmental pollution linkages and mechanisms of adaptation to environmental change. Key projects include the 'Biodiversity Time Machine' framework using AI to predict biodiversity loss, and resurrecting dormant crustaceans (Daphnia) to study long-term evolutionary responses. Her work bridges ecology, genomics, and AI, with applications in sustainable water solutions and environmental justice.

Awards and recognitions include the Alan Turing Fellowship (2019–2021), Member of the Royal Society of Biology (2020), and certifications in academic leadership and enterprise. Her research has been featured in high-impact journals like Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Nature Communications, and Molecular Ecology, with over 60 publications and 2,700 citations.

Advising and Grants: Supervised over 20 PhD/Master’s students and postdocs, including Marie Curie Fellows. Led grants from BBSRC, EPSRC, and Innovate UK, focusing on bioremediation, AI-driven ecology, and wastewater valorization.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Environmental Omics Sequencing Facility (EnviSion) and collaborates with the Daphnia facility at the University of Birmingham. Engages in interdisciplinary projects with the Alan Turing Institute and Goethe University Frankfurt.