Ella is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Chemical, Materials, and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, where her research within the Sustainable Materials

at Sheffield team focuses on Cement Chemistry for applications in both low-carbon construction and nuclear waste disposal. Her expertise covers foundational knowledge of a range of cement systems as well as both fresh- and hardened-state cement characterisation, including calorimetry, XRD, SEM, FTIR, NMR, and TGA.

She has recently completed her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Brant Walkley at the University of Sheffield, with her thesis titled Understanding the Reaction, Structural Evolution, and Physical Property Development of Low-carbon Alkali-activated Slag Cements. This research predominantly explored the viability of low-carbon near-neutral activating solutions for use in slag binders, with particular focus on studying the early reaction mechanisms and kinetics in situ at lab-scale.

Prior to her postgraduate research, Ella completed her undergraduate integrated master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2021. Her MEng research project was conducted within the SMASH group under the supervision of then-PhD student Cassandre Le Galliard, producing a dissertation entitled Carbonation-induced Nanostructural Changes in Alkali-activated Cements.

In addition to research, Ella has been recognised as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for her teaching and supervision of UG, MSc/MEng, and junior PhD students. She is also a Grantham Scholar having been selected for and since completed the training programme for the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures throughout her PhD.