Rebecca Jane Lunn is a Professor and Head of the Centre for Ground Engineering and Energy Geosciences at the University of Strathclyde. I Lunn studies flow and transport systems in the shallow crust in an effort to characterise uncertainty in nuclear waste disposal,. Lunn developed techniques to monitor microseismic activity at depths of several kilometres. She has also investigated self-healing grouts, She researches bacterials and microbial populations in prosthetic liners; research has also considered the development of cheap, safe and comfortable prosthetic limbs. Lunn leads two Engineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilNuclear Waste consortia: Biogeochemical Applications in Nuclear Decommissioning and Waste Disposal and Systems Approach For Engineered Barriers. The BANDD consortia includes the investigation of biomineralisation to seal radionuclides and to seal rock fractures. SAFE developed technology that can monitor thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical reaction variables, including pH, temperature, pressure and swelling.
Lunn remained at Newcastle University as a postdoctoralresearch associate, modelling systems for groundwater and mineral transport, until 1997 and. Lunn joined the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer in 1997. She moved to Heriot-Watt University in October 2000. In 2005 Lunn joined the University of Strathclyde. She was made Professor in 2010 and Head of Department in 2011. In 2011 she was the first woman to be made the Head of an Engineering Department in Scotland. She was the first woman to win the Aberconway Medal in 2011. She is a member of the Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Storage soluTIons for NuClear wasTe InVEntories collaboration.
Policy and academic service
In 2009 Lunn was appointed to the Government of the United KingdomCommittee on Radioactive Waste Management. She delivered a public lecture about challenges of disposing of radioactive waste. Lunn served as a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh inquiry into the future of energy in Scotland. The inquiry looks to assess energy demand in Scotland and investigate how the energy demand may be met. Lunn also serves on the EPSRC engineering Research Council’s Strategic Advisory Team. Lunn is engaged in activities to improve gender balance in science. She was invited onto the Royal Society of Edinburgh Working Group on Women in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, who produced a report to Scottish Ministers in 2012. The report, Tapping All Out Talents, made a series of recommendations, including ensuring that universities obtained an Athena SWAN Silver Award and encourage shared parental leave. The report was revised in 2018, encouraging behavioural change across the sector. Lunn is Programme Director on the EPSRC Inclusion Matters project STEM Equals. The proposal looks to build initiatives for LGBT scientists and engineers at the University of Strathclyde.
