Dr Ciara Higham (she/her)
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Research Associate in Healthy Indoor Environments
Full contact details
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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Ciara Higham received an MMath&Phys degree from the University of Manchester before joining the Centre for Doctoral Training in Fluid Dynamics at the University of Leeds, where she completed an MSc in Fluid Dynamics and a PhD focusing on characterising the emission and dispersion of aerosols that are generated when flushing the toilet. She then worked as a Research Fellow in Aerosol Deposition in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. In 2026, she joined the University of Sheffield as a Research Associate working on Air Hub, an EPSRC Micro Network Plus.
Her current research focuses on methods for sampling indoor air, alongside co-designed studies to inform and guide this work.
- Research interests
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Ciara’s research interests centre on indoor air quality, with a particular focus on the development, evaluation, and application of sampling methods for particulate matter and bioaerosols to support understanding of exposure in indoor environments. She is interested in understanding the underlying operating principles of air sampling devices, including their limitations and uncertainties, and in developing robust approaches for processing and interpreting sampler data outputs. While her work primarily focuses on airborne pathways, she also has experience investigating surface contamination as part of wider exposure assessments.
She also has a strong interest in stochastic modelling approaches for estimating human exposure to airborne contaminants, with an emphasis on capturing variability and uncertainty in indoor environments. She has previously used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a tool to model airflow and contaminant transport in indoor spaces, enabling improved understanding of airborne exposure pathways in the built environment.
Alongside this, Ciara is passionate about public engagement and is particularly interested in co-designed research studies, working with end-users to ensure that research questions, study design, and outcomes are relevant, inclusive, and impactful.
- Research group
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RISE