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Dr Scott Orr

Dr Scott Orr

Lecturer

Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources

Faculty of the Built Environment

Joined UCL
1st Mar 2016

Research summary

My research uses data-driven multi-scale approaches to further understanding and management of heritage, with a particular focus on the historic environment and climate change.

Some current areas of active research include:

  • climate change risk assessment for heritage
  • microclimatic effects of urban greening on heritage buildings
  • CFD modelling and semi-empirical representation of wind-driven rain
  • assessment of salt crystallisation risk
  • non-destructive testing for moisture measurement in masonry
  • leveraging social media and open data for improving access to heritage

This work, although fundamental in nature, has also informed national and international agendas on heritage, as well as national and international policy on culture, heritage, and climate change.

Teaching summary

I am the Programme Director for the MSc in Data Science for Cultural Heritage, which pioneers a new way of teaching data science through application in the transdisciplinary context of cultural heritage. I lead on several modules, including Heritage Data Mapping and Visualisation and an Introduction to Heritage Science, having previously led on application-based and skills-oriented modules including Technologies and Digital Approaches for Built Heritage and Heritage Data Management.

I am also currently the Departmental Graduate Tutor (Research) for the Institute for Sustainable Heritage, with oversight and responsibility for the wellbeing and academic progression of postgraduate research students.

I have developed and delivered short course programming for the Foundation for the Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) on statistics, data science, and data visualisation. I have also been an invited lecturer at the University of Amsterdam on data visualisation for conservation and other institutions on climate change and sustainable heritage more broadly.

Education

University of Oxford
Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 2018
University College London
Other higher degree, Master of Research | 2015
University of Toronto
First Degree, Bachelor of Applied Science | 2014

Biography

Dr Scott Allan Orr has been a lecturer in Heritage Data Science at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage (within the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy, and Resources) since 2019. An engineer with broad interests, his research primarily uses data-driven approaches to further understanding and management of heritage, with a particular focus on the historic environment and climate change. His research emphasises a holistic approach to considering heritage within its natural, anthropogenic, and sociocultural contexts. He is the Programme Director for the MSc Data Science for Cultural Heritage, on which he teaches modules about heritage data visualisation and heritage science.

Publications