Dr Lee Hosking
Senior Lecturer in Energy Geomechanics

Summary

Lee is a Senior Lecturer in Energy Geomechanics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on numerical modelling of deep subsurface environments with attention to coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) phenomena, accurate and efficient fracture network representation, and damage evolution. For over 10 years, the main practical application of his research has been geological CO₂ storage with respect to storage capacity, injectivity, and migration/confinement. He has also worked on unconventional geothermal energy systems and radioactive waste disposal. Alongside his research, Lee teaches energy infrastructure engineering and climate change science and technology, and is Senior Tutor for Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Before joining Brunel in 2020, Lee was a postdoctoral researcher at the Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff University, where he performed research on CO₂ storage as part of the FLEXIS energy systems research project. He received his PhD from Cardiff University in 2014 for research on coupled THM behaviour during CO₂ injection in coal, having graduated with an MEng Civil Engineering, also from Cardiff University.

Lee's current research projects, funded by The Royal Society and EPSRC (via both UKCCSRC and Horizon Europe underwrite), are investigating key aspects of CO₂ storage linked with injection well integrity and the prediction and management of fluid injection-induced seismicity. These projects are being delivered alongside his national and international partners from academia and industry.

His professional affiliations include Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, membership of the Editorial Board for the journal Deep Underground Science and Engineering, and membership of the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre, British Geotechnical Association, and International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Within Brunel's research environment, he is part of the Centre for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Technologies as well as the Two-Phase Flow and Heat Transfer and Geotechnical and Environmental Engineering research groups.

Lee is always looking for talented and motivated PhD students as well as new collaborators for research projects.

Qualifications

• Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), 2022
• PhD in Geoenvironmental Engineering, Cardiff University, 2014
• MEng Civil Engineering (First Class Hons), Cardiff University, 2010

Responsibility

• Senior Tutor (Civil and Environmental Engineering)
• Chair of Student Experience Committee
• NSS Champion
• Digital Education Champion