Elif Bengi Gunes Yerlikaya

My research mainly asks who benefits from urban heat adaptation. While urban heat island effects disproportionately impact vulnerable communities in poorly insulated housing or on low incomes, nature-based cooling solutions often risk concentrating their benefits in already advantaged areas. To address this, I am developing an Al-based mufti-objective optimisation framework that treats cooling efficiency and spatial fairness as simultaneous goals. By integrating UK temperature data with a multi-dimensional social vulnerability index, the project quantifies these trade-offs to deliver policy ready scenarios for climate-resilient UK cities.

I hold a BSc in City and Regional Planning (2020) and an MSc in City Planning (2023, graduating with high honours) from Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye. My master’s research examined the climate vulnerabilities of Syrian migrants in Istanbul using GIS-based mapping and fieldwork. Prior to starting my PhD, I worked as a Research Assistant at Gebze Technical University, supporting courses in spatial analysis, urban geography, and planning theory. I am also a registered member of the TMMOB Chamber of City Planners and the Turkish National Committee of Regional Science.

During my master’s research and publication process, I identified and mapped where climate vulnerability hits hardest. However, I increasingly felt the need to move beyond diagnosing inequalities toward actively designing solutions.  Doctoral research offers the intellectual freedom to define meaningful questions, challenge assumptions, and navigate uncertainty. I see developing these capacities as the core of a PhD.

My project offers the framework to co-design research alongside key stakeholders, such as the Met Office and Charnwood Borough Council, ensuring that data modelling leads to actionable and equitable solutions. This project gives me space to combine analytical depth with applied thinking: to make assumptions explicit, test how different choices lead to different outcomes, and produce something that can be used in practice.

I was drawn to CENTA because it frames doctoral research exactly as I view it: a holistic process of building an identity as a collaborative researcher, academic, and civic contributor. It brings my background in social science, spatial planning, and human geography into a vibrant, interdisciplinary environmental science community. The variety of structured training, cross institutional networking, student conferences and placement opportunities foster genuine peer learning and critical reflection. Ultimately, this provides the ideal ecosystem to make my research visible and test data models beyond academia.

My earlier experience in the public sector showed me that decision makers need more than data: they need feasible, cost effective models that deliver the greatest social benefit with limited resources. CENTA’s partnership network, funded structure, and training ecosystem provide the exact framework and stability needed to translate complex spatial research into practical policy solutions.  After my PhD, I aim to develop decision-support tools that help local governments and planners allocate infrastructure investments equitably. Long term, I hope to establish an academic research group that collaborates directly with international organisations and local authorities, ensuring that technical climate modelling underpins distributive justice for the most disadvantaged communities.