Personal profile
Personal Statement
Dr Kamranzad is a Chancellor’s Fellow and Lecturer (Global Talent Programme) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. With over 15 years of expertise in Ocean and Coastal Engineering, she specialises in the impacts of climate change on ocean dynamics, the sustainability of offshore renewable energies, and coastal resilience. She utilises advanced numerical modelling, AI, and hybrid computational approaches to address marine hazards and extreme events. Dr Kamranzad is also a Fellow of UArctic x Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
For her efforts in the fields of Energy, Oceanography, and Enabling & Strategic Technologies, she has been recognised among the Top 2% of Scientists Globally (2020–2022, 2024) by Stanford University and Elsevier. Her leadership in sustainability was further recognised as the 2023 Emerging Sustainability Leader by the MDPI Sustainability Foundation and the University of Basel.
Appointed by the Scottish Government, Dr Kamranzad serves on the Advisory Panel for ClimateXChange (Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Climate Change). As a delegate of the prestigious 2026 Royal Society Pairing Scheme, she is a dedicated proponent of bridging the gap between science and policy. She is the co-founder of the International Integrated Wave Energy Research Group (IIWER) and maintains strategic partnerships with industry leaders including Intertek Metoc, SSE Renewables, Wood PLC, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, and Wave Energy Scotland.
She leads the Coastal Engineering & Ocean Climate research group and the Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training (SCDT) in "AI-Based Ocean Forecasts for Marine Operation" (mArIneCAST CDT). She also acts as a supervisor for EPSRC Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) and Net Zero Technologies at the National Subsea Centre (NZTC) CDT.
As a Principal Investigator, she has secured substantial international grants (UK, Japan, China) and authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals (SCOPUS). Her editorial contributions include serving as Deputy Editor for Ocean Engineering and on the Advisory Editorial Board for Coastal Engineering. She has delivered invited talks at various public and reputable academic platforms, globally (see public and academic talks).
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Dr Kamranzad has demonstrated significant curriculum leadership at the University of Strathclyde, most notably by developing and serving as Module Lead for Coastal Engineering (CL814), a specialist subject she reintroduced to the department after a hiatus of more than a decade. Her commitment to international engineering education includes teaching within the International Joint Education Programme (IJEP) at Yunnan University, China, for the course Water and Environmental Systems (2023–2024). She currently coordinates the Individual Projects (CL448) and MEng Dissertation (CL516) modules, while providing academic supervision for Independent Study in Collaboration with Industry (CL973). Furthermore, she acts as a supervisor for MSc dissertation (CL980, CL953, CL944, CL930, and EV900
Dr Kamranzad’s career is marked by highly competitive international appointments. Prior to joining the University of Strathclyde, she held a prestigious Assistant Professorship at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University (2018–2022), a position awarded through a rigorous global selection process with an acceptance rate of less than 4%. Her foundational research in Japan began at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, through a highly selective Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2016–2018), an internationally competitive fellowship with a sub-10% acceptance rate. In 2022, she further expanded her UK network as a Visiting Academic within the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London.
Ongoing Research Activities and Leadership
Arctic Climate and Extremes
- Principal Investigator, Impact of Marine Heatwaves on Sea Ice for Arctic Navigational Safety
- Principal Investigator, Arctic Wave Climate Response to Global Warming
- Contributor to the “UK Arctic Ocean and Coastal Research for IPY5; Knowledge Gaps, Ambitions and Capabilities” report (Theme 4: Hazards and Resilience), led by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
- Organising session “Resilience in a Changing Ocean: Bridging Nature-Based Approaches, Conservation Science, and Maritime Governance”, AGU-Ocean Sciences Meeting, 2025
- Member, Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN)
- Member, “Ice” Special Interest Group, Challenger Society for Marine Science
Marine (Hybrid) Renewable Energy
- Supervisor, PhD project Hybrid Renewable Energy in a Changing Climate
- Co-founder, International Integrated Wave Energy Research (IIWER) Group
- Co-supervisor, IDCORE (EPSRC Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy)
- Member, “Ocean Wind Waves” Special Interest Group, Challenger Society for Marine Science
AI in Ocean Modelling and Maritime Safety
- Supervisor, Strathclyde Centre for Doctoral Training (SCDT) in AI-Based Ocean Forecasts for Marine Operations
- Member, “Ocean Modelling” Special Interest Group, Challenger Society for Marine Science
- Co-supervissor, Net Zero Technologies at the National Subsea Centre (NZTC) CDT
Coastal Resilience
- Supervisor, PhD project Monitoring Coastal Systems: High-Resolution Techniques for Environmental Change Detection
- Member, European Marine Board (EMB) Working Group The Dynamics of Coastal Waters under Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers: Applying Digital Twin and Similar Technologies to Obtain New Insights
- Module Leader and Lecturer, CL814 – Coastal Engineering (10 credits), University of Strathclyde
Climate Change
- Member, Advisory Panel, ClimateXChange (Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Climate Change)
- Collaborator, Future Coastal Ocean Climates (FLAME) community, NOC
- Member, Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project (COWCLIP) international research group
On the Media & Public Outreach:
- 2026, Dr Bahareh Kamranzad: why AI forecasting will matter more as Arctic shipping enters a less predictable era, SeaNews UK
- 2026, Strathclyde academic joins Royal Society Pairing Scheme 2026, University of Strathclyde News
- 2026, UArctic x LRF Fellows: Research Visit to Hokkaido University on Arctic Marine Heatwaves and Sea Ice, University of the Arctic News
- 2025, Marine heatwaves and sea ice: implications for Arctic navigational safety, Lloyd's Register Foundation
- 2025, University leads groundbreaking research on Arctic Sea temperature rise , University of Strathclyde News
- Researcher part of global study on future climate threats to coastal oceans, University of Strathclyde News
- 2025, Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) Webinar, "Coastal Resilience in a Changing Climate Challenges and Opportunities"
- 2024, One Ocean Hub, From the coast to the ocean depths: co-developing innovative solutions for sustainable development
- 2024, Building Collaborative Relationships Between Researchers in Scotland and Japan
- 2023, Interview with 2023 Emerging Sustainability Leader Award Finalists
- 2023, MDPI Sustainability Talks, University of Basel
- 2.23, From “Maladaptation” to “Antifragility”: Coastal areas under the combined impact of changing climate and development of ocean renewables, Nature Portfolio Earth and Environment Community
- 2022, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Reaching Net-Zero Emissions with Ocean Renewable Energies
- 2022, Japan-China High-level Expert Symposium on Energy Transition,
- 2020, DAAD-Kyoto University partnership programme towards SDGs
- 2019, DWIH Tokyo, AI for SDGs – How Can AI Help Solve Environmental Challenges? (Japanese-German-French Conference)
- 2019, Kyoto University IPCC weeks 2019 Report
- 2019, Roundtable discussion with the president of Kyoto University (in Japanese)
Keywords
- Ocean Engineering
- Coastal Engineering
- Ocean renewable energy
- Climate change
- Ocean Waves
- Arctic Science
- Numerical modeling
- Artificial Intelligence
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
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SDG 13 Climate Action
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SDG 14 Life Below Water
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Towards Enhanced Coordination Of Disaster Risk Management And Governance Through A Holistic Framework For Multi-Level And Cross-Sectoral Interaction And Communication (TOGETHER)
White, C. (Principal Investigator), Kamranzad, B. (Co-investigator) & Tubaldi, E. (Co-investigator)
European Commission - Horizon Europe + H2020
1/11/25 → 31/10/28
Project: Research
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Monitoring Coastal Systems: High-Resolution Techniques for Environmental Change Detection
Kamranzad, B. (Principal Investigator), Henriquez-Mui, F. (Co-investigator), Zou, Q. (Co-investigator) & Evans , P. (Co-investigator)
1/10/25 → 30/09/28
Project: Internally funded project
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Long-term relationship between marine heatwaves and sea-ice variability in the Arctic ocean
Kamranzad, B. & Blockley, E., 7 Jun 2026.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
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Six decades of Arctic Sea ice and surface temperature change: implications for emerging navigation routes
Kamranzad, B., 28 May 2026.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review
Prizes
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2023 Emerging Sustainability Leader Award
Kamranzad, B. (Recipient), Jul 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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26th IUGG general assembley travel grants
Kamranzad, B. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Introduction to Numerical Wave Modelling
McWhirter, J.-L. (Speaker) & Kamranzad, B. (Speaker)
3 Mar 2026Activity: Talk or Presentation › Invited talk
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Impact of Marine Heatwaves on Sea Ice for Arctic Navigational Safety
Kamranzad, B. (Speaker)
5 Mar 2026 → 6 Mar 2026Activity: Talk or Presentation › Invited talk
Impacts
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Top 2% of Scientists Globally for 2023
Kamranzad, B. (Participant)
Impact: Impact - for External Portal › Education