Liviana Sciuto

Liviana Sciuto is a Fixed-term Assistant Professor (RTDa) in Agricultural Hydraulics and Watershed Protection (AGRI-04/A) at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Italy, where she has been conducting research within the Hydraulics and Territory Research Group since 2020.

She obtained her Master's Degree in Territorial, Environmental and Landscape Protection in 2019, graduating with honours, and her PhD in Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science in March 2024, with honours and the additional distinction of Doctor Europaeus.

Her research focuses on sustainable water resources management, with particular emphasis on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) for urban flood risk mitigation and climate change adaptation. Her scientific interests also include wastewater treatment and reuse through constructed wetlands, soil and water conservation, ecological restoration, and biomass valorisation for renewable energy production.

Her research activities integrate experimental monitoring, field investigations, remote sensing, GIS-based spatial analysis, and hydrological and hydraulic modelling using HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS and EPA SWMM. Particular attention is devoted to evaluating the hydrological, hydraulic and environmental performance of Nature-Based Solutions and their contribution to urban resilience and sustainable water management.

She has actively contributed to several national and international research projects, including CARDIMED (Horizon Europe), GIFLUID (INTERREG Italy–Malta), TRESOR (INTERREG Italy–Tunisia), and NBS4STORWATER (PRIN). Within these projects, she has participated in the design, implementation and monitoring of full-scale Nature-Based Solutions, including green roofs, rain gardens and constructed wetlands. Her current research within CARDIMED focuses on the implementation and performance assessment of urban Nature-Based Solutions for flood risk mitigation in Mediterranean cities, with particular reference to the Catania demonstration site.

Her international research experience includes a three-month research stay at the Energy and Water Agency (Malta) and scientific collaborations with several European universities and research institutions, including BOKU University (Austria), the Technical University of Crete (Greece), and Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Poland).

Since September 2026, she has served as a Member of the Management Committee (Young Water Professional Affiliate) of the International Water Association (IWA) Specialist Group on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control, for the 2026–2030 term. In this role, she contributes to the Specialist Group's activities, promoting international scientific collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the engagement of early-career researchers and professionals in the field of nature-based wastewater treatment and sustainable water management.

Since the 2024/2025 academic year, she has been involved in teaching activities within Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes at the University of Catania, covering hydrology, water resources management, soil bioengineering, ecological restoration, wastewater treatment and reuse.

She is the author and co-author of several scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3658-176X) and actively contributes to the dissemination of research findings through international conferences, workshops and scientific collaborations.