Christina Higgins, MSc, MInsP, MIEnvSci
Senior Consultant, Acoustic and Environmental
Get to know the expert
Background
Christina is an acoustician and building physicist with over 13 years of professional experience in engineering. She has worked at large multidisciplinary engineering firms and specialised consultancies, with extensive experience in site investigation of building performance failures. Christina has acted as discipline lead for multiple projects in the United Kingdom and internationally, across all sectors, delivering acoustic design across RIBA stages 2-5 and producing technical reports from the planning and environmental impact assessment stage through to construction.
Christina has a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (imminent completion) from the University of Surrey. Her research developed a novel methodology for assessing the feasibility of natural ventilation in buildings. The work spans building physics, fluid mechanics, and indoor air quality. Christina has several published academic papers, has presented at multiple international conferences, and acts as a trusted peer reviewer for journals, conferences, and grant applications. She has lectured on acoustics and engineering at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Surrey and Central Saint Martins, UAL.
Education and Certifications
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, PhD: University of Surrey (due Q3 2026)
- Environmental and Architectural Acoustics, MSc: London South Bank University (2013)
Associations and Memberships
- Member: Institute of Physics
- Member: Institution of Environmental Sciences
Publications
- Higgins, C J, (2026). “Wind tunnel modelling of natural ventilation flow”, Nature Reviews Clean Technology (accepted).
- Higgins, C J, Mezei, T, Carpentieri, M, Placidi, M, Hughes, S J, (2026). “Desk-level CO2 sensing for monitoring occupancy and indoor environmental quality”, Indoor Air (submitted).
- Higgins C J, Hayden, P, Carpentieri, M, Placidi, M, Hughes S J, (2026) “Wind tunnel measurements of combined wind- and buoyancy-driven natural ventilation flow, Journal of Building Engineering (in preparation).
- Higgins, C J, (2026) “A review of acoustics metrics in indoor environmental quality assessments”, Building and Environment (in preparation)
- Clinchard, S, Maula, H, Jacobs, P, Staszowska, A, Bhattacharjee, S, Dudzinska, M, Dimitroulopoulou, S, Higgins, C J, Fan, X., Park, J-H, Toyinbo, O, Haverninen-Shaughnessy, U (2025) “Lessons learned from developing the worldwide IEQ guidelines database”, Indoor Environments
- Higgins, C J, Kumar, P, Morawska, L. (2024) “Indoor air quality monitoring and source apportionment using low-cost sensors: a review”, Environmental Research Communications
- “Wind tunnel modelling of combined wind- and buoyancy- driven natural ventilation flow”, Higgins, C J, Urban Fluid Mechanics/Wind Engineering Society Meeting, London, UK, 2025.
- “Wind tunnel modelling of combined wind- and buoyancy- driven natural ventilation flow”, Higgins, C J, Healthy Buildings Europe, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2025.
- “Wind tunnel modelling of combined wind- and buoyancy- driven natural ventilation flow”, Higgins, C J, Constructed Environment, Berlin, Germany, 2025.
- “Monitoring occupancy and spatiotemporal variation in indoor environmental quality with distributed sensing”, Higgins, C J, UK Indoor Environments Group, Glasgow, UK, 2024.
- “Monitoring occupancy and spatiotemporal variation in indoor environmental quality with distributed sensing”, Higgins, C J, Constructed Environment, Vienna, Austria, 2024.
- “An investigation into the Helmholtz resonators of the Queen Elizabeth Hall”, Higgins, C J, International Congress on Acoustics, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016.
- “An investigation into the Helmholtz resonators of the Queen Elizabeth Hall”, Higgins, C J, Ramboll Technical Excellence Forum, London, UK, 2015.
- “An investigation into the Helmholtz resonators of the Queen Elizabeth Hall”, Higgins, C J, Institute of Acoustics 40th Anniversary, Harrogate, UK, 2014.