Prof. Caterina Valeo, PhD, PEng.
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Welcome
Dr. Caterina Valeo is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Victoria and an Adjunct Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. Her research program focuses on environmental informatics and urban water resources engineering.
Recent work in the group has focused on hydrologic uncertainty and stormwater modelling, low impact development and urban climate adaptation, nutrient leaching and treatment in bioretention systems, and sensing approaches for vegetated green infrastructure.
Environmental Informatics: “Research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information.”
— UK Natural Environment Research Council
Latest Research News
🌟 Featured Research Project
Urban Forestry & Climate Change Mitigation
Tackling Climate Change One Tree At A Time - Featured in Chatelaine Magazine, April 2024
Supported by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and carried out with the City of Vancouver and collaborators at the University of Victoria and the University of Calgary, this project studies how urban forestry can reduce extreme heat and improve stormwater performance in dense urban settings.
The work examines Rainwater Tree Trenches (RTTs), which combine structural soils, subsurface drainage, and tree planting. It sits alongside recent review work on low impact development under changing climate conditions and more applied studies of porous pavements and other stormwater treatment systems.
The goal is to provide evidence that can inform urban forestry and green infrastructure planning in Vancouver and in other cities facing similar heat and stormwater pressures.
Research Areas
🌿 Climate Adaptation & Green Infrastructure
Recent publications examine how low impact development (LID) practices such as bioretention cells, permeable pavements, porous asphalt, and rainwater tree trenches can support climate adaptation. Current work considers performance across scales, nutrient and metal treatment, and the role of green infrastructure in reducing runoff and urban heat.
Key Projects:
- LID performance and scaling in urban catchments
- Rainwater tree trenches for urban cooling and stormwater control
- Permeable pavement and porous asphalt performance in cold climates
Collaborators: Dr. Angus Chu, Dr. Jianxun He (University of Calgary), Dr. Rishi Gupta, Dr. Rustom Bhiladvala (University of Victoria)
💧 Bioretention, Water Quality & Monitoring
Research in this area combines laboratory studies, field monitoring, and sensing to study:
- Nutrient leaching in amended and non-amended bioretention systems
- Heavy metal removal in porous and bioretentive media
- Biomass and vegetation monitoring in green infrastructure
Study Contexts: vegetated green infrastructure, treed bioretention cells, stormwater ponds, treatment media, and urban drainage installations in western Canada
Collaborators: Dr. Usman Khan, Dr. Jennifer He, Dr. Angus Chu, Dr. Cathryn Ryan, Dr. Norman Neumann, Dr. Sylvia Checkley
📊 Hydrologic Uncertainty & Urban Systems Modelling
Recent modelling work examines how uncertainty in spatial inputs affects runoff prediction and flow estimates. This includes fuzzy-entropy approaches to hydrologic uncertainty, reproducible stormwater modelling workflows, comparisons between deterministic hydrologic methods and large language model outputs, and recent work on flood impacts on transportation systems.
Methods: PCSWMM and related hydrologic models, uncertainty quantification, fuzzy methods, agentic workflows, and data-driven analysis tools
Contact Information
Dr. Caterina Valeo, PEng
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
University of Victoria
PO Box 1700, STN CSC
Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
📧 Email: valeo@uvic.ca
📞 Phone: (250) 721-8623
Adjunct Professor, Civil Engineering
University of Calgary
📧 Email: valeo@ucalgary.ca