• scott.thacker@ouce.ox.ac.uk

• Cross-Cutting Theme

Dr Scott Thacker is an Honorary Research Associate of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford and a Senior Analyst at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). His research focuses on understanding the current and future performance of national infrastructure systems, in a variety of countries and contexts globally, with a focus on climate adaptation and sustainable development.

As a member of the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC), Scott has developed pioneering methodology and a variety of successful collaborations with practitioners from across government and industry. Examples include: the identification of criticality hotspots with Infrastructure UK at HM Treasury; coordinating analysis for the UK’s first systems-based assessment of national infrastructure needs with Sir John Armitt at the Institution of Civil Engineers; and completing a first-of-its-kind interdependency climate change risk assessment for the UK’s planned £56 billion High Speed 2 rail project.

In his current role with UNOPS, Scott is working to develop and demonstrate a new generation of infrastructure systems-of-systems based methodologies and tools to support countries to identify adaptable pathways to sustainable development. This contributes towards UNOPS’ broader programme of Evidence Based Infrastructure Development, which is being rolled-out in a variety of political and geographic contexts including in post-disaster, post-conflict, and developing economies, rapidly developing city-states, and small island nations from South and Central America, to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Alongside interaction with infrastructure practitioners, Scott is an active member of the academic community and has published research on the topics of applied infrastructure network risk, climate change adaptation, long-term infrastructure planning, infrastructure for sustainable development, environmental sustainability and complex networks. In 2014, he was awarded the ICVRAM Young Scientist Award for his research into the vulnerability of future electricity networks in the UK. In 2015, he was awarded the Society for Risk Analysis Merit Prize for his work on multi-scale infrastructure systems risk.

Scott holds a PhD in infrastructure systems modelling from the University of Oxford, an MSc in hydro-informatics and water management from Newcastle University and a BEng in civil engineering from Loughborough University.

• Infrastructure for sustainable development
• Climate adaptation assessment and planning
• Infrastructure network risk and resilience
• Infrastructure systems modelling

2019

• Fuldauer, L.I., Ives, M.C., Adshead, D., Thacker, S. and Hall, J.W. (2019) Participatory planning of the future of waste management in small island developing states to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. Journal of Cleaner Production, 223: 147-162.
• Ives, M.C., Hickford, A.J., Adshead, D., Thacker, S., Hall, J.W., Nicholls, R.J., Sway, T., Abu Ayyash, M., Jones, R. and O'Reagan, N. (2019) A systems-based assessment of Palestine's current and future infrastructure requirements. Journal of Environmental Management, 234: 200-213.
• Thacker, S., Adshead, D., Fay, M., Hallegatte, S., Harvey, M., Meller, H., O'Regan, N., Rozenberg, J., Watkins, G., and Hall, J.W. (2019) Infrastructure for sustainable development. Nature Sustainability, 2(4): 324-331.
• Thacker, S., Adshead, D., Morgan, G., Crosskey, S., Bajpai, A., Ceppi, P., Hall, J.W. and O'Regan, N. (2019) Infrastructure: Underpinning Sustainable Development. United Nations Office for Project Services, Copenhagen, Denmark.

2018

• Adshead, D., Fuldauer, L., Thacker, S., Hickford, A., Rouhet, G., Muller, W.S., Hall, J.W. and Nicholls, R. (2018) Evidence-based infrastructure: Curacao. National infrastructure systems modelling to support sustainable and resilient infrastructure development. United Nations Office for Project Services, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Pant, R., Zorn, C., Thacker, S. and Hall, J.W. (2018) Systemic Resilience Metrics for Interdependent Infrastrucutre Networks. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Reliability Engineering and Risk Management (6ISRERM) 31 May - 1 June 2018, Singapore.

2017

• Hall, J.W., Thacker, S., Ives, M.C., Cao, Y., Chaudry, M., Blainey, S.P. and Oughton, E.J. (2017) Strategic analysis of the future of national infrastructure. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering, 170(1): 39-47.
• Ives, M. and Thacker, S. (2017) How civil engineers can help the UK meet the Paris Agreement on climate. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering, 170(1).
• Nesheli, M.M., Ceder, A., Ghavamirad, F. and Thacker, S. (2017) Environmental impacts of public transport systems using real-time control method. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 51: 216-226.
• Pant, R., Hall, J.W., Thacker, S., Barr, S. and Alderson, D. (2017) National scale risk analysis of interdependent infrastructure network failures due to extreme hazards. ITRC working paper series Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK.
• Pant, R., Thacker, S. and Hall, J. (2017) System-of-systems Framework for Global Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessments. GGKP Annual Conference, November 27-28, Washington DC, US.
• Pant, R., Thacker, S., Hall, J.W. and Alderson, D. (2017) Critical infrastructure impact assessment due to flood exposure. Journal of Flood Risk Management.
• Thacker, S., Barr, S., Pant, R., Hall, J.W. and Alderson, D. (2017) Geographic Hotspots of Critical National Infrastructure. Risk Analysis.
• Thacker, S., Hall, J.W. and Pant, R. (2017) Preserving Key Topological and Structural Features in the Synthesis of Multilevel Electricity Networks for Modeling of Resilience and Risk. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 24(1).
• Thacker, S., Hall, J.W., Russell, T., Pant, R., Leung, J. and Koks, E. (2017) System-of-systems infrastructure modelling to support national sustainable development outcomes. Proceedings of the 2017 International Symposium of Next Generation Infrastructure, London, UK
• Thacker, S., Kelly, S., Pant, R., Hall, J.W., (2017) Evaluating the Benefits of Adaptation of Critical Infrastructures to Hydrometeorological Risks. Society for Risk Analysis.
• Thacker, S., Pant, R., Hall, J.W. (2017) System-of-Systems Formulation and Disruption Analysis for Multi-Scale Critical National Infrastructures. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 167: 30-41.
• Thacker, S., Russell, T., Hall, J.H. (2017) The national infrastructure systems model for international contexts (NISMOD-Int). Proceedings of the 2017 annual meeting on Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty, Oxford, UK.. 28-29.

2016

• Kelly, S., Leverett, E., Oughton, E.J., Copic, J., Thacker, S., Pant, R., Pryor, L., Kassara, G., Evan, T., Ruffle, S.J., Tuveson, M., Coburn, A.W., Ralph, D. and Hall, J.W. (2016) Integrated Infrastructure: Cyber Resiliency in Society, Mapping the Consequences of an Interconnected Digital Economy. Cambridge Risk Framework series Centre for Risk Studies, University of Cambridge
• Pant, R., Thacker, S., Hall, J.W., Alderson, D. and Barr, S. (2016) Critical infrastructure impact assessment due to flood exposure. Journal of Flood Risk Management.
• Pant, R., Thacker, S., Hall, J.W., Alderson, D., Barr, S. and Kelly, S. (2016) Analysing the risks of failure in interdependent infrastructure networks. In, Hall, J.W., Tran, M., Hickford, A.J. and Nicholls, R.J. (eds.) The future of national infrastructure: a system-of-systems approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. pp. 241-267.

2014

• Barr, S., Alderson, D., Robson, C., Otto, A., Hall, J.W., Thacker, S. and Pant, R. (2014) Building interdependent infrastructure networks and customer assignment models for understanding spatial demands. Proceedings of the 2014 conference on The Future of National Infrastructure Systems and Economic Prosperity, University of Cambridge, UK
• Hu, X., Hall, J.W. and Thacker, S. (2014) Too Big to Fail? The Spatial Vulnerability of the Chinese Infrastructure System to Flooding Risks. Vulnerability, Uncertainty and Risk: 704-714.
• Thacker, S., Pant, R. and Hall, J.W. (2014) Characterizing the Vulnerability of Future Configurations of Great Britain’s Electricity Network Infrastructure to Climate-related Hazards. Vulnerability, Uncertainty and Risk: 648-657.

2013

• Barr, S., Alderson, D., Robson, C., Otto, A., Hall, J.W., Thacker, S. and Pant, R. (2013) A National Scale Infrastructure Database and Modelling Environment for the UK. In: Campbell P. and Perez P. (Eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium of Next Generation Infrastructure, Wollongong, Australia.
• Pant, R., Thacker, S., Hall, J.W., Barr, S. and Alderson, D. (2013) Analyzing interdependent infrastructure provisions under extreme climate risks. In: Campbell P. and Perez P. (Eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium of Next Generation Infrastructure, Wollongong, Australia.