Dr Rachel Thorley is an Assistant Professor and Fellow in Engineering, and Deputy President of Churchill College SCR.

In her role as CORE Fellow, she is responsible for community, outreach and recruitment activities in engineering, and developing the engineering community within and beyond college. She founded and hosts Churchill’s annual All-Engineers’ and Women in STEM lectures and dinners. These are now a firm fixture and real celebrations of academic and career achievement and community at Churchill.

Her research interests lie in sustainability, environmental monitoring and carbon sequestration across the natural, agricultural and built environments.  She is most excited about multidisciplinary work, as only by collaborating across disciplines and nations can we solve some of the world’s most complex pressing challenges. Her background brings together experience from engineering as a lecturer, her research background in biogeochemistry and plant sciences, and MA in Natural sciences.

She is also passionate about education and developing talent and has worked as both a secondary school physics teacher and engineering lecturer.

In education, her main interests are in helping engineering and STEM students develop awareness of sustainability, cultural agility, and professional career skills. She leads numerous outreach programs to make Cambridge University more accessible to young people from underrepresented backgrounds, these include Sustainable Urban Futures, Living Lab: Climate Action and MedTech Inspire.

At Churchill she developed and leads the ACCEL programme (the Academy for Churchill College Enterprise and Leadership), in collaboration with the Møller institute.  

Outside of university, she has a love of design and creativity and is a keen member of a local makerspace workshop, building her skills in digital and physical making. Currently she is working on projects that combine environmental monitoring and robotics.

Positions and CV

Assistant Professor (Affiliated with Div D, Civil Engineering, University of Cambridge)

Deputy President Churchill College SCR

Lecturer in Engineering, University of Sheffield

High School Teacher (Physics)

Researcher, University of Sheffield

PhD, University of Sheffield (Geoengineering by Enhanced Weathering: The role of forest trees and their mycorrhizal fungi in carbonate weathering and phosphorus biogeochemical cycling)

MA Newnham College, University of Cambridge (Natural Sciences)