International Summer School 2026
Climate change in coastal areas: hot topics, future projections, impacts

Filippo Giorgi is an internationally recognized climate scientist whose work spans climate modeling, climate‑change impacts, biosphere-atmosphere interactions, and chemistry-climate processes. Over more than three decades, he has played a central role in advancing regional climate modeling and understanding the physical mechanisms driving climate variability and change. He received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1986 and subsequently spent twelve years as a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. In 1998 he joined the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, where he leads the Earth System Physics section. Giorgi has authored over 420 peer‑reviewed publications and is among the most cited researchers in the geosciences; a 2020 Stanford University analysis ranked him 11th worldwide in Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics. He contributed to the first five assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and served as a Vice‑Chair of Working Group I from 2002 to 2008, during the period in which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. His distinctions include the 2018 Alexander von Humboldt Medal of the European Geosciences Union, recognizing his outstanding contributions to climate research and scientific capacity building in developing countries.

Benjamin Horton is the Dean of the School of Energy and Environment and Chair Professor of Earth Science at City University of Hong Kong. A leading authority on sea‑level change, climate extremes, and coastal hazards, his research integrates geological records, geophysical processes, and climate‑model projections to understand past, present, and future coastal risks. He has authored more than 300 peer‑reviewed publications widely cited across climate science and environmental policy. He has contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a Review Editor for the Sixth Assessment Report and the Conference of Parties (COP), providing expertise on sea‑level rise, coastal hazards and climate communication. In Hong Kong, he plays an active role at the science‑policy interface through research on coastal‑risk assessment and climate‑adaptation strategies that support regional planning and resilience. Before joining CityU, Professor Horton served as Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore and held academic positions at Nanyang Technological University, Rutgers University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He was also the AXA Chair in Natural Hazards, reflecting his leadership in global climate‑risk research.

P.E. Ph.D., Civil/environmental engineer and hydrologist
Dr. Montalto is a civil engineer interested in the development of ecologically, economically, and socially sensible solutions to urban environmental problems, with a focus on water resources, sustainability, and climate resilience. His about 30 years of experience have included research, planning, and design of a variety of nature-based solutions involving ecological restoration of degraded landscapes, the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater and stormwater treatment, as well as work with “green infrastructure” and “low impact development” technologies as a means of managing urban runoff, while promoting urban sustainability and resilience. He is a Professor at Drexel University, where he directs the Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Lab. He is also the Founder and President of eDesign Dynamics LLC, an environmental consulting firm based in New York City, with an international portfolio of projects. He serves as co-chair of the Fifth New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC5), the Director of the North American Hub of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), was an invited author of the Northeast Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Previously, he served as a Research Fellow at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and a Fulbright Scholar in Venice, Italy. His degrees are from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Cornell University. Dr. Montalto is a licensed engineer in New York (#090284 on 1/18/2012), Pennsylvania (#PE080773), New Jersey (#24GE05353000), Connecticut (#PEN.0030533), Florida (#90024), and Puerto Rico (#28178).
ORCiD: 0000-0001-8920-1834.

Monica Montefalcone is an Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Genoa, where she specializes in coastal and marine ecosystem research. Her work focuses on the characterization, mapping, and long‑term monitoring of benthic marine habitats, with particular expertise on Posidonia oceanica meadows, rocky reefs, coralligenous assemblages, and tropical marine systems. She investigates ecological status, biodiversity patterns, and the impacts of climate change and human pressures on coastal ecosystems, and she develops ecological indices and predictive models to support conservation and management. She has coordinated and contributed to numerous national and international research projects on marine habitat restoration, climate‑change impacts, and marine protected areas. Her scientific output includes over 140 scientific publications, and she serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Marine Science. She is also a scientific advisor to UNEP/MAP‑SPA/RAC and a member of the United Nations Pool of Experts for the assessment of the global marine environment. She is the president of the Benthos Committee in the Italian Society of Marine Biology.