Projects

On this page you will find a list and short descriptions of my projects, both current and past. Where available, click through the links to find out more.

Current/Ongoing Projects

GAME-Based Approaches in Geoscience (GAMEBag) – GAMEBag is a portfolio of work and sub-projects, each investigating how we use games and game-based approaches to advance research, pedagogy, and communication of geosciences. It includes:

  • Adventures in Model Land – a system to build game worlds for tabletop roleplay games (TTRPGs) based on numerical models.
  • Games for Geoscience – I am the Geoscience Games Master and lead convenor for the annual Games for Geoscience and Geoscience Games Night sessions at the European Geoscience Union General Assembly.
  • Models without Maths – a series of workshops adopting creative methods that build understanding of numerical models for non-modellers.
  • Rooted in Crisis – Rooted in Crisis is an anthology of tabletop roleplay games co-created by environmental scientists and professional games designers.

Play your Research – Imagination is a crucial skill for researchers yet we often do little to learn, develop, and hone it. My workshops are inspired by the LEGO(R) Serious Play(R) system and use creative methods to help research groups embrace their imaginations.

NERC EMBRACE-Enviro – I am co-lead for this project funded by NERC’s Opening up the Environment call. It is working with individuals from refugee and migrant communities in York to help them develop new science skills and access environmental careers. I am delivering creative workshops on science communication.

Past Projects

SeriousGeoGames – SeriousGeoGames was a portfolio of games and game-based approaches I developed to engage people with environmental issues. It uses methods including virtual reality and immeersive storytelling. Outputs included:

  • Humber in a Box – A world-first merging of a research-grade hydraulic model and gaming engine, simulating sea level rise in the Humber visualised using virtual reality.
  • Flash Flood! – A virtual reality activity that showed the development and impact of a flash flood event.
  • Inundation Street – Immersive storytelling video using 360 animation that showed the impacts of flooding and pointed to resilience tips.
  • Flood Stories – Immersive storytelling activities Help Callum and Help Sali that used 360 animation to bring the real stories of flood-affected children to life.
  • Crabby’s Reef – a retro arcade-style game, playable online that demonstrated the impacts of ocean acidification on marine animals, including crabs.
  • Earth Arcade – an immersive and flexible game-based engagement space, informed by scenography and behavioural science, that aimed to build the environmental awareness and agency of visitors.
  • Publications – Skinner (2020); Parsons et al (2024); Skinner and Stanford (2020); Skinner (2018); Skinner and Milan (2018).

Flood Hydrology Improvements Programme (FHIP) – I was a senior technical advisor (hydrology) for the Environment Agency’s FHIP. The programme was a portfolio of projects across themes of ways of working, data, and methods and aimed to make a step-change in the way England conducts operational flood hydrology. It was the Environment Agency’s main contribution to the UK’s Flood Hydrology Roadmap. My outputs included:

  • UK Hydrology Skills and Satisfaction Survey 2023 – I led the development, analysis, and reporting of this major national survey. I produced a Results Report and a Technical Report, making 11 recommendations for the UK hydrology community.
  • UK Hydrology Training Survey 2025 – I led the deveopment and analysis of this national survey researching the training needs of UK hydrologists.
  • Open Hydrology Review – I was the Environment Agency’s senior user for a project investigating the potential benefits and impacts of wider use of open methods in operational flood hydrology and hyraulic modelling. The work was completed by JBA Consulting.

NERC Flooding from Intense Rainfall (FFIR) – I was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant on the NERC FFIR project, which was led by Prof Hannah Cloke OBE. I worked under Prof Tom Coulthard using the CAESAR-Lisflood model to investigate the role of geomorphology in flash flood risk. My outputs included:

  • Publications – Peleg et al (2021); Skinner et al (2020); Peleg et al (2020); Flack et al (2019); Skinner et al (2018); Coulthard and Skinner (2016).

Dynamic Humber – As a research assistant, I built a hydraulic model of the Humber Estuary using CAESAR-Lisflood. I used the model to assess the possible future impacts of sea level rise on flooding and the efficacy of different management options. My outputs included:

  • Humber 2100+ Long-List Modelling – I provided modelling evidence to support long-listing of management options as part of the Environment Agency’s Humber 2100+ programme.
  • Hull Lagoon – I provided modelling evidence for the Hull Lagoon project.
  • I, By Tide of Humber – I appeared as an expert guest talking about the future of flooding in Hull as part of the Radio 4 programme, I, By Tide of Humber.
  • Andrew Marvell’s Hull – I adapted my model to simulate flooding in 17th century Hull to support a 360 animation project.
  • EU Interreg IMMERSE – my model results for the Humber 2100+ were used as part of the IMMERSE project (uncredited).
  • Publications – Skinner et al (2015); Ramirez et al (2016); Robins et al (2018).

NERC Producing EnerGy and preventing hAzards from SUrface water Storage in Peru (PEGASUS) – I was a research Co-I on this NERC-funded project and I developed a modifed version of the CAESAR-Lisflood model to simulate the melting of glacier ice and its impact on the geomorphology of proglacial lakes. My outputs included:

Research Fellowship – Geomorphic Impacts of Floods – I was awarded an independent research fellowship by the Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull. I developed new tools in the CAESAR-Lisflood model to investigate how flood management interventation indirectly impacted landscapes. I had a focus on natural flood management. Outputs included:

  • CAESAR-Lisflood Leaky Dam code – I developed new functionality into CAESAR-Lisflood to allow the dynamic representation of leaky woody dams in models, including feedbacks.
  • River Hull Natural Flood Management Study – working with ARUP, I modelled different NFM and flood scenarios for the River Hull catchment.
  • Publications – Skinner and Coulthard (2023); Wolstenholme et al (2025a,b).