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Full Name : Giovanni Michele Porta
Date of birth : 29 October 1981
Role : Associate Professor
Email : giovanni.porta@polimi.it
Office : Piazza L. Da Vinci, 32
Telephone : +39-02-23996256

Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, Italy. In my research I develop and apply quantitative models to improve our current understanding of flow and transport processes in porous media. Specific research topics include characterization of contaminant transport in soil and aquifers, reactive transport, probabilistic risk assessment, uncertainty quantification of large scale geological models. To date I co-authored more than 40 papers (H-Index, 12), coordinated six research projects and contributed to numerous national and international research projects. I am visiting affiliate at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia, associate editor of the journal Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. I am member of the International Society for Porous Media (Interpore) and the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH).

Education and Professional Career

Visiting Professor at School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia.

2019

Associate professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

From 2018

Assistant professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

2015 - 2018

Research associate, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

2010 - 2015

Adjunct professor, School of Industrial and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

2013 - 2015

Research

My research focuses on conceptual, mathematical, and numerical models to characterize and predict flow and transport processes in porous media. Target applications concern subsurface water and energy resources and span the whole spectrum ranging from pore-scale to geological scales. As porous media are ubiquitous across a broad range of applications, the overarching target of my research is to improve our ability to manage critical water and energy resources residing in aquifers and subsurface reservoirs. Specific topics of research include reactive transport and mixing processes in porous media, contaminant transport in soil and aquifers, environmental risk assessment, numerical modeling and uncertainty quantification.

H-index

Publications on International Journal

Number of Publications

43(source: Scopus)

Visiting researcher, Institut Pprime, CNRS, Futuroscope Cedex, France

5/2011 - 8/2011

Affiliate, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia

2017

Member of Editorial Board (Associate Editor) of Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment

from 9/2016

Member of Editorial Board (Associate Editor) of the Hydrogeology Journal

2017 - 2021

Guest Editor of the special issue “Uncertainty Quantification in Subsurface Environments” of the International Journal of Geomathematics

2018

Member of the Communication Committee of the International Society for Porous Media

from 2016

Member of Scientific and Local Organizing Committee for the international workshop “Frontiers of Uncertainty Quantification in Subsurface Environments” (FrontUQ18), held in Pavia, Italy.

September 5th-7th 2018

Organizer of sessions within international conferences (SIAM meetings on Uncertainty Quantification and Geoscience).
Advisor of 5 PhD students which completed their PhD at Politecnico di Milano. Currently supervising or co-supervising 3 PhD candidates and one research associate.

since 2013

External Examiner, within PhD Evaluation Committee at Imperial College London, UK and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain (2017). Internal examiner at Politecnico di Milano, Italy

2015 -2017

Organizer and participant of the DICA4Schools http://www.dica4schools.polimi.it/ project for dissemination in primary and secondary schools of the activities of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. In this project I organized and delivered dissemination activities related to groundwater availability and quality.

from 2017

2021

Guglielmo, M., Zambonini, D., Porta, G.M., Malik, A., Tang, Fiona. H. M., & Maggi, F. (2021). Time- and depth-resolved mechanistic assessment of water stress in Australian ecosystems under the CMIP6 scenarios. Advances in Water Resources, 148, 103837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103837

Sherman, T., Engdahl, N. B., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2021). A review of spatial Markov models for predicting pre-asymptotic and anomalous transport in porous and fractured media. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 236, 103734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2020.103734

2020

Patani, S. E., Porta G.M., Caronni, V., Ruffo, P., & Guadagnini, A. (2020). Stochastic Inverse Modeling and Parametric Uncertainty of Sediment Deposition Processes Across Geologic Time Scales. Mathematical Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11004-020-09911-z

Baioni, E., Porta G.M., Mousavi Nezhad, M., & Guadagnini, A. (2020). Assessment of turbulence effects on effective solute diffusivity close to a sediment-free fluid interface. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 34(12), 2211–2228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-020-01877-y

Bianchi Janetti, E., Sherman, T., Guédon, G. R., Bolster, D., & Porta G.M. (2020). Upscaling of Solute Plumes in Periodic Porous Media Through a Trajectory‐Based Spatial Markov Model. Water Resources Research, 56(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028408

la Cecilia, D., Porta G.M., Tang, F. H. M., Riva, M., & Maggi, F. (2020). Probabilistic indicators for soil and groundwater contamination risk assessment. Ecological Indicators, 115, 106424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106424

Dell’Oca, A., & Porta G.M. (2020). Characterization of flow through random media via Karhunen–Loève expansion: an information theory perspective. GEM - International Journal on Geomathematics, 11(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13137-020-00155-x

Sherman, T., Bianchi Janetti, E., Guédon, G. R., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2020). Upscaling transport of a sorbing solute in disordered non periodic porous domains. Advances in Water Resources, 139, 103574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103574

2019

Cerroni, D., Penati, M., Porta, G.M., Miglio, E., Zunino, P., & Ruffo, P. (2019). Multiscale Modeling of Glacial Loading by a 3D Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Approach Including Erosion and Isostasy. Geosciences, 9(11), 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9110465

Sherman, T., Paster, A., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2019). A spatial Markov model for upscaling transport of adsorbing-desorbing solutes. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 222, 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2019.02.003

Ceriotti, G., Russian, A., Bolster, D., & Porta, G.M. (2019). A double-continuum transport model for segregated porous media: Derivation and sensitivity analysis-driven calibration. Advances in Water Resources, 128, 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.04.003

Teaching

Since 2011 I held the tenure of courses of Fluid Mechanics, School of Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano as wells as Hydraulics and Applied Hydraulics at the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. Since 2018 I contributed developing and designing new lecture materials based on flipped and blended classroom methodologies for the course of Fluid Mechanics. In 2019 I was Unit lecturer of the Master course Advanced Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney (Australia). I was Assistant lecturer in PhD courses at Polimi. page on Politecnico website.

Industry research projects

Eni SpA

2019 - 2020

Title:DionisosCalib: Development and validation of a methodology for uncertainty quantification and stochastic model calibration of forward stratigraphic models in carbonate environments. Role: Principal Investigator. Objectives and activities: Development of methodologies for probabilistic modelling of sediment deposition in carbonate environments, model reduction for forward geologic models.

Eni SpA

2019 - 2020

Title: Develoment of a work-flow for the calibration of 3D Gravity Flow. Role: Principal Investigator. Objectives and activities: Setup of a stochastic inverse modelling framework for the interpretation of sediment gravity flows.

Eni SpA

2016 - 2018

Title: Development of a modelling approach for the modelling of geochemical and mechanical compaction processes in the presence of glaciations. Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Objectives and activities: Setup of a methodology and a numerical simulation approach to assess the impact of glaciations on fluid flow and compaction processes in sedimentary systems.

Eni SpA

2018

Title: TANKS Integrity and soil contamination monitoring. Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Objectives and activities: Modelling of hydrocarbons spills to shallow soil and water resources from storage tanks and development of an early warning monitoring systems.

Eni SpA

2016 - 2017

Title: Validation of models for generation of non-hydrocarbon components in sedimentary basins. Role: Principal Investigator. Objectives and activities: Assessment of reactive transport models for the quantification of generation of non-hydrocarbon components in sedimentary basin under uncertainty.

Eni SpA

2010 - 2011

Title: Modelling basin scale geochemical compaction. Role: Member of research team. Related activities: development of a global sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification tool for mechanical and geochemical compaction coupled to flow modelling at sedimentary basin scale.

Eni SpA

2011 - 2014

Title: Water alternating gas injection. Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: theoretical upscaling of multiphase flow in porous media from pore to continuum scale approximations, three-phase oil relative permeability models and validation through experimental datasets.

Eni SpA

2012 - 2013

Title: Inverse modelling of geochemical and mechanical compaction processes. Funded by, Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: development of an inverse modelling technique for basin compaction models, detailed study of the smectite-illite geochemical reaction, supervision of a research associate.

Eni SpA

2014 - 2016

Title: Identification and implementation of models for generation of non-hydrocarbon components in sedimentary basins. Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: Formulation of reactive transport models for the quantification of generation and migration of non-hydrocarbon components in sedimentary basin, supervision of a PhD student.

Eni SpA

2015 - 2018

Title: Development of a computational tool for the calibration and sensitivity analysis of Dionisos. Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: Development of tools for stratigraphic numerical simulation under uncertainty.

National and International Research Projects

The Royal Society, UK

2018 - 2020

Title: Data assimilation and uncertainty quantification strategies for anomalous transport in subsurface flows. International Exchanges 2017 Round 3. Funded by. Role: Co-Principal investigator. Objective and activities: Set up of modelling strategies to the interpretation of field-scale solute transport processes in the subsurface.

European Commission within H2020

2020 - 2024

Title: RECYCLE Removal and Mitigation of Pollution from the Use of Pesticides: Prevention, Recycling and Resource Management EU MSCA RISE, Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: Development of techniques for recycling and life cycle assessment of pesticides.

The University of Sydney

2018 - 2019

Title: Sydney Research Excellence Initiative EnviroSphere Role: Partner. Objectives and activities: modeling under uncertainty of contaminant transport in agricoltural soil (external collaborator).

Water Joint Programming Initiative, 2015 Joint Call WaterWorks2014

2016 - 2019

Title: WE-NEED WatEr NEEDs, availability, quality and sustainability Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: Development of novel modelling approaches for reactive transport. Dissemination activities related to groundwater availability and quality.

Italian Ministry for Research and Education

2013 - 2015

Title: Hydroelectric energy by osmosis in coastal areas, Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: upscaling of flow and transport processes in coastal aquifers.

European Commission within FP7

2011 - 2012

Title: IMVUL Towards Improved Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment EU MSCA ITN, EU MSCA ITN, Role: Member of research team. Objectives and activities: direct supervision of the research work of the project fellow Sergey Chaynikov.

Awards

Nominated outstanding reviewer by the AGU Journals Editors.

2019

Junior Marchi Lecturer, awarded from GII (Gruppo Italiano di Idraulica, ), association of Italian Academics in the field of Hydraulic Engineering.

2019

InterPore Rosette, awarded for special services within the International Society for Porous Media.

2019

Giovanni Michele Porta

Personal Information

Education and Professional Career

Visiting Professor at School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia.

Associate professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

Assistant professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

Research associate, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

Adjunct professor, School of Industrial and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

Research

Visiting researcher, Institut Pprime, CNRS, Futuroscope Cedex, France

Affiliate, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia

Member of Editorial Board (Associate Editor) of Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment

Member of Editorial Board (Associate Editor) of the Hydrogeology Journal

Guest Editor of the special issue “Uncertainty Quantification in Subsurface Environments” of the International Journal of Geomathematics

Member of the Communication Committee of the International Society for Porous Media

Member of Scientific and Local Organizing Committee for the international workshop “Frontiers of Uncertainty Quantification in Subsurface Environments” (FrontUQ18), held in Pavia, Italy.

Organizer of sessions within international conferences (SIAM meetings on Uncertainty Quantification and Geoscience). Advisor of 5 PhD students which completed their PhD at Politecnico di Milano. Currently supervising or co-supervising 3 PhD candidates and one research associate.

External Examiner, within PhD Evaluation Committee at Imperial College London, UK and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain (2017). Internal examiner at Politecnico di Milano, Italy

2021

Guglielmo, M., Zambonini, D., Porta, G.M., Malik, A., Tang, Fiona. H. M., & Maggi, F. (2021). Time- and depth-resolved mechanistic assessment of water stress in Australian ecosystems under the CMIP6 scenarios. Advances in Water Resources, 148, 103837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103837

Sherman, T., Engdahl, N. B., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2021). A review of spatial Markov models for predicting pre-asymptotic and anomalous transport in porous and fractured media. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 236, 103734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2020.103734

2020

Patani, S. E., Porta G.M., Caronni, V., Ruffo, P., & Guadagnini, A. (2020). Stochastic Inverse Modeling and Parametric Uncertainty of Sediment Deposition Processes Across Geologic Time Scales. Mathematical Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11004-020-09911-z

Baioni, E., Porta G.M., Mousavi Nezhad, M., & Guadagnini, A. (2020). Assessment of turbulence effects on effective solute diffusivity close to a sediment-free fluid interface. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 34(12), 2211–2228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-020-01877-y

Bianchi Janetti, E., Sherman, T., Guédon, G. R., Bolster, D., & Porta G.M. (2020). Upscaling of Solute Plumes in Periodic Porous Media Through a Trajectory‐Based Spatial Markov Model. Water Resources Research, 56(12). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028408

la Cecilia, D., Porta G.M., Tang, F. H. M., Riva, M., & Maggi, F. (2020). Probabilistic indicators for soil and groundwater contamination risk assessment. Ecological Indicators, 115, 106424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106424

Dell’Oca, A., & Porta G.M. (2020). Characterization of flow through random media via Karhunen–Loève expansion: an information theory perspective. GEM - International Journal on Geomathematics, 11(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13137-020-00155-x

Sherman, T., Bianchi Janetti, E., Guédon, G. R., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2020). Upscaling transport of a sorbing solute in disordered non periodic porous domains. Advances in Water Resources, 139, 103574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103574

2019

Cerroni, D., Penati, M., Porta, G.M., Miglio, E., Zunino, P., & Ruffo, P. (2019). Multiscale Modeling of Glacial Loading by a 3D Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Approach Including Erosion and Isostasy. Geosciences, 9(11), 465. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences9110465

Sherman, T., Paster, A., Porta, G.M., & Bolster, D. (2019). A spatial Markov model for upscaling transport of adsorbing-desorbing solutes. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 222, 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2019.02.003

Ceriotti, G., Russian, A., Bolster, D., & Porta, G.M. (2019). A double-continuum transport model for segregated porous media: Derivation and sensitivity analysis-driven calibration. Advances in Water Resources, 128, 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.04.003

Teaching

Industry research projects

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

Eni SpA

National and International Research Projects

The Royal Society, UK

European Commission within H2020

The University of Sydney

Water Joint Programming Initiative, 2015 Joint Call WaterWorks2014

Italian Ministry for Research and Education

European Commission within FP7

Awards

Nominated outstanding reviewer by the AGU Journals Editors.

Junior Marchi Lecturer, awarded from GII (Gruppo Italiano di Idraulica, ), association of Italian Academics in the field of Hydraulic Engineering.

InterPore Rosette, awarded for special services within the International Society for Porous Media.

Organizer of sessions within international conferences (SIAM meetings on Uncertainty Quantification and Geoscience).
Advisor of 5 PhD students which completed their PhD at Politecnico di Milano. Currently supervising or co-supervising 3 PhD candidates and one research associate.