Dr. Rita Nicolau

Rita Nicolau is presently a researcher at DGT (Directorate-General for Territory). Her background is in environmental engineering (undergraduate in 1996 and PhD in 2002, by New University of Lisbon) and operational research and systems engineering (MSc in 1994, by University of Lisbon). She holds a GIS specialist title, awarded by the Portuguese Engineers Order. Until 2002, she worked at the National Centre for Geographic Information (CNIG) on the implementation of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (SNIG), mainly the standardization of metadata and the structuring and analysis of geographic information. From 2003 to 2006, she lectured courses on GIS, standards for geographic data, land use planning and cadastre, and statistics at the University of Coimbra. From 2006 to 2010, she was a researcher at the National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge (INSA), participating in projects concerned with the spatial analysis of mortality and morbidity and their determinants, smoking habits characterization, and the impact of air pollution on human health. Since 2011, she has participated in projects related to urban systems analysis, settlement delineation, rural-urban interface, urban hierarchy, and sustainable urban development. Her current research is about land take, developed land recycling, and re-naturalization.