Willis Research Network Team

After working as a research associate at the University of Cambridge, and as a regional climate modeller at the British Antarctic Survey, he moved to apply his understanding of climate systems in the aviation industry. He worked at SATAVIA as an atmospheric scientist and became their Chief Scientific Officer, co-ordinating innovation projects with other partners, such as Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, the University of Oxford, and European institutions. He developed new products and services, including novel techniques for optimising the atmospheric radiative forcing of aircraft flight operations on climate by forecasting and validating aircraft contrail formation.

More recently, he worked as a climate scientist at Cervest developing statistical models to analyse extreme future climate conditions, at high-spatial resolution, with a particular focus on extreme windstorm events, to help organisations disclose climate-related risks.

He gained his BSc in Geography at the University of Portsmouth, his MSc in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of East Anglia, and his PhD on the climate of South Georgia involved a collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey.

Denisa joined the Willis Research Network (WRN) in 2025, based in the London office. As part of the Model Research team, her role focuses on evaluating and validating catastrophe models and adjusting models to refine the Willis view of risk.

Before joining WTW, her previous roles and academic work span a range of topics vis-à-vis catastrophe risk modelling, including earthquake sub-peril hazard mapping and flood vulnerability modelling. Denisa holds a MSc in Risk and Disaster Science from University College London and a BSc in Global Humanitarian Studies from University College London.

Hélène joined Willis in 1998, specialising in natural hazard modelling and reinsurance optimisation. Since 2001, she has been leading multi-disciplinary teams, who research, design and develop analytical solutions and insights for risk identification, quantification and management. She currently leads the Willis Research Network, an award-winning public-private partnership, which harnesses over 60 science partners to form innovative long-term collaborations, improving our understanding of risks (natural hazards, technological risks, geopolitical drivers of risk) for the benefit of clients and society: using science to support resilience.

Hélène has extensive experience in spatial modelling, design of innovative solutions, and applying science to business challenges. Her current focus is on Climate advisory services (advising corporates on how leading-edge climate research can help them quantify their exposure to climate variability and climate change; exploring the links between climate change and national security) and on People Risks (how people can increase vulnerability or improve resilience: terrorism, societal resilience to systemic risks, including pandemics).

She holds a BSc in Economics & Political Science (Sciences Po), and an MSc in Environmental Economics (UCL).

James Dalziel joined the Willis Research Network (WRN) in 2021 as the Head of Earth Risk Research, supporting their work in fields including seismic, volcanic and tsunami-related hazard. Prior to joining the WRN, James has over 6 years’ experience in the Geotechnical Engineering industry, working with a range of geological hazards such as slope stability, flooding, sinkholes, soil and groundwater contamination. He has also had experience in academia researching volcanic and seismic-related hazards.

James holds a BSc in Geology, an MSc in Volcanology and Geological Hazards, and has recently completed a Research Masters in Geology with a project focus on Volcanology, Seismology and Geophysics. He is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, and is working towards becoming a Chartered Geologist.

Jessica leads the Model Research team at the Willis Research Network. Since 2014, she has held various positions in the (re)insurance industry that include catastrophe model development, consultancy, model evaluation, and natural catastrophe research. Jessica’s primary focus at Willis involves evaluating catastrophe models, adjusting models to refine the Willis view of risk, counterfactual analysis, and developing strategies for managing climate change in the (re)insurance industry.

Jessica obtained her MSc in Geophysical Hazards from University College London and her undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Jen joins us from the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies (CCRS), where she was the research associate leading our innovative Willis Airports and Ports Risk Index project for the last 3 years. She was a senior client success manager in CCRS’s consultancy start-up, Risilience, where she developed client relationships and delivered risk-focused consultancy to a wide range of clients in the financial, insurance and corporate sector.

She brings great experience engaging and influencing senior decision-makers across academia and in business on the complex, interconnected questions of enterprise and climate risks. Her background in Psychology combined with extensive experience in bridging academia and business provides a unique, a human-centred approach to risk communication. She has a passion to take the complexities of mathematics, competing scientific methodologies, society’s limited attention span, and the cacophony of modern media that today's leaders face and translate them into digestible and actionable insights.

• Using Real World Scenarios to Improve the Resilience of Private Investment Portfolios, 2022
• Navigating Future Climate Policy Changes in Multinational Businesses, 2022
• Cyber Security Cost Effectiveness for Business Risk Reduction, 2022

Jen has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge, and a BSc in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts.

Lara works within the catastrophe modeling team at Willis, contributing to efforts that evaluate and adjust models to help consolidate the Willis view of risk and support informed decision-making for the (re)insurance industry.

Lara earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics with a focus on actuarial science from Washburn University and an MSc in Risk and Disaster Science from University College London. Her master’s research focused on leveraging satellite data to analyse groundwater usage in water-scarce regions and its influence on hydro-political dynamics.

Lucy Stanbrough MSc, BSc, is the Head of Emerging Risks Research at the Willis Research Network (WRN). Prior to joining the WRN, she worked for the Innovation team at Lloyd’s on a range of thought leadership projects and market communities, including: cyber scenarios; virtual reality; NewSpace; city resilience; synthetic biology; climate related risks and disaster risk finance.

Before joining the insurance industry Lucy spent over 10 years as a natural hazards and GIS consultant, alongside working at the UCL Hazard Centre. Lucy has contributed to a number of books on the use of technology and online systems pre, during, and post-disaster. She maintains an interest in the integration of scientific knowledge to business applications, and connecting knowledge to people, and people to knowledge.

Neil Gunn MSc CWEM, CEng is Head of Flood and Water Risk research and joined Willis after 22 years at the Environment Agency. While at the Agency Neil has worked on mapping flood risk and in the development and delivery of investment plans. Over the last six years at the Agency, he held a lead role in the National Operations Engineering Assurance team managing reservoir safety and the resilience and reliability of strategically important MEICA assets. He also shared in developing sound asset management strategies and ways of working to ensure flood management assets are in good health helping the Agency to achieve ISO55000 accreditation.

Omar Samhan joined the Willis Research Network in 2022 as a Technology and People Risk Analyst. He helps the Willis Research Network assist and develop a research portfolio that revolves around the intersection of technology, geopolitical risk and societal resilience, the Future of Work, and human capital, with the aim of scoping and prioritizing industry research to derive tangible outputs to better understand future trends. In this role, Omar utilizes his practical research experience to contribute to the management and development of the Willis Research Network's relationships, and works in conjunction with WTW’s internal stakeholders in both the private and public sector as well as external academic partners. Prior to joining WTW, he served as a research and risk analyst in the oil and gas sector, focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean as well as working as a risk analyst with the World Trade Center in Istanbul, specializing on the politics and economies of Central and West Asia.

Omar graduated from King’s College London’s Department of War Studies with an MA in National Security Studies, an MA in International Relations from Boğaziçi University, and a BA in Economics as well as a Muslim Studies specialization from Michigan State University.

Based in Minneapolis, USA, Scott is a Canadian climate scientist/geoscientist with 20+ years’ experience in water security, climate change and natural hazards. For 12 years prior to joining Willis Research Network in September 2022, he was Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, directing a wide-ranging research programme on environmental volatility, paleoclimate and natural hazard, providing scientific advice to the US Army Corps of Engineers in particular, and Crown corporations and private companies in Canada and the USA.

He was also a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada, in Ottowa where he developed a new method to estimate the severity of ancient floods, demonstrated how floods respond to climate and land use changes, and identified the risk posed by El Niño to wind energy production.

He gained his BSc in Geography in Winnipeg, his MSc in Western Ontario and his PhD in Geoscience with a global change minor at the University of Arizona. Scott is a member of the International Society of Catastrophe Managers, a Fellow with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany and a Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies, at the University of Heidelberg. He’s also taught undergraduate & graduate courses on water resources, climate change, catastrophe risk management, and science communication.

Dr Simon Sølvsten joined legacy Willis, Denmark, in 2013, and has before joining the Willis Research Network taken on various roles as Management Adviser, Practice Leader - Security Management and Practice Leader – Analytics. He is currently Head of Resilience research at Willis Research Network, and is commercially focused on supporting academia and bringing research to life at WTW.

He holds several degrees, starting with a PhD in Economics from the University of Southern Denmark, MSc in Economics and Business Administration, Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, Certified Security Manager ®, CFPA, Degree in Leadership and Management, electrician and Certified Security installer. His broad theoretical background and practical experience make him a valuable partner within academia and in the industry. His main research focus is risk management, with a particular focus on organizational resilience.

Sonal Madhok joined the Willis Research Network in 2023, based in the New York office. Her role centers around assisting and cultivating a research portfolio focusing on emerging technology, artificial intelligence, and future sources of liability. Sonal also spearheads the annual Willis Research Challenge Fund. The goal of the Challenge Fund is to create new partnerships with universities and researchers to expand our research portfolio and drive business value. She draws upon her prior experience as a researcher at Rutgers University and builds strong relationships between internal, university, and private sector leaderships.

Before joining WTW, Sonal served as a research assistant in two university labs. One lab focused on using data science and deep learning to detect cancer while the other utilized AI to aid in neurological disorder research. Sonal holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Stuart joined the Willis Research Network team in 2012, taking on the overarching program management of the network. His primary focus is on establishing and strengthening the framework for engaging and delivering research from the Willis Research Network partners for our Willis colleagues and clients. He also provides management and oversight of the operational running of the Willis Research Network.

Stuart’s background is in project and program management. Prior to joining Willis he worked in the UK, Asia and North America with multi-functional teams managing large scale change and technology programs of work. He holds a BSc in Geography from Manchester Metropolitan University and various accreditations in Project / Program Management.

Toby P. Jones joined the Willis Research Network (WRN) in 2025 as a Catastrophe Research Analyst. His background is multidisciplinary, spanning statistics and climate science. Toby has a strong interest and expertise in atmospheric hazards, and his role within the Model Research Team focuses on evaluating catastrophe models for these perils. Based in Exeter, he maintains close links with the Exeter Climate Systems (XCS) group at the University of Exeter, a long-standing WRN partner.

Toby earned an integrated Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Exeter in 2021 and began his PhD the same year. His research focuses on the correlation between yearly wind and precipitation from European windstorms. He expects to complete his PhD in spring 2026.