Rate My Professor Pietro Milillo

Pietro Milillo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston, where he joined the faculty in September 2021. He also holds an appointment in Geosensing Systems Engineering. His research focuses on the synergistic use of remote sensing data exploitation and innovative approaches in Earth and Cryosphere Science and natural and anthropogenic hazard response. Milillo is particularly interested in how new generations of remote sensing instruments enable more effective, near real-time disaster monitoring, assessment, and response, as well as improved constraints on dynamically changing physical processes to advance understanding of Earth’s environment. His multidisciplinary work, funded by NASA and international space agencies including the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), has been applied to Earth science, cryosphere studies, and disaster response. He has published over thirty-two research articles in leading international journals.

Prior to his current role, Milillo served as Associate Project Scientist in Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine from 2020 to 2021, Scientist in Radar Science and Engineering at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2018 to 2020, and NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at JPL from 2016 to 2018. He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Basilicata in 2016, a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Bari in 2012, and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Bari in 2010. Milillo has received numerous honors, including the 2020 Remote Sensing Young Investigator Award, the 2019 ISSNAF Anna Maria Molteni young investigator award, multiple top-cited paper recognitions, Italian professorship habilitations, and the 2016 NASA Postdoctoral Program Award. He has delivered invited lectures at institutions including the University of Bath and the University of Texas at Austin, served on NASA committees, coordinated international satellite campaigns, and contributed to editorial and review activities for major journals and funding agencies.