Patricia Kio

Patricia Kio is a tenure-track Assistant Professor and the Graduate Program Coordinator for Sustainability and the Built Environment at the University of Florida, where her tenure home is the School of Architecture. She joined the university in 2024 after two years in the engineering technology department at Fitchburg State University, where she also chaired the Sustainability Committee and contributed to the Technology Advisory Committee. Her research centers on the circular economy, particularly the creative reuse and repurposing of non-hazardous industrial waste and the assessment of its social, economic, and environmental impacts. Her work has appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Building and Environment, the Journal of Cleaner Production, and Waste and Biomass Valorization.

Dr. Kio began her architectural career in Nigeria, earning her Bachelor of Technology and Master of Science degrees in Architecture from Rivers State University and graduating as the best student in her department. A registered architect, she worked with several firms on residential and commercial projects before moving to the United States in 2017 for doctoral studies. At Texas A&M University, she completed her PhD in 2021 with the support of her mentor, Dr. Ali, and became a member of his Resource-Based Design Research Laboratory. There she was introduced to the circular economy concepts that now anchor her scholarship. Her dissertation explored industrial symbiosis between the automotive and building construction industries through architectural reuse, and it earned her the King Student Medal Award. She later served as a postdoctoral research associate at the same institution.

Beyond the classroom and laboratory, Dr. Kio serves on the editorial board of the Technology | Architecture + Design Journal as Communications Editor, a role she credits for her professional growth. She is a frequent presenter at international conferences, a reviewer for several academic journals, and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria. She is passionate about educating the next generation, building a supportive academic community, and securing grants to expand research opportunities for her graduate students. Guided by integrity, faith, discipline, and family, she also enjoys Scrabble, reading novels, and spending time with her husband and two daughters.