[1] Noakes investigates environmental fluid flow, with a focus on the ventilation of buildings and how this impacts indoor air quality.
She develops mathematical models to assess the risk of airborne transmission, expanding on the Wells-Riley equation to include stochastic effects.
In a presentation at the Bradford Festival of Science, Noakes revealed that one in fifty people acquire an infection during their time in hospital.
[2] In 2016 Noakes started the Low-Energy Ventilation Network (LEVN), a team of people who look to better understand building physics.
[13][14] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noakes became interested in the airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the related importance of ventilation to reduce the risk of inhaling small particles containing the virus.