樱花动漫

Jonathan Growcott

Background: MBiol Biological Sciences

PhD Research: Multimodal monitoring of large African carnivores

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: , Matthew Wijers (External),  and

Jonathan's Profile: 

Research Interests:

My interests lie in the utilisation of technology for ecological and conservation practices. Previously, I completed my MBiol (Hons) in Biosciences at Durham University where I analysed acoustic data collected from autonomous recording units. For my PhD, I am now combining multiple remote data capture technologies (specifically camera traps and autonomous recording units) to automatically monitor species populations in African savannah ecosystems, with a particular focus on lions. This will involve extensive fieldwork and desk-based computational work to develop AI models.

I am co-supervised by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at University of Oxford and I am also collaborating with NGO Lion Landscapes, Woburn Safari Park, Longleat Safari Park and researchers at the Royal Veterinary College, London. 

You can keep up-to-date with my research here: 

Ashish Sundar

Background: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

PhD Research: Multi-Drone Exploration in 3D Environments

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors:  and 

Ashish's Profile: 

Current Research

I’m a third year PhD student working within environmental intelligence. I’m trying to get drones to work with each other using reinforcement learning so that they can map a previously unknown environment efficiently and quickly. I hope to use this in the Amazon rainforest to help the locals there begin an ecotourism project. 

I am eager to learn more about reinforcement learning by applying it and am curious to see whether multiple agents operating drones operating in a partially observable environment can learn to communicate and cooperate with one another to accomplish given tasks.

I am also curious to see the potential of bleeding edge technology to improve society and provide a platform for those that need it. In this respect, I want this work to benefit communities and people at the lowest level, rather than doing so for large corporations. However, integrating this level of technology into small communities is challenging as it has the potential to disrupt their society, so I am keen to see how technology of this calibre can be integrated well into small communities.

Trish Nowak (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Physical Geography; MSc Oceanography (Physical, Biological and Ecological)

PhD Research: The wanderlust of dusts: Harnessing 2D Convolutional Neural Networks for forecasting, transport analysis, and future trends of atmospheric aerosols

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: ,  and Andy Augousti (External)

Trish's Profile: 

My current project focuses on utilising machine learning methods to gain better understanding of environmental processes. This method offers possible clues on causality of processes, rather than just correlation between parameters. In particular my research will focus on a journey of Saharan mineral dust and its further impact on: displacement of West African Monsoon system, biogeochemical cycles and productivity of central Atlantic Ocean, and biogeochemical cycles and the productivity of the Amazon rainforest. For example, the Amazon rainforest's soils are found to be nutrient poor, with no clear sources of essential micro- and macronutrients (phosphorous and iron in particular). Current theory of Saharan mineral dust enriching Amazon rainforest soils is fairly well known. However, annual quantity estimates of transported dust (and thus the nutrients) yield large uncertainties and vary between the studies.

The power of AI may provide us with reduced uncertainties, better estimates, and timely predictions. CNN's ability to analyse dozens of parameters over decades of data sets may unveil new or previously overlooked causalities. The possibility of solving a long-standing scientific question is what inspires and drives me throughout my research.

Alice Wells (*Graduated*)

Background: MMath Mathematics

PhD Research: Using effusive and explosive volcanic eruptions as natural analogues for solar radiation management strategies and assessing the public opinion of geoengineering

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and

Alice's Profile: 

My research interests include aerosol-radiation interactions, using volcanic eruptions as natural analogues for solar radiation modification (SRM) and comparisons of climate intervention strategies

Publications

Henry, M., Haywood, J., Jones, A., Dalvi, M., Wells, A., Visioni, D., Bednarz, E., MacMartin, D., Lee, W., and Tye, M.: Comparison of UKESM1 and CESM2 Simulations Using the Same Multi-Target Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Strategy, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-980, 2023

Wells, A. F., Jones, A., Osborne, M., Damany-Pearce, L., Partridge, D. G., and Haywood, J. M.: Including ash in UKESM1 model simulations of the Raikoke volcanic eruption reveals improved agreement with observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3985–4007, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3985-2023, 2023

Damany-Pearce, L., Johnson, B., Wells, A. et al. Australian wildfires cause the largest stratospheric warming since Pinatubo and extends the lifetime of the Antarctic ozone hole. Sci Rep 12, 12665 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15794-3

Guy Lomax (*Graduated*)

Background: BA and MSci Natural Sciences (Geology); MSc Sustainable Energy Futures

PhD Research: Monitoring climate and land use impacts in African rangelands with machine learning and earth observation

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: , , and

Guy's Profile: 

My PhD research focuses on using satellite remote sensing data for monitoring of land degradation and resilience in rangeland ecosystems, in collaboration with a community conservation organisation in Northern Kenya. 

I began my PhD studies following five years working at  on land sector pathways to climate change mitigation () including conservation agriculture, agroforestry and sustainable wood products. I am interested in how research can be most effectively used to support environmental policy and practice.

My wider research interests include:

• Remote sensing for real-time monitoring and management of ecosystems
• Nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation
• The role of carbon dioxide removal in climate change mitigation
• Building sustainable food systems in a world of growing demands for food and energy

Kevin Donkers

Background: MSci Chemical Physics

PhD Research: Agroforestry for Net Zero: Food, trees and land strategies

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: , and Deborah Hemming

Kevin's Profile: 

My research focusses on modelling agroforestry at scale to understand the trade-offs between terrestrial carbon sequestration and food security. 

Keywords: biophysical modelling, land-use modelling, carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, Bayesian model calibration.

Owain Harris

Background: MPhys Physics

PhD Research: High Impact Weather in the Mid-Latitudes: Identifying Dry Intrusion Outflows with Machine Learning

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: Jennifer Catto, Stefan Siegert and Eleanor Hadley Kershaw 

Owain's Profile: 

I am researching high impact weather in the mid-latitude regions. Specifically, I am developing multiple logistic regression and convolutional neural network models to identify and predict dry intrusions that are linked to extratropical cyclones and associated with extreme surface weather. The project aim is to further our understanding of how these descending airstreams and their impacts are likely to change in the future by studying their representation in climate projection models. Contextually underpinning this work, I will be considering the larger role of emerging machine learning technologies in weather and climate science, and how these new forms of knowledge production will interact with existing mechanisms of decision-making related to climate change.

Ellie Fox

Background: BA Geography

PhD Research: How glacier retreat and mining expansion affect water availability, access and use for communities in the Semi-Arid Chilean Andes        

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: ,  and

Ellie's Profile: 

The research sits at the intersection of glaciology, political ecology, and critical physical geography.

Broadly speaking, I am interested in the changing interrelationships between mountain glaciers and society, and the application of interdisciplinary methodologies to study and address changes in these areas. Specifically, my research examines these complex interrelationships in the context of the changes to water availability, access and use in glacier- and rock glacier-fed catchments in the Semi-Arid Chilean Andes.

Prior to beginning my research, I completed a training year as part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Environmental Intelligence at the 樱花动漫, where I trained in machine learning for earth observation, and studied critical perspectives on the use of big data and machine learning for addressing environmental challenges.

Liam Berrisford (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Computer Science. Professional experience as a Software Engineer in Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Counter Terrorism and Security Division)

PhD Research: The structure and dynamics of future transport infrastructure

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and

Liam's Profile: 

2019 - Present   Postgraduate Researcher within the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Environmental Intelligence 

2018-2019         Software Engineer

2015-2018         BSc Computer Science

Research Interests: Sustainable and Resilient Smart Cities, Citizen Science and Human-Computer Interaction

Personal Website for more information: 

Ellie Duncan

Background: BSc Mathematics; MSc Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate

PhD Research: Untangling Natural Aerosol Processes

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: , ,  and Alistair Sellar (External)

Ellie's Profile:  

My research focuses on untangling natural aerosol processes in Polar Regions, using machine learning techniques and evaluation of climate models in a Lagrangian framework.

I previously completed a BSc in Mathematics at the 樱花动漫 and a MSc in Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate at the University of Reading, with a dissertation titled 'Quantifying Aerosol-driven Changes in Cloud Properties in Pollution Tracks'.

Abhi Navaneethanathan

Background: MSci Physics with Theoretical Physics

PhD Research: Marine Particulate Organic Carbon Flux Estimation: Data-Driven Insights from Heterogeneous In Situ Observations

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: ,  and

Abhi's Profile: 

My PhD research focuses on better understanding the processes that influence the ocean biological carbon pump using in situ particulate organic carbon (POC) flux observations from a variety of instruments. I am interested in how data fusion methods can be used to combine these heterogeneous data sources in order to address their sparsity and biases, and to make more accurate global POC flux estimates than what can be obtained from individual sources. This project is in collaboration with the National Oceanography Centre.

I previously completed an MSci in Physics with Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, with a dissertation titled ‘Modelling diagnostics for Inertial Confinement Fusion‘ with the Centre for Inertial Fusion Studies, followed by working for a year as an AI Researcher on NLP applications.

Research Interests

• Data fusion
• Data biases in machine learning (ML)
• ML and statistical hybrid models
• In situ observations and remote sensing
• Modelling ocean particulate organic carbon fluxes
• Explainable AI

Ben Fitkov-Norris

Background: BA Biological Sciences

PhD Research: Alternative routes to marine conservation: shifting the protected area paradigm

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: , Matt Witt and Sian Rees (External)

Ben's Profile: 

I am in my fourth year on the Environmental Intelligence CDT based at the 樱花动漫, following a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford. Having worked on coral reef ecology, I am keen to explore the use of large-scale planetary data in my research.

My current research interests include marine ecology, marine protected area design and marine resource management and I will be working on the application of big data approaches and novel AI solutions to help tackle the environmental challenges surrounding these interests.

Manju Bura

Background: BSc Biomedical Sciences; MSc Climate Change Science and Policy

PhD Research: Social lives of heat and heatwaves

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: ,  and .

Manju's Profile: 

I have a background in climate change science and a critical understanding of the context for action on climate change, having completed a Masters degree in Climate Change Science and Policy at the University of Bristol. My research interests are broad, encompassing the social and epistemic understandings of climate and the environment within various cosmologies.

My PhD research titled 'Social life of heatwaves' focuses on the critical analysis of how extreme weather events, particularly heatwaves are discursively constructed across modern and non-modern ontologies through mass media and lived experiences. To achieve this, I employ interdisciplinary methodologies including machine learning techniques and ethnographic approaches to study the ways in which contemporary meanings of heatwaves are constructed in public discourse. My research draws inspiration from various fields including science and technology studies, political ecology, and computational social sciences. 

Zihao Chen

Background: MSc Urban Informatics, BSc Computer Science

PhD Research: 

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors:   and

My research involves using  to analyse bus travel time variability to uncover socio-spatial inequalities in accessibility. I am supervised by  at Computer Science and  at Geography.

Prior to joining Exeter, I completed a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Computer Science at the  and a Master of Science degree in Urban Informatics at the , King's College London. I also worked as a Technical Instructor for 2.5 years at  before starting my PhD, where I actively engaged in research and lab demonstration work.

I have a broad interest in using data science to solve urban issues, with a particular interest in public transport especially rail. I am a  - not a train spotter, perhaps a train spotter spotter ;).

Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) .

Timothy Lam (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Earth Sciences; MSc Climate Change and Sustainable Development

PhD Research: Causal pathways of teleconnections to drought and peatland fires in Indonesian Borneo

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and Rosa Barciela (External)

Timothy's Profile: 

My PhD research seeks to quantify the teleconnections to droughts and fire risks during the dry season in the Borneo region using a causal framework and analysis-ready data from the observations and climate models. It contributes to a  which investigates the broader causes, impacts and mitigation actions of peat fires in Indonesian Borneo, in collaboration with researchers from Indonesia and across the UK.

My areas of interest are as follows:

• Predictions and projections of weather and climate hazards in the Asia-Pacific region on sub-seasonal to interdecadal timescales
• Open-source software tools for climate research, as a contributor of  and the  project, in collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute and Met Office
• Capacity building on climate change adaptation

Nicola Wilson (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Geography with Oceanography; MSc Water and Coastal Management

PhD Research: How can digital technologies help upscale and finance blue carbon?

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: , ,  and

Nicola's Profile: 

I am an interdisciplinary scientist interested in the use of novel technologies and data science to drive system change, improve decision making and inform policy. I particularly enjoy working at the interface of research with policy and business applications. 

My research area is focusing on how novel digital technologies can help upscale and finance blue carbon, with a focus on seagrass. 

Before joining the CDT, I worked for many years in flood and coastal risk management in both public and private sectors, later specialising in coastal adaptation strategies and policy research.

Research interests

• Financing blue carbon
• Satellite applications
• Nature-based solutions
• Digital technologies and innovation
• Socio-ecological interactions
• Systems thinking

Cesar Arturo Angeles Ruiz

Background: BSc Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering; MSc Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology

PhD Research: How Digital Twins are Helping Decarbonise the UKs Energy Sector

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: Peter Crossley, Mohammad Abusara, and Shuhang Shen

Cesar's Profile: 

Tom Hogger Gadsby (Student Rep)

Background: BA Philosophy; MA Philosophy

PhD Research: Colonial Legacies and Sustainable Mobility: Bridging Ethnography and Natural Language Processing to Explore Inequities in Mexico City

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: ,  and Patricia Murrieta-Flores (External)

Tom's Profile: 

Research interests

I am interested in the development of environmentally sustainable transportation networks and practices, particularly in ways that are sensitive to social and cultural conditions and that do not merely perpetuate existing social divides.

My research is focused on urban mobility and transport in Mexico City. This work includes looking into the development of city infrastructure over time by applying Natural Language Processing techniques to historical texts, as well as conducting interviews with stakeholders to draw out underlying sociocultural themes, with a view to modelling outcomes that are both sustainable and equitable.

Jake Curry

Background: BSc Zoology; MRes Computational Methods in Ecology and Evolution

PhD Research: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence for Analysing Camera Trap Images

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors: ,  and

Jake's Profile: 

Frederica Poznansky (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Environmental Sciences; MRes Tropical Forest Ecology

PhD Research: A Sound Future: Ecoacoustics for Inclusive Biodiversity Conservation

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors:  and

Frederica's Profile:  

Arthur Vandervoort (*Graduated*)

Background: BA International Relations

PhD Research: A kilometre of power: gender, mobility, and measurement in São Paulo

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and

Arthur's Profile: 

Rhiannon Grant

Background: BSc Geography; MSc Geography

PhD Research: The Turbidity of European Shelf Seas

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors: , Jerry Blackwood (External),  and Shaun Rigby (External)

Monty Sant

Background: MChem Chemistry

PhD Research: Ocean absorption and storage of anthropogenic carbon

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors:  and

Monty's Profile: 

Elizabeth Galloway (*Graduated*)

Background: MSci Natural Sciences

PhD Research: Data-Driven Impact-Based Forecasting for Tropical Cyclones in the Philippines

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors:  and

Elizabeth's Profile: 

Emma Bailey

Background: MMath in Mathematics

PhD Research: Tipping Sustainable Change: Social Dynamics and Contagion

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: ,  and

Emma's Profile: 

Ned Westwood (*Graduated*)

Background: BA International Relations and Politics; MRes Politics

PhD Research: Advertising the Heroes and Villains of Climate Change: Narratives in Sponsored Posts on Facebook and Instagram in the United States

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and 

Ned's Profile: 

Emily Robinson

Background: BSc Marine Environmental Science; MRes Geochemistry

PhD Research: Tracking the discourse of transboundary injustices of Net Zero decarbonization strategies

Cohort: 3 (2021)

Supervisors:  and

Emily's Profile: 

Ian Burton

Background: LLB Law and Criminology; MA Politics and Contemporary History

PhD Research: Climate Policymaking in a Chaotic World

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors: ,  and

Ian's Profile: 

Joshua Redmond (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Politics

PhD Research: Participatory Design for Human Rights Monitoring using Earth Observation Data

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and

Joshua's Profile: 

Joshua Dare-Cullen

Background: BSc Computer Science; MSc Artificial Intelligence and Adaptive Systems

PhD Research: Neural compression of Hyperspectral Imaging

Margaret Bolton

Background: BSc Ecology; MSc Applied Ecology

PhD Research: Biotic interactions and using species life history traits to combine global correlative analysis with evolutionary theory.

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: ,  and 

Chris Kerry (*Graduated*)

Background: BSc Physical Geography, MSc Biodiversity and Conservation

PhD Research: Multidisciplinary Approaches towards the Effective Management of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in Large Scale Marine Protected Areas

Cohort: 1 (2019)

Supervisors: , , ,  and Tom Letessier (External)

Chris's Profile: 

Chris's Publications: 

Research Interests

I am a marine conservation scientist with my research mainly focussed on investigating methods of tracking global fishing activity to monitor ecological impacts. I am interested in how remote sensing and data science can be used to inform ocean management and have also been involved in the satellite tracking of basking sharks and tuna in UK waters and creating quantitative assessments of ocean health. 

Simon Puttock

Background: BSc Computer Science

PhD Research: The communication of Climate Change information on Wikipedia

Andrew Houldcroft

Background: BSc Biology; MSc Conservation and Biodiversity

PhD Research: Data Fusion for Great Ape Population Monitoring

Francisco Gonzalez Espionsa

Background: MSc Applied GIS and Remote Sensing; MPhil Mathematics

Victoria Morton-Thurtle

Background: MPhys Theoretical Physics

PhD Research: Developing a Digital Twin of the Tamar Estuary: Integrating Machine Learning and Marine Ecosystem Modelling

William Rees

Background: BA Geography; MSc Climate Change

PhD Research: Integrating Solar Park Development with Conservation Targets in the United Kingdom

William Ward

Background: BSc Geography

PhD Research: Integrating historical and computational methods for landscape-scale analysis of ecological legacies and landscape transformations in Britain

Brianna Pickstone

Background: BSc Marine Biology and Ecology

PhD Research: Addressing Ecosystem Mapping Challenges using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning

Tatiana Cantillo Garcia

Background: Bachelor in Electrical Engineering; Bachelor in Economics; MSc Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment

PhD Research: Using on-site revealed preference data to reveal the value of recreational ecosystem sirves

Alex Edwards

Background: MSc Climate Change and Environmental Policy, BSc Conservation Biology

PhD Research: Demand for Climate Justice

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors: ,  and Paul Brockway (External)

Chanon Olley

Background: MMath in Mathematics

PhD Research: Marine Habitat Mapping through Machine Learning

Catie Johnston (Student Rep)

Background: MA Philosophy; MSc Psychological Research Methods (Evolutionary Psychology)

PhD Research: Disrupted Soundscapes: Exploring the Ecological and Societal Consequences of Invasive Disruptions to the Avian Soundscape

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Nathanael Sheehan

Daneen Cowling

Arjun Biswas

Background: MSc Advanced Computer Science; Bachelor of Technology, Electronics and Computer Science

PhD Research: Large Language Models for Climate Communication

Ceren Barlas

Background: MSc in Environmental Health, BSc in Biology & Computer Science

PhD Research: An Index for Climate Change Adaptation in the UK

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors: ,  and Gavin Shaddick (External)

Ceren's Profile: 

Paul Bell

Background: MSci Physics

PhD Research: Bayesian methods for climate impact uncertainty quantification

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors: TBC

Paul's Profile: 

I'm Paul, though I often go by Pasha. I'm in my second year of my PhD in Mathematics. I'm aligned with the Environmental Intelligence CDT and iCASE funded by IBM Research.

My pronouns are they/them and I identify as a subjective Bayesian statistician. I'm also .

My research interests are:

• Bayesian statistics.
• Uncertainty quantification for linked models.
• Downscaling of climate models.
• Impact modelling.

If you're also interested in any of the above, please drop me an email! I'm still finding my feet so I'm not a wealth of knowledge, but I really enjoy chatting to folk about research.

Morgan Sparey

Background: Natural Sciences integrated MSc

PhD Research: Modelling Clouds with Physics Informed Machine Learning

Cohort: 4 (2022)

Supervisors: , ,  and 

Morgan's Profile: 

Alina McGregor

Background: BA Sociology and Anthropology; MSc Global Sustainable Solutions

PhD Research: Governing Coastal Realignment in Wales: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Hybrid Governance, Socio-Economic Impacts, and Scenario Modelling

Cohort: 5 (2023)

Alina's Profile: 

Sara Sjosten

Background: BA Natural Sciences; MSc Geological Sciences

PhD Research: Escaping the Microbial Loop: modelling the emergence of complex life and the modern ocean system

Cohort: 2 (2020)

Supervisors:  and Peter Roopnarine (External)

Sara's Profile: 

Current Research

My PhD research concerns ancient ecosystems and the feedbacks between their biotic and abiotic components which have driven the long-term evolution of the Earth system. I use biogeochemical models of the ocean and atmosphere in combination with ecophysiological modeling of past organisms and ecological community dynamics to consider how life has shaped the Earth system and how that holistic system can be stabilized or destabilized.  

Past Research

MSci Geological Sciences, University of Cambridge. Thesis: Trilobite Diversity and Disparity through the Phanerozoic.  

Ross Gardiner

Background: MEng Electronic and Software Engineering

PhD Research: Trustworthy and Scalable Information Retrieval for Rapid Biodiversity Assessment