Congratulations to SENSE CDT alumnus Sam Bancroft, who successfully defended his thesis: “Assessing food production systems using machine learning and remote sensing”
Sam found that being part of the SENSE CDT
… has been an incredibly rewarding experience, both professionally and personally. I appreciated the sense of community within the inaugural cohort, as we navigated the challenges of starting a PhD during COVID-19. SENSE made a big difference— notjust in sharing technical knowledge but in building connections that have shaped my research journey. SENSE reinforced the value of teamwork and open discussion in science. Some of the best ideas and solutions— academic or otherwise— emerged from informal chats during symposiums and workshops. While conferences offer similar opportunities, the shared Earth Observation connection within SENSE created an academic family that was both welcoming and genuinely fun to be part of. I’m incredibly grateful for the support and friendships I’ve gained through SENSE and look forward to carrying these experiences into the next stage of my career.
Congratulations to Jacob Connolly who successfully defended his PhD thesis: “Characterising bias and noise in Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar time series”
Jacob has gone on to a role as a Research Fellow in SAR and AI in the Satellite Ice Dynamics research group, part of the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science in the School of Earth and Environment, at the University of Leeds.
Congratulations to SENSE CDT PGR Megan Udy who recently successfully defended her PhD thesis: “Optical and radar satellite measurement of volcanic eruption impacts on vegetation”
Megan joined SENSE in 2020 and completed her PhD at the University of Leeds.
Megan has gone on to a Postdoctoral position with the German Aerospace Centre, DLR
Megan said of her time with SENSE:
I think the SENSE community is the main thing that sets SENSE apart from other CDTs/DTPs (along with the training). I have discussed this with others in my cohort but the time taken to organise events and training and get us all together across all institutions is admirable. Particularly the writing retreats, these were invaluable to me towards the end and also provided a great way to see and catch up with others. I believe the friendships and relationships built through Sense will carry on through our individual careers and create a great network and I’m excited to see this develop.
Megan highlighted how valuable to training offered by the SENSE CDT was:
The broadness of training, while underappreciated at the time, is definitely something Sense did well. I also liked the amount of training and events run by Sense and how that made us feel like a cohort even across different institutions.
From all of us at SENSE – congratulations Megan! Wishing you all the very best in your future career – we look forward to hearing about your future endeavours.
The SENSE CDT is running a training course on ‘Big Data & Satellites’ from 18 – 22 March, in person, at the University of Leeds. We are delighted to be able to invite up to 10 UK based PhD students to apply to attend.
Successful applicants will join the NERC SENSE CDT PhD students on the training, providing an excellent opportunity for PhD students across the UK to network. The SENSE CDT is on satellite data in environmental science, from which most of the examples will be taken.
The teaching week is a mixture of theory followed by practical exercises, keynote speakers, and transferable skills development. At the end of the week, attendees are placed into groups and work on a group project to work, which will require them to apply the skills they have gained earlier in the week. The groups will present their work back to a small panel of experts in the field on the Friday.
Schedule
Time
am
pm
Mon
The role of the tropics in carbon and water cycles Remote sensing tools to monitor land surface change & land vegetation functioning Advanced GEE
Advanced GEE – practical iCASP – translating research into applications
Tues
Jasmin Training
Jasmin Training
Wed
Weather and climate prediction for Africa: Confronting models with observational data Introduction to group work activity
Group work Who wants to be an Earth Explorer mission PI?
Thurs
Space Weather Group work
Group work
Fri
Group work
Group work presentations
Details
The course is free to successful applicants and overnight accommodation will be provided, Monday – Thursday. However, attendees will need to book their own travel and cover their travel and subsistence costs whilst on the course. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided during morning and afternoon breaks.
Students will be required to bring their own laptops. Information will be given prior to the training on any software downloads required.
The training will take place, at the University of Leeds, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Fairbairn House, 71-75 Clarendon Rd, Woodhouse, Leeds LS2 9PH.
Attendees are expected to attend all sessions.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must be:
in the first or second year of their PhD studies
studying in an associated field, with a strong mathematical and computing background
able to demonstrate that the training is relevant to their PhD research and is unavailable at their home institution.
How to apply
Applicants need to complete the following form https://forms.gle/vDbmE6gEzyZswPjn6
The deadline for applications is 1 January 2024 (23:59)
Successful applicants will be informed shortly afterwards.
The SENSE CDT is running a training course on ‘the Cryosphere and Solid Earth’ from 11 – 15 March, in person, at the University of Leeds. We are delighted to be able to invite up to 10 UK based PhD students to apply to attend.
Successful applicants will join the NERC SENSE CDT PhD students on the training, providing an excellent opportunity for PhD students across the UK to network. The SENSE CDT is on satellite data in environmental science, from which most of the examples will be taken.
The teaching week is a mixture of theory followed by practical exercises, keynote speakers, and transferable skills development. At the end of the week, attendees are placed into groups and work on a group project to work, which will require them to apply the skills they have gained earlier in the week. The groups will present their work back to a small panel of experts in the field on the Friday.
Schedule
Time
am
pm
Mon
Overview of EO of the cryosphere Sea ice EO techniques Sea ice freeboard practical
Sea ice freeboard practical contd. Keynote: Advances in cryosphere research over the last 30 years
Tues
Surface elevation change from altimetry Ice Velocity theory & practical
Ice velocity practical contd Keynote talk: Advances in cryosphere research over the last 30 years, Andrew Fleming, BAS
Wed
Overview of EO for volcanoes and earthquakes InSAR for volcanoes and earthquakes Visible Earthquakes
Interseismic practical work Keynote talk: 30 years of advances in tectonics, Prof Andy Hooper
Thurs
Volcanoes & EO science talk Introduction to group work activity
Group work
Fri
Group work
Group work presentations
Details
The course is free to successful applicants and overnight accommodation will be provided, Monday – Thursday. However, attendees will need to book their own travel and cover their travel and subsistence costs whilst on the course. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided during morning and afternoon breaks.
Students will be required to bring their own laptops. Information will be given prior to the training on any software downloads required.
The training will take place, at the University of Leeds, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Fairbairn House, 71-75 Clarendon Rd, Woodhouse, Leeds LS2 9PH.
Attendees are expected to attend all sessions.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must be:
in the first or second year of their PhD studies
studying in an associated field, with a strong mathematical and computing background
able to demonstrate that the training is relevant to their PhD research and is unavailable at their home institution.
How to apply
Applicants need to complete the following form https://forms.gle/vDbmE6gEzyZswPjn6
The deadline for applications is 1 January 2024 (23:59)
Successful applicants will be informed shortly afterwards.
The SENSE CDT is running a training course for ‘Machine Learning and AI’ from 4 – 7 March 2024, in person, at the University of Leeds. We are delighted to be able to offer places for up to 10 UK based PhD students to attend.
Successful applicants will join the NERC SENSE CDT PhD students on the training, providing an excellent opportunity for PhD students across the UK to network. The SENSE CDT is on satellite data in environmental science, from which most of the examples will be taken.
The teaching week is a mixture of theory followed by practical exercises, keynote speakers, and transferable skills development.
Schedule
am
pm
Mon
Machine Learning AI techniques practical: classification of images, textural description
AI techniques practical: contd Keynote: New directions of AI, Prof David Hogg
Tues
Agent-based models Introduction to Urban Analytics Urban systems machine learning practical 1/2
Urban systems machine learning practical 2/2 “Dos and Don’ts of presenting”, Prof Jurgen Neuberg
Wed
The role of ATI and overview of LIDA Unsupervised classification of clouds lecture & practical
Unsupervised classification of clouds summary Keynote: Using science to influence policy, Dr Cat Scott
Thurs
Scientific Machine Learning Using machine learning in EO Alan Turing Institute lecture
Details
The course is free to successful applicants and overnight accommodation will be provided, Monday – Wednesday. However, attendees will need to book their own travel and cover their travel and subsistence costs whilst on the course. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided during morning and afternoon breaks.
Students will be required to bring their own laptops. Information will be given prior to the training on any software downloads required.
The training will take place, at the University of Leeds, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Fairbairn House, 71-75 Clarendon Rd, Woodhouse, Leeds LS2 9PH.
Attendees are expected to attend all sessions.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must be:
in the first or second year of their PhD studies
studying in an associated field, with a strong mathematical and computing background
able to demonstrate that the training is relevant to their PhD research and is unavailable at their home institution.
The SENSE CDT is running a training course for ‘Earth Observation of the Atmosphere’ from 26 February – 1 March 2024, in person, at the University of Leeds. We are delighted to be able to invite up to 10 UK based PhD students to apply to attend.
Successful applicants will join the NERC SENSE CDT PhD students on the training, providing an excellent opportunity for PhD students across the UK to network. The SENSE CDT is on satellite data in environmental science, from which most of the examples will be taken.
The teaching week is a mixture of theory followed by practical exercises, keynote speakers, and transferable skills development. At the end of the week, attendees are placed into groups and work on a group project to work, which will require them to apply the skills they have gained earlier in the week. The groups will present their work back to a small panel of experts in the field on the Friday.
Schedule
Morning Sessions
Afternoon Sessions
Mon
– Welcome from the CDT Director – Introduction to the atmosphere and NCAS – EO of the atmosphere
– Satellite observations of clouds practical – MODIS/CLOUDSAT/calypso – Severe Weather over East Africa
Tues
– Overview of weather systems – Weather forecasting lecture & exercise
– Tropical Cyclones – Measuring tropospheric ozone pollution and precursors from space – spectrometry theory – Sentinel-5p for monitoring air quality practical
– Sentinel-5p for monitoring air quality practical – Discovering the Ozone Hole
Thurs
– Keynote talk: “Things I learned from 3 decades of atmospheric research” Professor Ken Carslaw – Introduction to Group project work activity
– Group project work
Fri
– Group project work
– Group work presentations
Details
The course is free to successful applicants and overnight accommodation will be provided, Monday – Thursday. However, attendees will need to book their own travel and cover their travel and subsistence costs whilst on the course. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided during morning and afternoon breaks.
Students will be required to bring their own laptops. Information will be given prior to the training on any software downloads required.
The training will take place, at the University of Leeds, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Fairbairn House, 71-75 Clarendon Rd, Woodhouse, Leeds LS2 9PH.
Attendees are expected to attend all sessions.
Pre-requisites
Applicants must be:
in the first or second year of their PhD studies
studying in an associated field, with a strong mathematical and computing background
able to demonstrate that the training is relevant to their PhD research and is unavailable at their home institution.
