eleanor

What are you studying?

I am studying Physics on a 4 year integrated masters programme at Durham University. I have just completed my second year.

Tell us a bit about the project you have been working on this summer?

My project was in climate modelling, using a model called FAMOUS. The model developed around the year 2000 and is quite low-resolution. The goal of my project was to see whether the model of the carbon cycle in FAMOUS would accurately respond to volcanic eruptions.  To do this we ran simulations over the last 1000 years with simulated volcanic eruptions and looked at how FAMOUS responded to those eruptions. We then compared that data to literature results from similar simulations with other climate models and the ice core CO2 record. We found that while the general prediction (increased carbon storage in the soil leading to a drop in CO2 directly following an eruption) was in line with other results, FAMOUS seemed to be overestimating the magnitude of the change.

What new skills have you learned while doing this internship?

I would say that I have learned and further developed various skills during this internship. A lot of them are related to computing; for example, using the Unix shell command line interface or improving my data analysis in Python. On top of that there are some more general skills I practised, like working independently or giving presentations for instance.

How have you found working with your research team?

I really liked working with my supervisor (Prof. Simon Tett), as he was very willing to help and generous with his time. I am also very grateful for getting the opportunity to attend the weekly discussions of the wider research group he was part of (The Contemporary Climate Group). It was very interesting to hear about what research other people were doing and listen to the academics discuss amongst each other. Finally, I was also lucky to start on the same day as another REP (NERC) student whose project had similarities to mine and so we were to discuss various aspects of our work.

What has been the highlight of the internship for you?

My personal highlights were the social events organised by SENSE. I enjoyed meeting the other interns and hearing about their experiences. It was also interesting to listen to the PhD students to get some advice and a better idea in general of what it is like to do a PhD.

How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about your future career?

Before this internship I had thought of a career in Climate Science as an option but would have been uncomfortable committing to e.g., a PhD or even a Masters in the field, as I had no idea of what it would be like, coming from a Physics background. After doing this internship I could definitely imagine working in Climate Science in the future and it confirmed that I would enjoy working in a research environment.

What are you studying?

I am studying for a BSc in Environmental Science at the University of Leeds.

Tell us a bit about the project you have been working on this summer?

The project aims to trial monitoring and quantification methods on natural floods management practices (NFM’s) implemented at Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. NFM’s implemented include leaky dams, pond creation and afforestation, which aim to combat the economic and environmental issues of sediment accumulation and flooding in the Skell valley river catchment.

A wide variety of monitoring and quantification methods were involved in investigating these NFM’s. I hope to contribute to the ongoing research at the Sorby Fluid Dynamics Laboratory to help answer and prove some of the many questions surrounding this project including; ‘ are heavy rainfall events causing increased sediment inputs into the river Skell? ‘ and ‘ has the implementation of  NFM’s substantially quantities of precipitation and subsequently slowing the flow of water into the river Skell across the catchment ‘. All with the end goal of helping to preserve fountains abbey and resolve issues for shareholders involved in the Skell valley catchment.

What new skills have you learned while doing this internship?

I learned various skills that were both specialised to the field of data science and practical transferable skills for any workplace. I developed various specialised data science skills. Including learning to use software to process data,  where I used MeshLab to quantify LiDAR models that I conducted in the field. I took part in implemented and manging various monitoring methods including; Turbidity and level sensors, weather stations, cameras, level weather stations and pump and volunteer sampling. I did a A2 CofC course so I could be qualified to fly unmanned aerial vehicles to produce repeat photogrammetric models of NFM’s. This will be very useful for future research possibilities as UAV’s are increasingly used in data science. The practical skills I further developed included; communicating with shareholders, extensive planning, time management and teamwork on a large project with multiple organisations operating on a tight time frame.

How have you found working with your research team?

I found working with my supervisor Dave and his colleagues Gareth and Helena in the Sorby Fluid Dynamics ab, as well as the wider Skell Valley Project, to be thoroughly insightful and informative. They were all generous with their time and knowledge and answered any question I asked about the project and industry as a whole. I am immensely appreciative to have had the opportunity to work alongside these incredibly skilled professionals doing great work.

What has been the highlight of the internship for you?

The highlight of the internship was an interdisplinary meeting at fountains abbey with a wide variety of professionals working within the Skell valley project, which opened my eyes both the extend of the project and also how important data science is to large environmental management projects.

How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about your future career?

This placement has led me to respect and understand how challenging research projects can be. Nonetheless I would consider taking on one in the future and I am definitely interested in pursuing a MscR after my BSc.

What are you studying?

I am currently studying for a BSc in Environmental Science at The Open University, as a distance-learning student. I will be starting my fourth and final year in October 2023.

Tell us a bit about the project you have been working on this summer?

My project investigated how particulate organic carbon (POC) in the Southern Ocean sinks through the water to add to ocean carbon storage, via phytoplankton photosynthesis. This involved analysing in-situ data on particles produced by the phytoplankton that promote carbon sinking to the deep ocean. I also used chlorophyll data from the ESA Ocean Colour satellite dataset, to help answer my main question of how the whole process was affected by nutrient availability in the water. The findings will hopefully have implications for researchers involved in the CUSTARD project, who are investigating seasonal changes in Southern Ocean carbon storage.

What new skills have you learned while doing this internship?

During the internship, my IT and data analysis skills definitely improved, such as learning about and using Linux operating systems, and coding using a Python environment – something which I had never used before. I have developed my presentation skills, by presenting to other placement students and research scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) where I was based, which also taught me how to target a talk to different audiences with different knowledge bases. The soft skills I have learned and used involved problem-solving, time management and building work relationships, by communicating with my supervisors and speaking to other people in the office. I also developed a good working day routine to make the most of my time, which is some helpful personal insight I will use in future.

How have you found working with your research team?

From the outset and throughout the internship, my supervisors Alice and Chelsey were incredibly welcoming and attentive to any questions I had (which, for the first week, were mainly about how to find my way around the NOC building!). They offered me many opportunities to attend talks, speak to people, get involved with data collection and public engagement, and generally gain a huge amount of insight into the academic industry, for which I am very grateful. I massively appreciated their consistent time and support, particularly when they were both busy with their own work, and it was inspiring to work with and learn from them.

What has been the highlight of the internship for you?

The highlight was definitely my fifth week, where I presented to the other REP interns in Edinburgh and Leeds online, and then to 20 or so researchers at NOC later that week. It was fantastic to see what the other interns had been working on, and grow in confidence when presenting to researchers who are experts in their fields.

How has doing this internship changed your plans or thoughts about your future career?

The internship has reaffirmed to me that I want to pursue a career in earth science research, as I found the whole project process very interesting. It has also highlighted the potential challenges that arise with it, which I am glad to be aware of. I definitely plan to conduct a PhD research project, and will likely study for a masters in oceanography or similar first.

Venue: Prince Phillip Suite, Surgeons Quarter, Nicholson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW

The SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training would like to invite you to a one day symposium involving students, staff and partners of the centre.

The purpose of the event will be:
·       To showcase the work in Earth Observation and environmental science being done by the SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training
·       Explore opportunities for collaboration within the centre.  
·       Network with students, companies, academics and other staff working within the area of EO
·       Explore future directions for research in Earth Observation and environmental science 

Attendance at this event is free however limited to two attendees per organisation.

Please register via Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sense-industry-symposium-2023-tickets-658406249817

We look forward to meeting you in November

Dr Gary R Watmough

SENSE Deputy Director for Industry Engagement

In 2023 SENSE was lucky enough to be awarded Skills Enhancement funding by our funder NERC which will allow us to create some additional opportunities for our own students and also open our current training activities to students outwith the CDT. With our field skills trip to Firbush scheduled for June 2023 we were excited to create this opportunity and a few months before the trip launched an application process for this. We were really lucky to be joined by some excellent PhD colleagues from various universities around the UK.

Estelle Darko is a student at the University of Birmingham whose research is focussed on forest diversity. Estelle was particularly interested in the forest inventory activities as it is directly aligned with her research. She said of the week:

I found the training to be surprisingly useful and quite relevant to my research so I would consider the funding as having been used well. I was also able to meet researchers in my field who go to similar conferences who I may have otherwise not easily spoken to otherwise so it was effective networking.

Fiona Woods is based at the University of Southampton and is looking at native oyster reefs in the Solent. As much of Fiona’s research is based in the lab and in situ measurements she was really keen to expand her knowledge of remote sensing. As well as gaining knowledge of the technical aspects of the training the best part of her week was:

To be Able to meet other PhDs doing completely different research to myself, and how willing everyone was to share their work and ideas

Fiona was also very interested to hear about the NERC Field Spectroscopy facility and how their equipment was available to hire for free and at a low cost.

Ian Willey is based at the University of Leeds and he has recently started a PhD evaluating woodland creation schemes in the UK, Ian is currently exploring different remote methods in his research but keen to find out more about the potential of using satellite data for this. The best thing about the course for Ian was:

Hands-on experience with equipment, approachability and knowledge of staff/demonstrators, the Firbush setting itself together with the food, structure of the day and facilities. Beyond this, doing activities with other PhD students and having dinner with them everyday helped discussion and created bonds which are great for learning.

Anna Stanforth is also based at the University of Southampton and working on a assessing ecosystem services from local to landscape scale to improve agricultural sustainability and productivity in Papua New Guinea. Anna was really keen to pick up some field techniques and pick up some tips and tricks before heading in the field herself.

My own DTP does not offer anything near this training and therefore being able to tag onto another training course was invaluable. It also helped with networking and generally getting out of my own PhD environment which can easily become a bubble.

Nitin Ravinder is based at CPOM at the University of Leeds working on Detecting Ice Sheet Dynamical Imbalance using Satellite Altimetry and was keen to gain experience of drone flying before potentially taking part in some field campaigns on ice sheets.

Firstly, a big thank you to NERC for the funding and hence the opportunity. Most of the training was a first experience for me. I learnt quite a lot about field work, the kind of planning that goes into one, the kind of adaptability required for completing one, the unexpectedness of it all. I’m hoping to use this knowledge in any future field work opportunity I might get and only build on what I have learnt. I’m confident in being able to take part in field work in more challenging environment that comes with my field of research and I only have this training to thank for it.

Luke Richardson-Foulger is studying at Kings college London looking at  High Latitude Peatland Fires and their Greenhouse Gas Emissions and was keen to gain experience of some of the methods which will be used in his research

Luke particularly enjoyed the drone activities and the ACDP demonstrations and found it very useful to network with other PhDs

Rachel Walker studies at the University of Nottingham as part of the Geospatial Systems CDT and her research focusses on developing a product to assess the success of peat restoration techniques through the integration of geospatial methods and will be using a variety of range of remotely sensed data (hyperspectral, multispectral, InSAR, thermal and lidar) for this.

It was beneficial as my CDT does not offer training on UAV or field spectroscopy and these both directly link to my research. It was also interesting to meet people from the SENSE CDT and elsewhere to find out what they are doing and network.

Safaa’Al Awadhi is based at the School of Geoscience at the University of Edinburgh and is working on Oil spill detection in the offshore marine environment using thermal and SAR remote sensing and was keen to gain techniques to use UAV’s in the safe detection of oil spills. Safaa particularly enjoyed the talks from Calum Hoad and Charlotte Walshaw on their fieldwork experiences>

I liked seeing the PhD students progress and their EO applications in Antarctica and the Arctic. Their talk method had an element of storytelling with lots of  photos and humor which I thought was great.

She said of the week in general:

Thank you for the invitation. As an internationally funded PhD student, it can be isolating not being part of a cohort such as NERC E3 or E4 or SENSE, etc. Being part of the SENSE field training for a week provided some opportunity for shared activities with fellow PhD students and a chance to network with them. I look forward for future similar opportunities.

Thank you to all of those who joined the trip this year – it was great to see everyone getting to know each other and working together in groups. It was brilliant to expand our network and meet new people. Thank you very much to NERC for funding this – we are already making plans for next year’s training and hope to make places available to attend this and other training events.

So after last year’s very successful Firbush field skills trip we thought we really couldn’t top it but how wrong we were. In June 2023 24 SENSE students and some special invited guest students (more about them later) headed north to the beautiful University of Edinburgh field skills centre at Firbush point on Loch Tay for a week of field skills training, outdoor pursuits and cohort building with staff from the School of Geoscience.

Collecting data in the field is very important when working with satellite data as it is often used to validate what we can see from the air and track down the locations where the data has been collected. Very important when dealing with data from vast areas.

The forecast for the week was looking good so the group were in high spirits when they arrived. First on the agenda was some outdoor activities including paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing and orienteering before dinner and an introduction to the first two days training activities.

Drone operation led by Tom Wade (Airborne Research and Innovation) assisted by out fantastic demonstrators Liz Poulsom (E4 DTP) and SENSE students Charlotte Walshaw and Calum Hoad. Calum, Charlotte and Liz all use drones as part of their PhD research and have experience of using them in the field. Before we started Tom explained the process of risk assessment for flying drones and then everyone was able to get some experience of flying some of the smaller Mavic 2 & 3 drones. After everyone had a chance to try out the drones it was time for the team challenge – come up with a short drone flying sequence with a commentary and an entertaining accompaniment. The teams really rose to the challenge with some excellent flying and some inventive dance routine accompaniments although team ‘Mavic Mike’ was the overall winner.

Day two of the drone training was focused on more complex drone operations such as demonstrations of collecting Lidar data from the surrounding forests and how to use a ranging station to record the points you are flying over. Calum and Charlotte also gave a talk in the evening about how they had used drone work in their field research – Charlotte in Antarctica and Calum in the Canadian arctic – hint watch out for bears.

We were also joined by Alex Merrington and Craig Atkins from the NERC field spectroscopy facility which is based at the University of Edinburgh. Field spectroscopy relates to the measurement of the optical characteristics of a surface and provides quantitative measurements of radiance, irradiance, reflectance or transmission. Analysis of specific areas of the spectral data can infer properties of the sample material, and various indices exist to quantify various parameters. The students had a chance to collect some data and then analyse it. FSF were also able to introduce their service which allows NERC funded researchers and PhD students to borrow equipment at no or very low cost to use in the field.

Our final activity was delivered by Harry Carstairs who has recently completed his PhD with the Mitchard group. Equipment for this was much more low tech in that included a tape measure and clinometer for measuring the height of trees. The challenge was to take a 20m radius section and measure the forest biomass. Harry is more used to the exotic location of the forest of Gabon for this type of field work but being a good field scientist had remembered an essential bit of kit for the students – midgie nets! The groups were given a few hours to do this and a few instructions so it was really interesting to see the different methods used and results they came up with. A great team building exercise as well as learning.

Day 4 of the training saw a change of team as we were joined by Mikael Attal and Alan Hobbs from the school of geosciences who was demonstrating the Acoustic Dopper Current Profiler (ADCP) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The ADCP is used extensively by the Land Surface Dynamics group to investigate river velocity, turbulence, and erosional and sediment transport potential. It sits on a small craft which is towed behind a canoe and was taken in transects across the loch to give some information about what is happening under the surface. Mikael also gave a talk in his research which is part of the Land Surface Dynamics group and the students were particularly interested in his work on landslips.

The group was also joined during the week by team ice Anna Crawford, Bea Ricinos Rivas and Dan Goldberg from the glaciology research group who gave talks about their research. As a interdisciplinary centre SENSE covers a wide variety of topic areas we like to give our students opportunities to find out about areas of interest out with their normal research areas.

The week’s training ended with some more outdoor activities, another swim in the loch, a games night and then after another hearty breakfast the group headed back to Edinburgh on Friday morning a bit tired but happy with lots of new ideas and some new connections. It had been a great week in a fantastic location and a chance for the SENSE students to spend some time together and get to know their fellow students and staff a little bit better. Thank you so much to Tom, Liz, Charlotte, Calum, Harry, Alex, Craig, Alan, Mikael, Anna, Bea, Kathy and all the Firbush staff for an amazing trip and a really big shout out to Eleanor and Dan who worked so hard to put the week together. 

Oh and also to mention a very exciting spot of a beaver near the centre – it seems word of the training got out!

On 22nd May a group of 12 Cohort 1 & 2 SENSE students headed to the European Space Agency ESRIN facility in Frascati which is just outside Rome to attend an Earth System Science Workshop. The workshop aimed to train participants in working with ESA’s Deep Earth System Data Lab (DeepESDL), exploring the scientific potential of its multivariate datasets and analytics capabilities for Earth System research. 

You can read more about the workshop here

The centre is very grateful to all of those at ESA and their associates who made this trip possible and those who took time out of their busy working day to spend time with the students.

The SENSE CDT will be running a field skills course from 3rd – 7^th June 2024 at the University of Edinburgh outdoor centre at Firbush on Loch Tay. We have a small number of places available on this course for which UK based UKRI PhD students may apply to attend.

The Learning Objectives include:

• To learn how to collect remote sensing data from drone platforms safely and effectively
• To learn how to collect calibration data for Earth Observation satellites using
  • Field Spectroscopy equipment
  • The measurement of trees through forest inventory plots
• To learn general fieldwork and teamwork skills, including how to work safely and collect reliable and useful data outside controlled settings

Training will be delivered by staff from the University of Edinburgh School of Geosciences and the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility

There will also be opportunities to take part in outdoor activities and participate in research talks and informal networking with other PhD students.

Coach travel will be available from Edinburgh departing at 9am on Monday 3rd June and returning Friday 7^th June around lunchtime. Travel, accommodation and meals during the trip are included. Please note that arranging travel to Edinburgh and will be the responsibility of the student. For students based outwith Edinburgh the centre may be able to arrange accommodation on Sunday 2nd June.

It is recommended that those attending have warm and water proof clothing and walking boots as the training takes place outside; midge repellent and a midge net is also recommended.

Should you wish to be considered for this training please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/5MzbK2i9nWfPUhDD6

The application deadline is Tuesday 23rd April and successful applicants will be informed shortly afterwards.

For informal enquiries, please contact sense@ed.ac.uk

Please see the SENSE website for a flavour of previous trips:

SENSE in Bonnie Scotland– Field Skills Week @ Firbush, May 2022

Ducks, Drones & Dancing – Firbush Field Skills May 2023

Our Firbush Special Guests

2nd Year SENSE student Ashar attended an event at the Natural History Museum in January, featuring on a podcast panel discussion on the intersection between racial and environmental justice.

On 26^th January, I was invited to be a guest speaker on the podcast, “Two Chickpeas in a Podcast”, who were running a session and live episode recording at an event run by the Natural History Museum’s Explorers Programme. The podcast focused on the intersection between racial and environmental justice, and the disproportionate impact of climate change on people of colour (PoC). 

The Explorers Programme supports and encourages those from racially marginalised backgrounds into careers related to Earth, environmental and ecological sciences, highlighting that everyone deserves the right to access. The programme’s events include an annual careers conference for professionals, early career researchers and undergraduate students, a Build a Museum event for sixth form students, and family festivals revolving around the natural environment. 

The event, Explorers Night: Mind, Body, Space, ran from 6-10pm. The public were allowed to roam parts of the Natural History Museum freely to immerse themselves in experiences brought by scientists, creatives and activists exploring our relationship with nature. These address various obstacles to us enjoying nature which stem from societal perspectives and treatment of race, and other aspects of our identity. Several activities were run, including a sensory space related to the marine realm, special tours of collections, nature-related poetry, workshops and quiz games, a Talkaoke (live drop-in talk show) and a patchwork quilt collaborative art project. 

“Two Chickpeas in a Podcast” is hosted by sisters Natasha and Nikkita Beghi from West London. The podcast explores what it means to be a British Asian in the modern day, in terms of identity and heritage. I joined Josh Virasami, an activist, artist and author involved in political and climate justice movements, on the podcast panel for the live episode. We discussed various topics including: 

• What are the perceptions of climate migrants in the media? 
• What would happen if UK residents had to seek refuge in other countries due to climate change? 
• Who does the work to look at the climate crisis and how it affects PoC? 
• How do we work through the crisis when there is an inherent hierarchy in who can publish, progress in their careers, access climate education and display information? 
• How should activists go about looking at climate change – should we describe it as a crisis/emergency or in another manner? 
• What can we do about climate change and can we reverse it? 

You can find links for listening to the podcast, as well as others in their series, here. 

Name: Ross Slater

Institution: University of Leeds

PhD Project Title: Ice sheet-ocean interactions: using satellite data to understand ice dynamic change

What is your background?

I am a 2^nd year glaciology PhD student with the SENSE CDT, based at the University of Leeds. I studied for an MPhys integrated masters degree in physics at the University of Edinburgh from 2015-2020 and while doing so I became very interested in programming. This was really unexpected as I has no prior experience, but I loved the endless possibilities and creativity which it allowed. I realised how vital software is to solving problems in every scientific field and after I graduated I worked as a data scientist for an Edinburgh based Earth observation start up. I continued this until I started my PhD in October 2021 and I’ve brought my love of coding with me into my PhD, where I am analysing very large satellite imagery datasets using High-performance computing.

Tell us about your project and the area of environmental science you are most excited about

My project looks at the interaction between the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Southern Ocean. I’m using satellite imagery to measure the speed of the glaciers flowing into the ocean, which we do by tracking the movement of features on the surface of the ice such as crevasses. The satellites I use are part of the Sentinel-1 constellation, which is able to take images over almost the entire Antarctic coast as frequently as every 6 days. This has given us unprecedented amounts of data compared to previous missions (which could only provide this speed measurements around once per month) and helps us monitor shorter term variations in the speed of the ice. Changes in the temperature of the ocean at the edge of the ice sheet can affect the flow of the ice, causing changes in the amount of ice flowing into the ocean and contributing to sea level rise. I’m aiming to compare ocean temperature observations to my measurements of ice speed to examine how ocean temperature is causing ice acceleration. Understanding how our planet’s ice sheets interact with the climate is vital to predicting future rates of sea level rise and I’m very excited to be able to do research which contributes in part to this goal.

Was using satellite data at the core of your PhD project important to you?

Using satellite data was a deal breaker for me when it came to selecting a PhD. I wanted to be able to combine climate and space science, and satellite data was the perfect means for me to do this. I also knew I wanted to work with satellite imagery as I enjoy the visual aspect of the data. Satellite data is vital to studying the whole extent of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and without it we would struggle to cover the vast extent of the continent. Conveniently it also means that you can do this kind of glaciology research from anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer, as access to the satellite data I use has been made free and open by the European Commission’s Copernicus Program. I really enjoy the challenge that the volume of satellite data poses and the new tools and infrastructure which the scientific community are developing to perform environmental science at this scale.

Why did you decide to enter the space sector?

I always had an interest in the space sector while I was an undergraduate and knew I would definitely like to work in it in some capacity, but it was only when I discovered Earth observation that I realised I could combine my interest in the physics and engineering side of space with climate science. Space also led me to polar science in a roundabout way: I learnt that certain Antarctic research stations were sometimes used as analogues for deep space exploration, which I thought was really interesting, and from this I quickly became interested in exploring and studying the polar regions and eventually focused on glaciology.

What does equity, diversity and inclusion mean to you?

I think it is important that everyone feels welcomed and supported at work and is able to be themselves. Academia can be a particularly confusing system to navigate for people without any prior experience and so I think it is vital that everyone is given the opportunity and support to thrive in their research discipline.

What are your hopes for future PhD students?

SENSE is doing a great job at making sure we are supported through wellbeing and EDI work and this has definitely made the transition to studying for a PhD a much easier process. It would be great to see more this kind of support become the norm for PhD students, regardless of whether they are part of a larger cohort such as a CDT/DTP.  There is a growing push to see PhD students treated as employees of the university (as in many other countries) and I think this would be a great benefit to all PGRs, giving us the rights and benefits which come from proper employment.

Any tips for those interested in applying for PhDs?

Find a topic/project which you’re really curious about and can see yourself studying in detail for the next 3-4 years. Talk to potential supervisors but also reach out and talk to the PhD students in research groups you might like to join – it’s a great way to get a better understanding of what it’s like to work in that environment. If you’re currently working, don’t forget to explain the experience and skills you’ve gained since graduating in your application. Even if the work is not directly related to the project, what you’ve learnt will almost certainly be of use at some point in your research!

Read more about Ross here.

Follow Ross on Twitter @rossawslater and Linkedin.