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We are delighted to announce our third SENSE annual prize winners for Cohort 3. This year’s prizes were sponsored by the UK Space Agency. Whilst we wish we could recognise all our amazing students’ achievements, the SENSE prizes were created to recognise students who have gone above and beyond in different areas during their PhDs. Thank you to those who provided nominations, providing a challenge for the panel to select the winners. 

• Best Outreach: Leam Howe 
• Best External Engagement: Elle Smith 
• Best Paper: Ryan Ing 

Leam Howe – Outreach  

• Institution: University of Edinburgh 
• Project: Machine learning for remote sensing and modelling of mountain snow patches 
• Supervisors: Richard Essery, Lauren Gregoire, Andrew Black, Elliot Crowley & Margaret Graham 
• CASE partner: ENVEO IT GmbH, Austria 

Leam Howe‘s outreach contributions have had a lasting impact both within and beyond the geoscience community. He has played a central role in SatSchool, contributing to the development and delivery of accessible satellite education resources, serving as President in his third year, and ensuring the group’s materials achieved national reach through platforms such as the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Youth Hub via UKSA. Notably, Leam has remained actively engaged even in the final stages of his PhD, supporting continuity and mentoring newer members. 

In parallel, Leam has been a key founder and driving force behind ML4GEO, a student-led seminar and training initiative bringing together researchers across geosciences to explore practical machine learning applications. His leadership helped secure funding, enabling the creation of high‑quality tutorials and the delivery of a successful cross‑disciplinary hackathon on geospatial foundation models. 

Across all activities, Leam demonstrates sustained commitment, inclusive leadership, and a talent for building collaborative outreach that meaningfully supports the wider research community. 

Elle Smith – External Engagement  

• Institution: University of Leeds 
• Project: Urban Forests through Space and Time 
• Supervisors: Cat Scott, Stuart King, Hannah Walker, William Mackaness & Christopher Fleet 
• CASE partner: National Library of Scotland, Forest Research 

Elle Smith‘s research exemplifies outstanding external engagement and real‑world impact. Throughout her PhD, Elle has led and sustained collaborations with a wide range of external partners, including the National Library of Scotland, Forest Research, and the White Rose Forest, ensuring her work directly informs practice, policy, and public understanding.  

Elle’s research on urban trees and access to green space has combined cutting‑edge spatial analysis with clear, accessible communication for non‑academic audiences leading to two publications. Her work has been translated into interactive tools, practitioner‑focused outputs, public talks and webinars, and widely covered media pieces, supporting decision‑makers across local and regional government. You can see more of Elle’s excellent work through the first and second papers of her PhD, presenting her work at the Trees and Design Action Group / Mersey Forest Ideas Lab, her winning of an Early Career Research Prize and being covered by the Yorkshire Post, and others. Elle co-wrote a blog with colleagues at White Rose Forest (WRF) to explain how the findings of her work related specifically to Leeds, York, Wakefield and Bradford. As part of the ongoing collaboration, Elle is delivering a joint Green Streets webinar for practitioners and policy makers in the region. Through her leadership, technical expertise, and commitment to meaningful collaboration, Elle has ensured that her research delivers tangible benefits beyond academia. 

Ryan Ing – Best Paper  

• Institution: University of Edinburgh 
• Project: Investigating the influence of meltwater runoff and near-terminus subglacial hydrology on the dynamics of Greenland’s marine-terminating glacier margins 
• Supervisors: Peter Nienow, Anna Hogg, Encarni Medina-Lopez, Andrew Sole, Ben Davison & Sian Henley. 

Ryan Ing‘s award-winning paper, Minimal Impact of Late-Season Melt Events on Greenland Ice Sheet Annual Motion (published in Geophysical Research Letters), investigates the ice-dynamic response to the largest late-season surface melt event ever recorded on the Greenland Ice Sheet. 

Led entirely by Ryan, from conceptual development and data analysis to manuscript preparation, the research reveals that while extreme late-season melt events trigger short-lived and dramatic speed-ups in ice flow, their overall impact on annual ice discharge is minimal. Crucially, the study highlights that such events can nevertheless drive substantial increases in surface meltwater runoff, with significant implications for future ice-sheet mass loss under a warming climate. 

The paper has already attracted wide academic and public attention, with citations in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, Nature Reviews, and Geophysical Research Letters, as well as coverage by phys.org. Ryan’s work represents an important contribution to understanding Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics and its future contribution to sea-level rise. 

Xinyi Huang – Commendation for Best Paper  

• Institution: University of Leeds 
• Project: Ice formation in clouds and the implications for climate 
• Supervisors: Ken Carslaw, Ben Murray, Dan Grosvenor & Floortje Van Den Heuvel 

We’d also like to commend Xinyi Huang for her outstanding paper published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2025), which makes a significant and original contribution to understanding mixed‑phase cloud processes. Led entirely by the nominee, the work uses innovative high‑resolution modelling and satellite observations to overturn established assumptions about how ice nucleation affects cloud reflectivity. This research has important implications for climate model representation of cloud feedbacks and exemplifies the high-quality, impactful science supported by the SENSE CDT. 

Find out more about our outstanding students on the SENSE website. 

We look forward to seeing the nominations for next year and once again congratulate this year’s winners and all our SENSE students for all their amazing achievements! 

Congratulations to Jess who has officially completed her PhD!

PhD Title: Falling Basins: revealing hidden faults from patterns of land subsidence from water extraction using Earth Observation data

Primary Supervisor:
John Elliott

Co-supervisors:
Mark Thomas

Since completing her PhD Jess is now a Higher Earth Observation Analyst in Natural England- the government’s advisor for nature.

The role is technical and requires the skills used in her PhD. For example, she has lead a project using InSAR to measure rates and extents of slope movement in Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England. She is also involved in a project using deep learning and drone survey imagery to access seal population dynamics in Norfolk. She loves the variety of the job and it’s application to protecting England’s nature.

Huge congratulations to Jess! We’re so excited to see the incredible places her work will lead her.

We are pleased to announce we’re opening this year’s nominations for SENSE prizes all cohort 3 students are eligible, if you’re unsure what cohort your student is in please see https://eo-cdt.org/people/students-and-academics/.

The SENSE PhD prizes are designed to reward and encourage current PhD students in the NERC SENSE CDT for their research excellence, outreach skills, and commitment to working with external partners in the Space industry and beyond. The awards of £100 per prize will recognise this expertise and enable the winner to further develop their career by supporting activities such as attendance at a conference, access to field work, or relevant training.

We are now accepting nominations for the 2026 awards.

NERC SENSE CDT awards 3 prizes annually. This year’s prizes are open to SENSE students from Cohort 3. While self-nominations are not accepted, we encourage students to engage with their full supervisory team, external partners and colleagues as appropriate to make nominations. You may nominate each student for one or more of the prizes. 

Best Paper Prize: 

Best journal paper with a SENSE CDT PhD student author published during their PhD. Students who have completed their PhD, but submitted or published the paper while a student, are eligible. Papers must be fully published or downloadable from the journal website with a doi (i.e. a pre-print) to be eligible.  

Best Outreach Prize: 

Best contribution from a SENSE PhD student to outreach activities at any skill level.  

Best External Engagement Prize: 

Best engagement with an external company or organisation, e.g. from industry, NGO, government agency, policy maker or charity.  

For further details about the prizes, the nomination process and the prize itself please email SENSE Earth Observation CDT: [email protected] and [email protected] . You can nominate students for multiple prizes.

The deadline for nominations is 17:00 on Monday 20^th April 2026.

In November 2025, SENSE student Harry Davis left for a temporary new home (Figure 1) to join the British Antarctic Survey’s REWIND ice-core drilling team for three months of fieldwork in Antarctica.

The aim of this project was to recover an ice core from the southern Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (see Figure 2).  Chemical analyses of ice cores provide invaluable climate records that offer context for predicting future climate change. Notably, the ice core at REWIND is the deepest – and likely the oldest – ever recovered on the Antarctic Peninsula!

Over the past two years, my research has focused on using radio-echo sounding data in West Antarctica to extrapolate data from these deep ice cores to larger spatial scales and date bright reflectors in our dataset. This approach allows us to infer climate variability across extensive regions within some of the most vulnerable parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

In the first chapter of my work, I utilised these newly dated reflections to constrain a model that assesses the suitability of new deep ice-core drilling locations. We believe a site along the poorly-constrained Bellingshausen Sea coastline could yield an exciting new climate record. For more details, you can read an article here (EGUsphere – Assessing the potential for an ice core in the southern Antarctic Peninsula to elucidate Holocene climate history).

To complement the ice-core data at REWIND, I worked with Dr Carlos Martin (Glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey) and Andy Croy (our lead field guide) to conduct several geophysical surveys across the surrounding area (Figure 3). This was a particular highlight of mine as we traversed across waves of sastrugi with our radio-echo sounder in tow! You get a true appreciation for the vastness of the continent as you cruise towards an ever-distant horizon.

This was truly a trip of a lifetime… After looking at so many of these datasets through a screen for the last two years, it was so special to get hands on with the radar instruments and collect new data! I am so grateful for the support from SENSE and the British Antarctic Survey for this unforgettable adventure.

The visit wouldn’t be possible without the support of our funder, the Natural Environment Research Council.

Congratulations to SENSE CDT PGR Ashar Aslam who recently successfully defended his PhD thesis: “Severe weather over Southeast Asia”

Ashar joined SENSE in 2021 and completed his PhD at the University of Leeds.

Ashar is remaining at Leeds as a postdoc, where he is working on the UPSCALE project with John Marsham as his PI, in collaboration with the Met Office. He will be assessing the benefits of running global climate simulations at the kilometre-scale, with a focus on the representation of convection and its resultant upscale influence on larger-scale circulation and environmental characteristics. Ashar is now also a co-organiser of PGR Pride, an initiative run at Leeds to provide support, professional guidance, and, ultimately, community for LGBTQ+ identifying postgraduates across the university.

SENSE would like to take this opportunity to thank our funder the Natural Environment Research Council

From all of us at SENSE – congratulations Ashar! Wishing you all the very best in your future career – we look forward to hearing about your future endeavours.

The UK parliament published a report on “UK Engagement with Space” (November, 2025), to guide future government policy on space and Earth observation.

To compile this report, evidence was sought from a broad range of stakeholders in this call. Although after the submission deadline, SENSE students attended a policy workshop in September 2025, and in a role-play environment, they discussed and constructed written responses as if they were submitting evidence to the call. Their responses highlight how the future of UK space is envisioned by the next generation of leaders in Earth observation.

A special mention goes out to SENSE PGRs Katie Lowery and Sam Fielding who coordinated the collection of the following outputs:

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Q. How might the UK capitalise on new space technologies, such as nuclear engines, space-based solar power, in-space manufacturing, resource extraction, active debris removal, in-orbit servicing and artificial intelligence?

The UK has a strong foundation in aerospace engineering, research, and innovation, which positions it well to capitalise on emerging space technologies. Nuclear propulsion, for example, could drastically reduce travel times for deep-space missions and increase payload capacity, offering opportunities for the UK to develop cutting-edge propulsion systems in collaboration with its thriving nuclear and aerospace sectors. Space-based solar power could also become a major area of investment, allowing the UK to harness renewable energy from orbit and strengthen its leadership in sustainable technologies while contributing to national and global net-zero goals.

Artificial intelligence also holds enormous potential for enhancing Earth observation (EO), an area where the UK already has strong expertise and infrastructure. AI could be used to process and interpret vast volumes of satellite data more efficiently. By integrating AI with EO, the UK could deliver faster, more accurate environmental monitoring and disaster response systems, supporting both national resilience and global sustainability efforts. Furthermore, advances in machine learning could enable real-time analysis onboard satellites, reducing the need for extensive data transmission to Earth. This capability would position the UK as a leader in intelligent EO systems, with applications ranging from climate modelling to agricultural monitoring and natural resource management.

Foundation models and geospatial reasoning could significantly change how people use Earth observation data. By training large, self-supervised models on global EO datasets, the UK could help develop systems that let users query satellite data in natural language — essentially a “ChatGPT for Earth Observation.” This approach would allow policymakers, researchers, and non-specialists to ask straightforward questions and receive clear, data-driven answers without needing specialist knowledge. It would make complex geospatial information more accessible and practical for tasks such as monitoring environmental change, planning land use, or responding to natural disasters.

In early 2022 the Starlink satellite constellation lost 40 satellites due to Space Weather effects. As a result, Starlink now has an automatic orbital adjustment system whereby during major space weather events the satellites gain altitude to avoid the expansion of the ionosphere, which increases drag and leads to burnup in the Earth’s atmosphere, and is also used for collision avoidance. With this development (and the fact that Starlink and other companies have increased their number of satellites in sensitive orbits by orders of magnitude in the last 10 years), it seems clear that the path forward for orbital adjustments for collision avoidance and to avoid unwanted space weather or other effects is to allow the satellites to adjust their orbits automatically through AI techniques. Doing so should allow a greater level of autonomy, which in turn will allow for less supervision of satellites within ESA and other UK collaborations, allowing resources to be redistributed elsewhere, and allow the UK to become a world leader in satellites with automatic avoidance systems. The UK already has access to a comprehensive catalogue of objects in orbit, further facilitating this transition. Such a development would therefore allow a higher density of satellites to operate safely in low (and other) Earth Orbits, an issue of significant importance as the number of satellites operating continues to grow year-on-year.

Q. From a business perspective, what are the opportunities and challenges resulting from operating in the UK?

Uncertainty in future collaboration/mission continuity with other space agencies (e.g. NASA shutdown of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) missions and uncertainty in the future of Landsat missions) requires growing private sector engagement with using EO satellites for addressing outstanding challenges. The UK hosts a large number of institutions conducting world class research in EO applications within various areas including climate change (Met Office), sea level rise, biodiversity loss, extreme events prediction and disaster preparedness. Access to data, computing facilities and infrastructure as well as multilateral partnerships with international organisations (ESA, NASA, etc.) are supported through government funding and are indispensable for meeting scientific challenges. Most importantly, this research contributes crucial evidence for mitigating impacts of global change on the UK people and economy and also contributes significantly to these efforts globally. Continued support of EO programs is therefore crucial for sustaining these efforts. As reported in a document titled “Investigating UK public sector demand for Earth Observation technology” produced by Geospatial Commission and Satellite Applications Catapult, satellite-derived EO yields ~£1 billion per year of benefit to the UK across nine civilian areas (with ~£64 million direct operational value to government).

Q. Legal framework for international space regulation

With an increasing number of researchers and scientists using AI resources for various purposes (data handling and processing, literature review and more), it is urgent to develop robust artificial intelligence tools with a clear safety framework. Safeguarding data being processed with AI tools is a crucial topic and requires governmental concern. Major risks include data leaks, disclosure of confidential data, and the threat of data being stolen by ill-intended users. ‘Open-source’ AI urgently needs clear regulation as well as transparent terms of use. In parallel, private sectors require the same level of safety regarding the use of AI tools. 

With the rapid development in AI that has been seen over the recent years, and likely will be seen over the upcoming years, care needs to be taken to ensure that the speed of this development does not come at the expense of safety. It is therefore vitally important that there is investment into the defence against the inevitable backfire or malfunctions of AI that occur as it develops as there is into its development. The amount of investment put into AI development should at least match the investments put into safety and protection towards AI risks and limitations.

AI regulations cannot be developed on a national level. As competition in this sector is extremely high, a pursuit for the ‘upper hand’ in AI development could lead to irreversible damage and uncontrolled evolution of AI models. Clear ethical boundaries should be set on an international level. Joint projects could also pave the way for a harmonised vision on AI regulations across the different international actors.

These regulations need to enforce safe and ethical international competition. They should be aiming to end the system of “first come first served” and move forward with a framework which allows later innovators to compete with early adopters – for example, the Starlink constellation may make it impossible for late entries into the satellite internet race. This becomes increasingly pressing with the potential for the Moon and Mars to be colonised by non-state actors acting with impunity as there is no relevant legal framework (for example, Elon Musk’s Starlink terms of service famously includes a clause that you must agree to that Mars does not come under the jurisdiction of any Earth-based authority). These non-state actors will then have the ability to restrict access to space resources for future adopters if a regulatory framework is not developed.

Q. Education and Skills: Addressing the UK Space Sector Skills Gap

The UK space sector faces a significant skills gap. According to the Space Sector Skills Survey 2023, 52% of organisations reported gaps in their current workforce, citing difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. The hardest roles to fill include software and data specialists, AI/ML experts, systems engineers and other senior technical positions. This skills shortage is both quantitative (too few people) and qualitative (mismatch between current skills and industry needs). This skills gap is driven by a combination of rapid industry growth, evolving technical demands, and competition for talent with other high-tech fields. As new areas such as in-orbit servicing, AI-driven data analysis, and advanced propulsion systems emerge, the demand for highly skilled engineers, data scientists, and systems specialists has outpaced the supply of qualified graduates. Many university programmes have not yet adapted to cover the interdisciplinary mix of space science, engineering, computing, and business skills now required. Additionally, limited awareness of career opportunities in the space industry and the concentration of jobs in specific regions can make it harder to attract diverse talent. These factors, combined with global competition for expertise in key areas like software development and AI, have created persistent challenges in meeting the sector’s growing workforce needs.

Addressing the UK space sector skills gap will require a coordinated approach across education, industry, and government. Stronger partnerships between universities and industry can help ensure graduates are equipped with the skills employers need by co-designing courses that include more practical training, labs, internships, and micro-credentials in areas such as data science, AI/ML, and systems engineering. Expanding mid-career training and continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities is equally important, enabling professionals to upskill or transition from related industries into space-related roles. Early outreach initiatives, such as SENSE’s SatSchool Outreach, can play a vital role in inspiring the next generation by introducing Earth observation and space science to school students. Integrating EO concepts into the school curriculum — and highlighting how they connect to subjects like geography, physics, and computing — could further boost engagement and interest in STEM careers. Alongside education, clearer career pathways and stronger retention strategies, including mentoring and leadership development, are needed to maintain talent within the sector. Finally, investment in regional training hubs and infrastructure will help ensure growth is inclusive, reducing geographic barriers and expanding access to opportunities across the UK.

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.

Thanks go to Sam’s supervision team Professor Andrew Challinor, Professor Anthony Cohn, and Professor Netta Cohen, as well as Sam’s examiners: Dr Brian Barret & Professor Dominick Spracklen.

Congratulations to Jacob Connolly who successfully defended his PhD thesis: “Characterising bias and noise in Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar time series”

Special thanks to Jacob’s supervision team at the University of Leeds, Professor Andrew Hooper and Professor Tim Wright, and also to his examiners, Dr Pau Prats-Iraola and Professor John Elliott

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.

Thanks go out to her supervision team: Dr Susanna Ebmeier and Professor Andy Hooper, and also to Megan’s examiners: Professor Tim Wright and Dr Richard Streeter

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.

SENSE would like to take this opportunity to thank our funder the Natural Environment Research Council

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 2025 SENSE Industry Symposium was hosted at Nexus, the University of Leeds’ hub for research and innovation. The event brought together current SENSE students, alumni, affiliated staff, and industry professionals for a morning of engaging talks and panel discussions.

The day began with a welcome from Professor Kathy Whaler, who highlighted the achievements of the SENSE Centre for Doctoral Training and set the tone for a collaborative and forward-looking event.

Luca Budello, Knowledge Transfer Manager in the Geospatial Insights team at Innovate UK, delivered a compelling talk on the drivers and opportunities within the evolving space economy. He traced the development of the space industry from its origins to the present day, offering insights into its future trajectory.

The focus flowed nicely to artificial intelligence and Earth Observation (EO), with a talk by Dr Richard Walters, a Lead Research Data Scientist with the Alan Turing Institute. Richard shared his career journey, including his postdoctoral work at Leeds, touching upon his time working in both academia and industry, and explored key innovations in AI and machine learning within EO. 

The first panel, chaired by Rebecca Wilks, a SENSE PhD student, explored collaborative research between academia and industry. Panellists offered valuable perspectives on navigating both sectors and shared practical advice for successful partnerships relevant to both students and industry professionals in attendance. 

The event concluded with a forward-looking panel on Future Opportunities in Earth Observation, chaired by Professor Whaler. This session was particularly insightful for students nearing the end of their studies, highlighting emerging trends and potential career paths in the EO sector.

Overall, the symposium was a great success – it brought people together, sparked meaningful conversations, and highlighted how important collaboration between academia and industry is for the future of Earth Observation. 

We would like to extend our thanks to our collaborators Space Hub Yorkshire and UKEONs for their invaluable contribution to our event, and to our speakers and panel members – your insights and expertise greatly enriched the conversation, and your participation was instrumental in making the event a success. We have received wonderful feedback from students who appreciated the depth and breadth of knowledge shared. Thank you once again for your time and effort. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you in the future.