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Students and academics

PhD Project Supervisors: We have over 100 potential principal supervisors from across the University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh, National Oceanography Centre, and British Antarctic Survey. Proposed PhD projects and supervisory teams are listed on the Projects page.

Get in touch with a supervisor in your area of interest at any of these institutions now, to discuss project ideas and to get advice on how to apply for a PhD.


SENSE Student Committee 2022/2023

SENSE student representatives: Emma Sands (cohort 2, Edinburgh) & Holly Moore (cohort 3, Edinburgh)

SENSE Outreach & EDI representative: Emily Dowd (cohort 1, Leeds)

SENSE Social representatives: Alice Hopkins (cohort 3, Leeds) & Leam Howe (cohort 3, Edinburgh)


Cohort 1 student October 2020:

We have 17 students who started in October 2020, who are based at University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds, BAS and NOC. All projects have a strong Earth Observation focus, and are on a range of topics.

Topics of PhD studentships starting in 2020:

Samuel Bancroft

University of Leeds

Developing a new methodology for assessing future food production based on machine learning, remote sensing and crop models



Principal supervisor:
Andy Challinor

Co-supervisors:
Netta Cohen,
Anthony Cohn,
Julia Chatterton

CASE partner:
Unilever

Jacob Connolly

University of Leeds

Hazard monitoring from Space: Next generation InSAR time series analysis



Princial Supervisor:
Andy Hooper

Co-supervisors:
David Bekaert,
Stuart King,
Tim Wright

CASE partner:
SatSense

Benjamin Cox

University of Edinburgh

Sequential Bayesian inference for spatio-temporal probabilistic models of changes in global vegetation and ocean properties using Earth Observation data


Principal Supervisor:
Víctor Elvira

Co-supervisors:
Christine Gommenginger,
Francisco Mir Calafat,
Lorna Street

CASE partner:
Space Intelligence

Emily Dowd

University of Leeds

Detection and quantification of local methane sources using novel high-resolution satellite data


Principal Supervisor:
Chris Wilson

Co-supervisors:
Emmanuel Gloor,
Martyn Chipperfield, Ruth Doherty,
Alistair Manning

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Sophie Durston

National Oceanography Centre/University of Leeds

Causes and solutions for the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt


Principal Supervisor:
Jason Holt

Co-supervisors:
Judith Wolf,
Christine Gommenginger,
Daniel Grosvenor,
Ken Carslaw,
Samantha Lavender

CASE partner:
Pixalytics

Morag Fotheringham

University of Edinburgh

Ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions in the Arctic


Principal Supervisor:
Noel Gourmelen

Co-supervisors:
Eleanor Frajka-Williams,
Michel Tsamados


CASE partner:
Earthwave

Bryony Freer

British Antarctic Survey/University of Leeds

Antarctic Grounding Line Migration from ICESat-2 Altimetry



Principal Supervisor:
Oliver Marsh

Co-supervisors:
Anna Hogg,
Helen Fricker

CASE partner:
isardSAT

Calum Hoad

University of Edinburgh

Arctic Greening Across Scales



Principal Supervisor:
Isla Myers-Smith

Co-supervisor:
Jeffrey Kerby

Nick Homer

University of Edinburgh

Image processing and machine learning applied to Earth Observation of the cryosphere


Principal Supervisor:
Rob Bingham

Co-supervisors:
Hamish Pritchard,
Noel Gourmelen,
Sohan Seth,
Frazer Christie,
Anita Faul

CASE partners: Alan Turning Institute & John Muir Trust

Phoebe Hudson

National Oceanography Centre/University of Edinburgh

Changing Arctic: Estimation of freshwater changes over the full Arctic basin including land and ocean from satellite observations


Principal Supervisor:
Adrien Martin

Co-supervisors:
Simon Josey,
Athanasios Angeloudis,
Alice Marzocchi

CASE partner:
Spire

Eszter Kovacs

University of Leeds

Using satellite data to understand the influence of marine biogenic activity on high latitude clouds and climate


Principal Supervisor:
Dan Grosvenor

Co-supervisors:
Jane Mulcahy,
Ken Carslaw,
Tom Lachlan-Cope

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Maximillian Lowe

British Antarctic Survey/University of Edinburgh

Unveiling the 4D variability in the lithospheric cradle of the Antarctic ice sheet


Principal Supervisor:
Robert Larter,

Co-supervisors:
Dan Goldberg,
Chris Green,
Jörg Ebbing




Megan Udy

University of Leeds

Satellite detection of volcanic eruption impacts on forests


Principal Supervisor:
Susanna Ebmeier

Co-supervisors:
Iain Woodhouse,
Sebastian Watt,
Andy Hooper

Lucy Wells

University of Edinburgh

The response of savannas and dry forests to global change: disentangling the effects of climate change, land use and changing CO2 using radar remote sensing and fieldwork


Principal Supervisor:
Casey Ryan

Co-supervisor:
Kyle Dexter,
Tim Baker,
Oliver Phillips,
Toby Pennington

CASE partner: Highland Rewilding

Solomon White

University of Edinburgh

High-resolution multispectral estimation of sea surface salinity and temperature in coastal areas



Principal Supervisor:
Encarni Medina-Lopez

Co-supervisors:
Adrien Martin,
Tiago Silva,
Laurent Amoudry

CASE partner:
CEFAS


Cohort 2 students October 2021:

Ashar Aslam

University of Leeds

Severe weather over Southeast Asia



Principal supervisor:
Juliane Schwendike

Co-supervisors:
Cathryn Birch, Massimo Bollasina,
Paul Barrett,
Simon Peatman

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Philipp Barthelme

University of Edinburgh

Impact of humanitarian mine clearances on tropical forest carbon storage


Principal supervisors:
Gary Watmough

Co-supervisors:
Dominick Spracklen,
Doug Weir,
Eoghan Darbyshire,
Iain Woodhouse

CASE partner:
CEOBS


Reza Bordbari

University of Leeds

Measuring Antarctic uplift due to ice loss, from space


Princial Supervisor:
Andy Hooper

Co-supervisors:
Alex Brisbourne,
Grace Nield,
Pippa Whitehouse

CASE partner:
SatSense

Penny Clarke

British Antarctic Survey/University of Edinburgh

Using remote sensing tools to study ocean health and whale strandings


Principal Supervisor:
Jennifer Jackson

Co-supervisors:
Encarni Medina-Lopez,
Peter Fretwell,
Karen Stockin,
Carlos Olavarría,
Gwawr Jones,
Athansios Angeloudis


CASE partner:
JNCC

Jennifer Cocks

National Oceanography Centre/University of Leeds

Understanding the role of Antarctic sea ice in dense water formation and heat and carbon sequestration: from satellite altimetry to ‘big data’ analysis


Principal Supervisor:
Alice Marzocchi

Co-supervisors:
Alessandro Silvano,
Alberto Naveira Garabato,
Anna Hogg,
Dave Munday,
Andrew Meijers,
Rachel Tilling,
Steven Tobias,


CASE partner:
Pixalytics

Tara Cunningham

University of Edinburgh

Using high resolution satellite data, AI, and Bayesian methods to quantify changes in penguin populations


Principal Supervisor:
Stuart King

Co-supervisors:
Norman Ratcliffe , Ruth King,
Peter Fretwell,
Murray Collins

Samuel Fielding

University of Edinburgh

Real-time Space Weather forecasting using satellite data and machine learning


Princial Supervisor:
Kathy Whaler

Co-supervisors:
Ciaran Beggan,
Gemma Richardson,
Phil Livermore,
Sohan Seth

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Edward Holt

University of Edinburgh

Investigating the potential for catastrophic collapse of Greenland’s ‘land’-terminating glacier margins


Primary Supervisor: Encarni Medina Lopez / Peter Nienow

Co-supervisors:
Andrew Sole,
Anna Hogg,
Daniel Goldberg,
Malcolm McMillan,
Ruth Mottram

CASE partner:
ESRI

Jamie Izzard

University of Leeds

Seasonal flow variability as an indicator of mountain glacier basal conditions


Primary Supervisor:
Duncan Quincey

Co-supervisors:
Noel Gourmelen,
Francesca Pellicciotti,
John Elliott

Eilish O’Grady

University of Leeds


Using deep learning to better image deformation from space

Princial Supervisor:
Andy Hooper

Co-supervisors:
David Hogg,
Matthew Gaddes

CASE partner:
Slingshot Simulations

Jess Payne

University of Leeds

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


Primary Supervisor:
John Elliott

Co-supervisors:
Kate Crowley,
Mark Thomas

Emma Sands

University of Edinburgh

How does land use impact on global air quality and climate: a combined satellite and model study


Primary Supervisor:
Ruth Doherty

Co-supervisors:
Chris Wilson,
Fiona O’Connor,
Richard Pope,
Hugh Pumphrey

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Daniel Sefton

University of Leeds

Detecting and modelling transient crustal deformation using Sentinel-1 InSAR and Machine Learning


Primary Supervisor:
Tim Wright

Co-supervisors:
Gordon Ross,
Laura Gregory, Susanna Ebmeier

CASE partner:
SatSense

Ross Slater

University of Leeds


Ice Sheet – ocean interactions: Using satellite data to understand ice dynamic change


Primary supervisor:
Anna Hogg

Co-supervisors:
Adrian Jenkins,
He Wang,
Pierre Dutrieux

Joseph Smith

University of Leeds

Development of Novel Convection Nowcasting Techniques for Southeast Asia


Primary Supervisor:
Cathryn Birch

Co-supervisors:
Jennifer Fletcher,
John Marsham,
Massimo Bollasina,
George Pankiewicz

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Charlotte Walshaw

University of Edinburgh

Faster, greener, and more competitive? How will vegetation alter in a changing Antarctic?


Primary Supervisor:
Claudia Colesie

Co-supervisors:
Andrew Gray,
Kevin Newsham, Peter Convey

Sally Wilson

University of Leeds

Ice speed & Artificial Intelligence (AI): Using satellite data and advanced computer techniques to detect ice sheet change

Primary supervisor:
Anna Hogg

Co-supervisors:
Isabel Nias,
He Wang





Cohort 3 students October 2022:

Frances O’Leary

University of Leeds


Using New Earth Observation and computational approaches to map dry forests and their carbon dynamics across the tropics

Primary Supervisor:
Tim Baker

Co-supervisors:
Kyle Dexter,
Murray Collins,
Renata Françoso

CASE partner:
Space intelligence

Alice Hopkins
University of Leeds

Submarine Volcanism from Satellite Imagery Project

Primary Supervisor:
Susanna Ebmeier

Co-supervisors:
Isabelle Yeo,
Ryan Lloyd,
Tim Craig

CASE partner:
Geollect





Eleanor Smith

University of Leeds


Urban Forests through Space and Time




Primary Supervisor:
Cat Scott


Co-supervisors:
Stuart King
Hannah Walker William Mackaness Christopher Fleet

CASE partner:
National Library of Scotland, Forest Research

Kilian Hermes

University of Leeds


Dust storms in the Sahara and Sahel: From Nowcasting to Climate

Primary Supervisor:
John Marsham

Co-supervisors:
Melissa Brooks, Franco Marenco, Massimo Bollasina, Peter Knippertz

CASE partner:
MetOffice

Xinyi Huang

University of Leeds


Ice formation in clouds and the implications for climate

Primary Supervisor:
Ken Carslaw

Co-supervisors:
Ben Murray,
Dan Grosvenor, Floortje Van Den Heuvel

CASE partner:

Andrew Martin

University of Leeds


A Tale of Two Poles: Exploring Supercooled Clouds with from above and below in Greenland and Antarctica

Primary Supervisor:
Ryan Neely III

Co-supervisors:
Floortje Van Den Heuvel,
Thomas Lachlan-Cope,
Heather Guy, Thomas Neumann

CASE partner:
NASA Goddard

Lennart Hoheisel
University of Edinburgh

Using satellite data to improve mapping of stem density and forest carbon for sustainable forest management

Primary Supervisor: Nicole Augustin

Co-supervisors: Steven Hancock

CASE partner:
Space Intelligence


Rebecca Wilks

University of Edinburgh


Counting Elephants from Space: Combining Earth Observation and Statistical Ecology for Elephant Conservation


Primary Supervisor:
Ruth King

Co-supervisors:
Stuart King
David Williams,
Murray Collins

CASE partner:
Space Intelligence

Miguel Espinosa Minano

University of Edinburgh

From Crops to Glaciers: A Deep Learning Framework for Earth Observation


Primary Supervisor:
Elliot Crowley

Co-supervisors:
Andrew Challinor, Duncan Quincey

Lorena Benitez

University of Edinburgh


How fragmented are the world’s savannas?



Primary Supervisor:
Casey Ryan

Co-supervisors:
Edward Mitchard,
Kate Parr,
Mahesh Sankaran

CASE partner:
WCS

Leam Howe

University of Edinburgh


Machine learning for remote sensing and modelling of mountain snow patches

Primary Supervisor:
Richard Essery

Co-supervisors:
Lauren Gregoire, Andrew Black,
Elliot Crowley

CASE partner:
ENVEO IT GmbH, Austria

Ryan Ing

University of Edinburgh


Investigating the influence of meltwater runoff and near-terminus subglacial hydrology on the dynamics of Greenland’s marine-terminating glacier margins

Primary Supervisor:
Peter Nienow

Co-supervisors:
Anna Hogg,
Encarni Medina-Lopez,
Andrew Sole,
Ben Davison

Michael Renfrew

University of Edinburgh


Estimating livestock population using Earth Observation and Machine Learning – a case study in East Africa

Primary Supervisor:
Bruce Worton

Co-supervisors:
Gary Watmough

Katie Lowery

University of Leeds


CHannelized Ice Shelf Melting (CHISM)


Primary Supervisor:
Pierre Dutrieux

Co-supervisors:
Anna Hogg
Noel Gourmelen
Paul Holland

CASE partner:
BAS

Denise Hick

University of Leeds

Using remote sensing to monitor carbon stocks and flows in agricultural land

Primary Supervisor:
Guy Ziv

Co-supervisors:
Pippa Chapman
Encarni Medina-Lopez

Holly Moore

University of Edinburgh


Characterising Cyclone Damage Using Earth Observation Data

Primary Supervisor:
Thomas Reynolds

Co-supervisors:
Massimo Bollasina Lex Comber

CASE partner:
Airbus








Cohort 4 students October 2023:

Harry Davis

University of Edinburgh


Stability of marine basins in the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet from remote sensing

Primary Supervisor:
Robert Bingham

Co-supervisors:
Anna Hogg

Thomas Lariai

University of Edinburgh


Detecting snow under and within trees with satellite lidar for improved climate and weather modelling

Primary Supervisor: Steven Hancock

Co-supervisors: Richard Essery
Andrew Ross
Amy Neuenschwander

Reason Mlambo

University of Edinburgh


Spatiotemporal poverty mapping using earth observation data and deep learning in Africa

Primary Supervisor:
Gary Watmough

Co-supervisors:
Sohan Seth
Ian McCallum
Vikki Houlden

Matúš Seči

University of Edinburgh


A global understanding of forest-savanna transitions

Primary Supervisor:
Casey Ryan

Co-supervisors:
Carla Staver
David Williams

Gillian Smith

University of Edinburgh


A machine learning approach to constraining ice volume and potential loss in High Mountain Asia


Primary Supervisor:
James Maddison

Co-supervisors:
Daniel Goldberg
Guillaume Jouvet
Hamish Pritchard
Anna Crawford

Sunny Joshi

University of Edinburgh


Bayesian Meta-Learning for Earth Observation: Better Models with Less Data

Primary Supervisor:
Henry Gouk

Co-supervisors:
Timothy Hospedales
Fatma Jebri


Seán
Ó Héir

University of Edinburgh


Explainable Population Estimation Using Deep Learning from Satellite Imagery

Primary Supervisor:
Sohan Seth

Co-supervisors:
Gary Watmough
Amanda Lenzi
Roger Beecham


Anneke Sperling

University of Edinburgh


Do ocean currents stick together? How ocean current coherence impact European climate

Primary Supervisor:
Alejandra
Sanchez-Franks

Yvonne Anderson

University of Leeds


Can air-sea coupling solve the signal-to-noise paradox in climate predictions?

Primary Supervisor: Amanda Maycock

Co-supervisors:
Juliane
Schwendike

Thomas
Bracegirdle

Simon Josey
Doug Smith

Luisa Aviles Podgurski

University of Leeds


Using Earth-Observation data to classify Atmospheric Rivers and investigate their impacts on the stability of West Antarctic ice shelves

Primary Supervisor:
Hua Lu

Co-supervisors:
Amanda Maycock
Andrew Orr
Andrew Flemming
Anna Hogg
Grzegorz 
Muszynski 

Mae Evans

University of Leeds



Greenland Ice Sheet – Ocean Interactions: Using satellite data and AI to understand ice dynamics

Primary Supervisor:
Anna Hogg

Co-supervisors:
Stuart King
Thomas Slater

Flo Greaves

University of Leeds


Discovering the dynamics of cloud development through the embedding space of a self-supervised neural network

Primary Supervisor: Andrew Ross

Co-supervisors:
Leif Denby
Paul Field
Scott Hosking
Thomas
Bracegirdle

Floortje Van Den Heuvel

Jack Law

University of Leeds


Satellite observations of humid heat extremes over Africa

Primary Supervisor:
Cathryn Birch

Co-supervisors:
Elizabeth Kendon
John Marsham
Dominique
Bouniol
Massimo Bollasina

CASE partner: Met Office

Alexander Lewis

University of Leeds

Characterising and improving understanding of mesoscale convective systems over south-east Asia using machine learning

Primary Supervisor:
Juliane Schwendike

Co-supervisors:
Doug Parker
Simon Peatman
Massimo Bollasina
Prince Xavier

Paula
Romero Jure

University of Leeds

Ocean-atmosphere influences on tropical Pacific cloud feedbacks

Primary Supervisor:
Alan Blyth

Co-supervisors:
Declan Finney
Simon Josey
Hugo Lambert
Anna Mackie
Amanda Maycock


William Luty

University of Leeds


Impact of oceanic mesoscale eddies on the productivity of the western Bay of Bengal: contribution of new EO data and machine learning

Primary Supervisor:
Fatma Jebri

Co-supervisors:
Andrew Ross
Leif Denby
Meric Srokosz
Zoe Jacobs

Sarah McClory

University of Leeds

Aerosol radiative effects on the global land carbon sink

Primary Supervisor:
Alex Rap

Co-supervisors:
Dominick Spracklen
Steven Hancock
Lina Mercado
Andy Wiltshire

Anastasia Kozhevnikova

University of Edinburgh

Temperature and heat stress in tropical forests

Primary Supervisor:
Stuart King

Co-supervisors:
David Galbraith
Amanda Lenzi Patrick Meir Emmanuel Gloor
Ed Mitchard (Space Intelligence)

CASE partner: Space Intelligence

Grégoire Canchon

University of Edinburgh

Implications of Arctic heat waves and fires on vegetation and the carbon budget

Primary Supervisor:
Gabi Hergel

Co-supervisors:
Piers Foster
Isla Myers Smith





SENSE Alumni

Rebecca Kelly

University of Leeds

Improved understanding of Arctic atmospheric composition and climate through exploitation of satellite observations

Principal Supervisor:
Steve Arnold

Co-supervisors:
Anna Jones,
Richard Pope

Amber Turton

University of Edinburgh

Using satellite data to improve mapping of stem density and forest carbon for sustainable forest management


Principal Supervisor:
Nicole Augustin

Co-supervisor:
Ed Mitchard

Jakub Lewandowski

University of Leeds


Nowcasting weather with coupled fluid dynamics and machine learning



Primary Supervisor:
Leif Denby


Co-supervisors:
Andrew Ross,
Jacob Page,
Moritz Linkmann