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
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
CASE partner:
MetOffice
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
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
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
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
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
Seán
Ó Héir
University of Edinburgh
Explainable Population Estimation Using Deep Learning from Satellite Imagery
Primary Supervisor:
Sohan Seth
Co-supervisors:
Gary Watmough
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
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
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
CASE partner:
MetOffice
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