About
I am an Environmental Data Scientist, Co-Leader of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and a Senior Research Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute. I am also a Co-Director for the University of Cambridge and BAS Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER), a £6m UKRI funded programme to train over 50 top students to become future global leaders in environmental science.
My research group focuses on the development of AI and data science methods for understanding, monitoring and predicting environmental change. More specifically, my projects involve: the intelligent fusion of data from satellite and in-situ surface sensors to help understand our changing planet; probabilistic machine learning for localised climate impacts, including future heatwaves and water security; deep learning frameworks for seasonal forecasting and improving climate models; and computer vision methods for tracking environmental change and wildlife monitoring.
The overarching aim of my research is in developing Digital Twins of the natural environment to improve scientific understanding and aid decision making. The digital twinning frameworks are designed to work across varying spatial and temporal scales, and geographies (from urban environments up to the Antarctic continent).
I serve on the steering committee to manage the operational alliance between The Alan Turing Institute and the UK Met Office, and as a board member for the Cambridge Centre for Climate Science.
Studentships
As my group has quickly grown this past year I am currently unable to take on any new Masters or PhD students. However, please feel free to reach out directly to my science colleagues at BAS if you are interested in doing a research project together with the BAS AI Lab. You can find information on PhD funding on our AI4ER CDT webpage.
Highlights
Digital Twinning for the natural environment
Project Leader: Blending satellite, surface and simulation data
Deep learning for Arctic sea ice
Project Leader: Using machine learning techniques to understand the complex interactions between climate and sea ice
Spatial Finance: Challenges and Opportunities
Co-author: A new geospatial driven approach with the potential to help financial markets
Tracking iceberg populations
Co-investigator: Using machine learning to develop new methods to detect and track icebergs in radar satellite imagery
Wind energy in a 1.5˚C world
Lead author: The UK and large parts of Europe could become windier if global temperatures reach 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels
West Antarctic climate index
Lead researcher: Disentangling environmental signals over the region with greatest climate variability in the Southern Hemisphere
News
2021/05 - Appointed as a Senior Expert to the NERC Constructing a Digital Environment (CDE) Programme
2021/04 - Started sharing the role of Leader of the BAS AI Lab with Professor Maria Fox
2021/03 - Presented at the AI UK 2021 showcase event
2021/02 - Became Principal Investigator (PI) to a multi-institution research programme, Environmental monitoring: blending satellite and surface data
2020/10 - Joined the Steering Committee for the Environment and Sustainability Interest Group, The Alan Turing Institute
2020/09 - Promotion, ~equivalent to Reader/Associate Professor
2020/06 - Joined the Steering Committee for The Alan Turing Institute-UK Met Office operational alliance
2020/04 - Seconded to The Alan Turing Institute to lead the Environmental Theme under the Data Science for Science programme
2020/04 - Appointed BAS Science Group Leader, “AI for Climate Science”
2019/09 - Started new role as Co-Director for the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER), led by University of Cambridge and BAS
2019/06 - Established and Leader of the BAS Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab
2017/09 - Awarded The Laws Prize, British Antarctic Survey Club
2016/09 - Promotion, ~equivalent to Lecturer. Changed role to “Environmental Data Scientist”
2016/05 - Appointed as Secretary, Global Environmental Research Committee, The Royal Society
2014/09 - Appointed as Innovation Champion, BAS
2011/01 - Co-founded and became board member for the Cambridge Centre for Climate Science (CCfCS)
2009/12 - Joined British Antarctic Survey (BAS) as a “Global Climate Modeller”, tenured/open-ended position
2009/09 - Submitted PhD Thesis, “The impact of deep convection on the structure of, and transport through, the tropical tropopause layer”, University of Cambridge, UK
2005/10 - Started PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK, under the supervision of Prof John Pyle FRS. Funded by the NERC e-Science Programme