My main research interest is in the application of remote sensing from unmanned aircraft systems (aka drones) using structure from motion and pixel/object-based classification techniques. The subject matter is typically agricultural (trials of various crops) however I am always looking for ways to apply this to more purely environmental concerns. The spatial data created from this research links onto other research interests including the management and modelling of spatial data using geographic information systems (GIS). The below list covers the areas that I am currently involved in:

• Agricultural trials analysis (crop health indicators and yield prediction);
• Disease detection through modelling (potatoes and other arable crops);
• Invasive non-native species monitoring (mapping and modelling spread);
• Lowland deer management (spatial mapping of impacts);
• The application of high precision global navigation satellite systems (ground and aerial) to improve imagery georeferencing and spatial accuracy;
• The application of satellite data for varied agricultural and environmental uses.

Current

• PI, Science & Advice Scottish Agriculture (SFC UIF, 2019-2021, £39K); Investigating and demonstrating the potential benefits of drone-capturing imagery analysis to enhance disease detection and varietal differentiation in potato crops.

Previous

• Co-I, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) (Contract, 2021, £18K); Developing a decision support tool to inform land management scenarios in Montserrat.
• Co-I, Scottish Natural Heritage (Contract, 2017-2018, £20K); Lowland deer management: assessing the delivery of public interests.
• PI, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (NERC Fellowship, 2016-2017, £21K); Using UAV technology and data processing to address issues in waste management and environmental protection.
• Co-I, SRUC (SFC UIF, 2014-2015, £5K); Development and demonstration of unmanned aerial vehicles.

• MSc Student (2020), Compare classification approaches and estimate the total forest area of Peninsular Malaysia using a pixel-based, multi-temporal classification.
• MSc Student (2020), A Method for Examining Cliffside Biodiversity and the Impacts of Rock Climbing.
• MSc Student (2020), An open-source workflow for object-based classification of a block of Picea sitchensis saplings using high-resolution near-infrared UAV imagery
• MSc Student (2020), Comparing the effectiveness between UAV-based RGB and Multispectral images in identifying greenness of potato treated by haulm destruction
• MSc Student (2020), Automated detection of agroecological landscape: the case of hedgerows
• MSc Student (2019), Evaluating the use of UAVs and Structure from Motion for River Monitoring.
  MSc Student (2019), UAS mounted sensor comparisons for the detection and identification of invasive alien species.
• MSc Student (2019), Deploying thermal and multispectral remote sensing for the detection and analysis of archaeologically induced crop stress in East Saltoun, East Lothian