A student and an academic look at a laptop screen in the Data Observatory, with projections of satellite images of the Earth displayed behind them

Developing pioneering research on fundamental data science and machine learning for real world applications

We use data science and machine learning to model real-world observations and increase the reliability of predictions made by forecasting models. Areas of research include:

  • urban air pollution;
  • medical image segmentation;
  • fluid dynamics; and
  • wildfire prediction.

If you are interested in one of the projects listed below, we encourage you to contact the primary project supervisor or the alternative contact person for further information.

Current projects


Automated Crater Detection and Classification with Machine Learning [Info Sheet - Collins ACDC]

Supervisors: Professor Gareth Collins, Dr Navjot Kukreja (Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool), Associate Professor Nicholas Warner (Department of Geological Sciences, SUNY Geneseo, USA)


Anisotropic Geoelectrical Imaging - can Artificial Intelligence (AI) replace conventional resistivity inversion approaches? [Info Sheet - Fang Anisotropic Geoelectrical Imaging]

Supervisors: Dr Fangxin Fang, Professor Christopher Pain, Dr Paul Wilkinson (British Geological Survey), Dr Oliver Kuras (British Geological Survey), Dr Jorg Herwanger (MP Geomechanics)


New generation data assimilation and rapid response models for urban flooding [Info Sheet - Fang Flooding]

Supervisors: Dr Fangxin Fang, Professor Christopher Pain


Mapping thermal and compositional structure of cratons [Info Sheet - Goes Cratons]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Ian Bastow


Seismotectonics of the Lesser Antilles Arc (LAA) [Info Sheet - Goes LAA]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Professor Jenny Collier


Structure and Evolution of the African Plate from Geophysical Observations [Info Sheet - Goes Africa Joint Tomography]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Gareth Roberts


Applying Dimensionality Reduction to Solutions on Finite Element Meshes with Autoencoders [Info Sheet - Heaney Autoencoders]

Supervisors: Dr Claire Heaney, Professor Christopher Pain


Global CO2 storage capacity: Modeling limitations of geography and injectivity [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2 Storage Capacity]

Supervisor: Dr Sam Krevor and others TBA


Reservoir characterisation and modelling of CO2 storage underground [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2 Storage Modelling]

Supervisor: Dr Sam Krevor and others TBA


Developing time-series InSAR for understanding changes to the ground surface, subsurface, biosphere and environment [Info Sheet - Mason Time-Series InSAR]

Supervisors: Dr Philippa Mason, Dr James Lawrence (Civil Engineering, Imperial College London), Professor Richard Ghail (Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway UK)


Understanding surface processes on Venus: in support of the EnVision mission [Info Sheet - Mason Surface Processes Venus]

Supervisors:‌ Dr Philippa Mason, Professor Richard Ghail (Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway UK), Dr Gareth Roberts


Teleseismic full-waveform imaging of active volcanoes [Info Sheet - Paulatto TSFWI]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Dr Lluis Guasch, Professor James Hammond (Birkbeck University of London)


Accelerating Scientific Discovery of Complex Scientific Applications with Process-Guided Deep Learning: Aquatic Eco-Dynamics in Lakes [Info Sheet - Piggott Lakes]

Supervisors: Professor Matthew Piggott, Dr R. Iestyn Woolway (University of Reading), Professor Stephen Maberly (UK CEH)


Exploiting the GEOTRACES toolbox to characterize ocean biogeochemical processes: trace elements, isotopes and new quasi-conservative tracers [Info Sheet - Plancherel GEOTRACES]

Supervisors: Dr Yves Plancherel, Professor Mark Rehkamper, Professor Tina van de Flierdt


Modeling the global Pb cycle: from industrial emissions to the bottom of the ocean [Info Sheet - Plancherel Pb Cycle]

Supervisor: Dr Yves Plancherel


Tracking Illegal Gold Mining Safely with Earth Observations and Machine Learning [Info Sheet - Plancherel Illegal Gold Mining]

Supervisors: Dr Yves Plancherel, Dr Pablo Brito-Parada, Dr Philippa Mason


Biodiversity and the Evolving Earth: New Data, New Methods, New Insights [Info Sheet - Roberts Biodiveristy]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Conor O'Malley, Dr Philip Mannion (UCL), Dr Mark Sutton, Dr Jan Hackel (Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew)


Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Data and tools for geochemical baselines and chemical fluxes through landscapes [Info Sheet - Roberts Hard Rock to Heavy Metal]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Yves Plancherel, Dr Alex Whittaker, Charles Gowing (British Geological Survey), Dr Alex Lipp (University of Oxford, Earth Sciences)


Mapping pollutants and biodiversity throughout drainage basins [Info Sheet - Roberts Mapping Pollutants]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Leon Barron (School of Public Health), Professor Guy Woodward (Life Sciences), Dr Alex Lipp (Earth Sciences, University of Oxford)