Overview

Three PhD studentships form part of ‘Stronger Shores’, an innovative Environment Agency project hosted by South Tyneside Council. Projects will help develop Nature-based Solutions for coastal erosion, flood risk, climate change and biodiversity management, and will support innovative monitoring, working closely with multiple project partners.

PhD1: Remote sensing methods for monitoring habitat restoration

Remote techniques permit rapid mapping of large areas and coastal habitats where access is limited. New high-resolution multi-spectral satellites and drones offer novel mapping opportunities in marine and intertidal areas of seagrass and saltmarsh, and shallow-waters where kelp and oysters can thrive. Methods will be developed to map focal species distributions from: a) satellite data; b) drone data from restoration sites, and c) freely available aerial and LiDAR data, using ground-truth data collected to validate analytical results.

Research will address the following questions:

  • How can new generation UAVs and satellite platforms be cost-effectively used for mapping and change detection of restoration projects across seagrass, oyster and kelp habitats?
  • Can key species restoration extent be mapped and monitored and can utilisation be related to quality parameters, such as density and biodiversity?

The student will apply innovative satellite and drone-based monitoring techniques to support understanding of the success of local habitat restoration, working closely with the other two Stronger Shores students to address a question of global significance. This exciting multi-disciplinary project provides an opportunity to work with diverse project partners.

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

19th April 2023

Award Duration

3.5 Years

Application Closing Date

Monday 16th January 2023

Sponsor

South Tyneside Council

Supervisors

Professor Clare Fitzsimmons Newcastle University

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a Merit or above level Masters degree or international equivalent in a relevant subject (inc. biological, environmental and computational sciences).

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

The studentship covers fees at the Home rate (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria). International applicants are welcome to apply but will be required to cover the difference between Home and International fees.

International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

  • search for the ‘PhD Marine Science’ using the programme code:8315F
  • select ‘PhD Marine Science (full time)’ as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:

  • a ‘Personal Statement’ (a mandatory field) – upload a document or write a statement directly into the application form
  • the studentship code SNES244 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
  • when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal – select ‘Write Proposal’ and upload a document explaining how you would address the Research Questions outlined in the proposal.

Contact Details

clare.fitzsimmons@newcastle.ac.uk

Further information can be found in here.