Delivering
capacity development. cutting-edge technology. data-driven insights.
Sharing Knowledge, Building Capability
Earth Observation Laboratory (EO Lab Aotearoa) is an open, cross-sector community working to advance the use of EO data for collective benefit. Currently supported by the University of Auckland through a two-year grant, we aim to establish a nationally connected community for Earth Observation, in partnership with Te Pūnaha Ātea | Space Institute, Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society, and the Centre for eResearch.
Our mission is to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s nexus for collaborative innovation, supporting the goals of the New Zealand government’s National Space Policy and welcome those who wish to contribute. Our activities span community building, indigenous knowledge engagement, and capacity development across education, data, technology, and equipment. We seek to enhance access, accelerate EO-driven solutions, and ensure data sovereignty remains central. Rooted in accessibility and collaboration, EO Lab embraces an open-core model, aiming to become self-sustaining through strong partnerships with government, industry, academia and the wider EO community.
Our Earth Observation Specialists
Tom is a remote sensing specialist who focuses on the environmental challenges we face today, with a particular interest in the maritime. He started in Physical Geography at Durham (UK), before moving on to a Masters in Environmental Science at Cambridge (UK). Since finishing a PhD in glaciology (Lund, Sweden) he worked in commercial geospatial intelligence, before moving back into academia with a focus on the validation and application of remotely sensed data (land surface temperature) at King’s College London (KCL). These projects involved collaboration with ILRI, NASA-JPL and ESA, working in diverse environments from East Africa to China and across Europe. After KCL he continued work on land surface temperature at the UK's National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO). Most recently he spent time working in the maritime domain before taking up the post of lecturer at the University of Auckland.
Emma Ryan is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at the University of Auckland. Her research interests span coastal/coral reef science, coastal management, and climate change adaptation. She has been researching coastal and coral reef systems in New Zealand, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, using techniques including photogrammetry and remote sensing. Emma was co-leader of the Coastal Programme within the Resilience to Nature's Challenges National Science Challenge, where she co-led the development of New Zealand’s national coastal change dataset. She is also a co-theme leader within the Coastal People: Southern Skies Centre of Research Excellence, where she works on understanding sea-level rise impacts on coastal communities.
Jo graduated with a MSc (Hons I) in Plant Science from the University of Auckland in 2000. She worked as a Research Technician at the PostHarvest Division of HortResearch for three years before starting her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology at the University of Auckland in collaboration with HortResearch. Her research project investigated genetic and hormonal controls of vegetative branching in petunia. After completing her PhD she took up a post-doctoral position in Forensic Biology at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) Ltd. in 2007. Jo joined Libraries and Learning Services at the University of Auckland in 2014, and took up a position as Subject Librarian for the School of Environment in September 2015. Jo worked as Team Leader Research Services, and Research Adviser for the Faculty of Science from 2018-2021 before taking up her current role as Manager, Content Discovery and Innovation for Te Tumu Herenga | Libraries and Learning Services
Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka is currently a senior lecturer in GISCience at the University of Auckland where she has been working since 2019. Prior to that she worked for four years as a Research Associate in Urban Methods, Modelling and Simulations in the ESRC-funded Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow, UK. She holds a PhD in Geoinformatics from the University of St Andrews, UK.
Her area of expertise is GIScience and urban analytics where her research interests mainly involve developing spatiotemporal analytics, modelling techniques to study and understand movement and protect privacy of movement data.
Her area of expertise is GIScience and urban analytics where her research interests mainly involve developing spatiotemporal analytics, modelling techniques to study and understand movement and protect privacy of movement data.
Since 2005, Matt has led the marine remote sensing research at NIWA. His team focuses on moderate-resolution (100s metres), narrow spectral-band coastal and open-ocean satellite remote sensing, especially from MODIS-Aqua. Their research includes RS data infrastructure and processing, algorithm development and validation, and applications.
Rodrigo is an Earth Scientist and advocate of remote sensing to investigate Earth's surface processes. He primarily uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and LiDAR to investigate how surface processes contribute to observable change. In particular, he has worked on the interaction between glaciers and oceans in Antarctica and the velocity changes of mountain glaciers. He is currently working with data from airborne LiDAR over New Zealand.
Elizabeth is a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland, co-supervised under the School of Environment and School of Biological Sciences. Her doctoral research explores the timeline and patterns of forest recovery in landslides on Great Barrier Island and in the Coromandel Ranges using remote sensing and field-based approaches. The aims of her research include understanding the spatial and structural patterns of vegetation succession, as well as the conservation implications of recovery with shifts in plant functional traits and invasive species risk.
Mark has a PhD in Geology from the University of Auckland and over a decade of experience in remote sensing. His recent work has focused on acquiring, processing, and analyzing satellite and geospatial data to support research and decision-making. He specializes in change detection using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to monitor land surface deformation driven by groundwater depletion, geothermal and volcanic activity, slope instability, and organic soil oxidation.
Ali is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research is focused on investigating how organisms and ecosystems are affected by the ocean’s dynamic environment across scales. Particularly, she is interested in understanding how these interactions can help design conservation and management policies that align with the dynamic nature of coastal and open ocean regions.
Francois is a postdoctoral fellow between the University of Waikato and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), currently based in Wellington, New Zealand. Working within the Tau Ki Ākau - Ridge to Reef - research project, his research investigates the availability of light reaching the seabed for coastal ecosystems around Aotearoa New Zealand, and in a multi-stressor context, such as changes in water clarity and increasing marine heatwaves. This research combines satellite remote sensing, optical modelling of underwater light and algal physiology.
JR is a structural geologist with a passion for tectonic-magmatic-hydrologic interactions, particularly in rift settings. This sort of research is relevant to resources and energy, to understanding geohazards, and to understanding fundamental tectonic processes. Over the last 20 years she has taught across the Earth Sciences at undergraduate level, with a focus at postgraduate level on geothermal and mineral exploration, and geohazards.
JR is committed to supporting Aotearoa New Zealand's just transition to a low-carbon and sustainable future. She is playing her part by training and mentoring future leaders to think critically and ethically about resources, energy and Earth systems.
Laura is a geospatial analyst who is interested in using opensource technology in problem-led research. Her study started in design thinking for sustainable enterprises before moving to environmental science and geographic information science. Currently, she works for EnviroStrat, providing geospatial and environmental analysis for their Blue Economy pilots and impact investment consultancy work. She has been focused on understanding ideal aquaculture conditions for kina extracted from barrens, valuing the important role mangroves play in Thailand’s blue economy, and supporting the utilisation of GIS for Te Roroa’s farming and conservation mahi.
Matthew is a freelancer with experience in the use and abuse of the EM spectrum and the provision of communications tools where infrastructure is unavailable. His diverse experience has taken him hunting soviet submarines from helicopters, electronic warfare, remote target pilot, field communications, disaster response.
Over 15 years´ experience in International Management of Research in state and private institutions: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain; European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT Digital), Spain; National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), Spain; Curtin University Sarawak Campus, Malaysia; Saint Louis University Madrid Campus, Spain, Imperial College, London UK. Ample training, a strong research background and a clear passion for management.
Zhanchao Shao is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in remote sensing, hydrodynamic modeling, and machine learning. His work is dedicated to monitoring estuarine health and sediment transport through the integration of satellite data and numerical models. He is particularly interested in applying machine learning techniques to simulate the potential impacts of sea-level rise and climate change on the coastal environments of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Joseph is a PhD student at the University of Canterbury who is using Remote Sensing datasets to identify and classify minor forest species at a national scale across New Zealand. His interests lie within the application and creation of open-source tools and technology to aid in the management and understanding of environmental changes and challenges. Joseph's expertise is in the data fusion of optical and active sensors applied to machine and deep learning for a wide range of ecosystems both terrestrial and marine.
Chau is an optimist with over 20 years of global experience in engineering, construction and IT consultancy. Passionate about leveraging data and technologies to enhance analytics and decision-making to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Her career includes digital governance and leadership roles in global engineering organisations, with expertise in digital advisory, transformation, digital twin, and smart cities. She advocates for open data to foster co-creation and enable innovative solutions for the greater good. Additionally, she is on the Digital Twin Partnership Leadership Committee in Aotearoa, New Zealand helping support digital twin growth for the greater good.
Giovanni obtained his PhD with a thesis on nearshore morphodynamics at the University of Plymouth (UK). After 3 years at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (USA) and 8 years at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NZ), in 2011 he joined the University of Cantabria (Spain) with an Excellence fellowship. In 2015 he returned to New Zealand at the University of Auckland where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science.
Giovanni's research focuses on coastal processes using a variety of approaches that include numerical and data-driven modeling informed by field and laboratory observations. He currently works on projects dealing the hydro- and morphodynamics of the swash and surf zone, inner shelf, tidal inlets and estuaries under climatic changes.
Karin studies controls on hydrodynamics and sediment movement in nearshore and estuarine environments and the role that these play in shaping coastal landscapes. Recently, she has focused on the role of climatic drivers and their interplay with complex morphologies that characterise New Zealand’s unique geologically-controlled coast.
Her research focus underpins sound management of flooding and erosion hazards, port development and the stability of coastal ecosystems.
Her research focus underpins sound management of flooding and erosion hazards, port development and the stability of coastal ecosystems.
Leigh Tait is a marine ecologist specialising in the application of remote sampling techniques that enable a broadscale understanding of marine ecosystems. To overcome bottlenecks in ecological information Leigh has been developing multi-scaled remote-sensing techniques that include underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs), aerial drones and earth-oriented satellites. He has developed techniques and protocols for detecting key habitat-forming seaweeds using enhanced spectral imaging, real-time computer vision algorithms for detecting invasive marine pests such as exotic Caulerpa, and protocols for remote mapping of the Antarctic seafloor. These techniques are currently being used by the Department of Conservation, Ministry for Primary Industries, Antarctica New Zealand, and multiple regional councils to monitor remote and challenging coastal and estuarine areas.
Peter is a Senior GIS Analyst with over 20 years’ experience in the private and public sectors. Throughout this time Peter has applied his knowledge of spatial principles to numerous projects across a broad range of industries. Peter’s main strengths are in environmental and infrastructure projects based in Australia and around the world.
Peter has applied remote sensing solutions in bushfire risk mapping, vegetation monitoring, and change detection for clients.
Peter has applied remote sensing solutions in bushfire risk mapping, vegetation monitoring, and change detection for clients.
Yun Sing Koh, a Professor at the School of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, is an expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Her pioneering work delves into foundational AI research, focusing on continual learning and adaptation, domain generalization, transfer learning, anomaly detection, and data stream mining. Passionate about harnessing machine learning for societal benefit, Yun Sing's research has catalyzed interdisciplinary applications in environmental and health domains.
Eduardo is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. His research focuses on developing new approaches to model future coastal change, with a particular interest in applying deep learning algorithms to forecast shoreline change time series. His work combines satellite-derived data and in-situ observations.
Previously, Eduardo worked as a project technician on oceanic-atmospheric projects at the Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change Institute, UNAM, Mexico. His work included analyzing cold surges and oceanographic data processing.
Previously, Eduardo worked as a project technician on oceanic-atmospheric projects at the Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change Institute, UNAM, Mexico. His work included analyzing cold surges and oceanographic data processing.
Lovleen is a geospatial specialist with over seven years of experience in GIS, Remote Sensing, and Earth Sciences. Her PhD research focused on the effects of sea-level changes on landscape evolution using geospatial technologies and modelling. Lovleen has contributed to innovative projects, including testing the first commercial application of InSAR in New Zealand to monitor land deformations. Her collaborations with esteemed organizations like ISRO involved using Earth Observation data for the optical characterization of wetlands, while her work with UNDP focused on enhancing disaster resilience through geospatial analysis. Lovleen is passionate about bridging research and practical solutions to address environmental and infrastructure challenges effectively.
Simon is a geospatial and data analytics professional based in the Hauraki/Waikato region, with a strong focus on remote sensing and Earth observation (EO) applications across Aotearoa. His work centres on using satellite and spatial data to support environmental monitoring, land use planning, and climate resilience. Simon actively pursues the enhanced accessibility of EO science through applied projects, teaching, and community engagement, wholeheartedly supporting open science initiatives. As part of this, Simon advocates for greater participation in the NASA GLOBE Observer project and aims to grow awareness and involvement among New Zealanders. Simon leads Terra Analytica, a consultancy delivering geospatial and remote sensing solutions rooted in local context. Terra Analytica are available for field work and collaborative efforts that bring data and whenua together.