Curriculum Vitae

2024 - Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am part of the Machine Vision for Natural History (MAVNAT) research group at the University Museum's Department of Natural History, bringing digital methods to the museum's work in ecology, taxonomy and biology. I am working to digitise specimens from the university's large natural history collection, and to use computer vision and machine learning to extract scientifically meaningful data from these digital records.

My current projects include work on plant phenology, insect herbivory, phorid fly taxonomy, and use of AI for species identification.

2022 - 2024

Researcher

As a researcher at NTNU's Applied Underwater Robotics Laboratory I was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the lab's fleet of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. I also continued to work on the topics of my PhD project, publishing work arising from that project and collaborating with groups in related fields.

2019 - 2022

Postgraduate Research Fellow

As part of SINTEF’s Ocean Observation Group, I worked on in situ autonomous monitoring of early fish life stages. I used a novel imaging system, computer vision, machine learning, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to look at the effects of pollution and climate change on fish development, collaborating with scientists in biology, oceanography, robotics and cybernetics to improve our picture of the ocean.

More broadly, I worked with colleagues at SINTEF and NTNU on imaging ocean particles such as phytoplankton, zooplankton and mine tailings, and used AUVs to monitor biological and chemical oceanographic conditions. I developed a high-throughput laboratory imaging system for millimetre-scale particles, which was used within SINTEF as a tool for ecotoxicology experiments, and has been used in the field on research cruises.

2016

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow

In Noldus’ Computer Vision Research group I was part of a project examining the behaviour of rats with a neurodegenerative disease. I looked at simultaneous, single-camera, 3D identification and tracking of multiple animals as part of a ML behavioural analysis pipeline.

I worked closely with software engineers to develop algorithms and methods with consideration for the company’s existing software products. I was involved in experimental work with Radboud University, where I collaborated with biologists to develop and improve video capture systems to satisfy their data requirements, without compromising existing experimental protocols.

2014 - 2016

Research Associate in 3D Computer Vision

I worked in a research team, both conducting fundamental research and providing industrial partners with computer vision solutions for automation. This included agritech projects such as automated harvest yield measurement and crop growth monitoring, industrial automation and defect detection, and collaboration with colleagues in environmental science.

2012 - 2014

Research Assistant

In this Defra-funded project I worked at the University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture, investigating aggression in farmed salmon. I designed and deployed a minimally intrusive monitoring system at commercial fish farms across Scotland to collect underwater video for detection and classification of aggressive behaviour. On-site, long-term data collection on active farms presented challenges unanticipated in laboratory testing, and was a valuable lesson in designing for real-world computer vision tasks.

2019 - 2024

Doctor of Philosophy

My doctoral research used novel hardware both in laboratory experiments and in situ ocean trials to collect images of early fish life stages. These images were analysed through a combination of machine learning and classical computer vision to extract biologically relevant data relating to the health and development of the fish.

2011 - 2012

Master of Science by Research, Computing

This 12 month research project looked at locomotion in the nematode worm C. elegans. Using a computational model of the neuromuscular system and in vivo microscopy imaging, I examined the effects of ageing-related sarcopenia and variations in body shape on the animal’s movement.

My degree was funded out of an EPSRC grant.

2008 - 2011

Bachelor of Science (Honours), Computer Science

My final year project extended an existing computational model of the C. elegans nervous system to investigate locomotion in the juvenile L1 stage of the organism’s development.