Coral Reef Habitat Mapping - From the GBR to Reefs Globally
/Dr Chris Roelfsema from The University of Queensland discusses how approaches to coral habitat mapping on the Great Barrier Reef formed the basis to global coral reef mapping.
Chris' presentation is followed by a Q&A session hosted by Prof Stuart Phinn and joined by Dr Mitchell Lyons and Dr Emma Kennedy.
Presenters:
Dr Chris Roelfsema - Senior Research Fellow (Coastal and Marine), School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland.
Prof Stuart Phinn - Professor of Geography, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Director, Remote Sensing Research Centre, University of Queensland
Dr Mitchell Lyons - Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland
Dr Emma Kennedy - Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland
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Presenter Bios:
Dr Chris Roelfsema - Chris is Senior Research Fellow (Coastal and Marine), School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland. His research interests are monitoring ecosystem health of coral reefs and seagrass habitats, integrating field and remote sensing image datasets, calibrating and validating remotely sensed imagery in coastal environments, and developing cost-effective benthic habitat mapping approaches. A number of projects he has worked on are used as standard practice in a number of resource management agencies and research institutes around the world. Chris is currently the principal investigator on two major coral reef habitat mapping projects: 1) mapping geomorphic zonation, bottom type and predicted coral type habitat over the Great Barrier Reef; and 2) mapping all coral reefs globally and developing a monitoring system, in partnership with Paul G. Allen Philanthropies; Planet; the Arizona State University and the National Geographic Society.
Prof Stuart Phinn - Prof Stuart Phinn's research interests are in measuring and monitoring environmental changes using earth observation data and publishing/sharing ecosystem data. Stuart is the Chair of the Committee that produced the Australian Earth Observation Community Plan – 2026. He is also a professor of Geography at the University of Queensland where he teaches remote sensing and directs the Remote Sensing Research Centre. The majority of his work uses images collected from satellite and aircraft, in combination with field measurements, to map and monitor the Earth's environments and how they are changing over time.
Dr Mitchell Lyons - is a postdoc in the Remote Sensing Research Centre, University of Queensland. His research can be described as a mixture of Ecology, Geography and Statistics. Mitchell finished his PhD in 2013, at the University of Queensland, which focused on developing new remote sensing methods for long term monitoring and change detection in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Mitchell then moved to UNSW and shifted focus to the application of modern statistical and modelling approaches for large scale vegetation classification and mapping problems, with a side interest in drone-acquired image data. He also teaches some remote sensing, as well as programming and statistics. Mitchell's current focus is working on the Allen Coral Atlas global coral reef mapping project, where his primary activities include developing object-based (cloud-based, on the Google Earth Engine) classification and mapping algorithms and accuracy assessment.
Dr Emma Kennedy - Emma is a postdoc at the Remote Sensing Research Centre, University of Queensland, where she currently works full-time on the Allen Coral Atlas reef mapping project as a spatial ecologist. Her diverse research portfolio has included several high-profile collaborative projects, including a Resilient Reefs program that developed a range of novel monitoring, mapping and modelling tools to explore resilience on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and a global conservation planning initiative 50 Reefs that identified a long-term data-driven strategy for reef conservation. More recently, Emma was the scientific lead on the Catlin Seaview Survey, a coral reef monitoring program that used underwater-scooter technology and artificial intelligence to scale underwater monitoring capabilities. Emma is a passionate science educator and writes for BBC Wildlife Magazine, and was highlighted as an emerging leader in last years #AusScienceHeroes campaign.