Protecting Our Planet with Maths

Patron: Dr Sammie Buzzard

Assistant Professor in Polar Observation and Modelling, Northumbria University, Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences

Dr Buzzard is a glaciologist at Northumbria University. After completing her undergraduate maths degree, she applied her mathematical skills first to gain a PhD in atmospheres, oceans, and climate, and now continues to use them to create simulations of how Antarctica will change as our climate changes. 

Sammie’s research focuses on the surface melting of Antarctica’s ice shelves, simulating how and where ice shelves may become vulnerable to sudden collapse and how Antarctica might contribute to sea level rise. She is also interested in the melting of Greenland and Arctic sea ice. As a lecturer, she has taught a variety of topics to university students, including climate change, computer modelling for earth scientists and international fieldwork.

Panellist: Leam Howe - PhD Researcher with SENSE Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh.

Leam is a PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh, where he uses mathematical models and artificial intelligence to better monitor and predict snow cover in a changing climate. He is particularly interested in late-lying snow patches in Scotland as an important indicator of climate change. He has always loved spending time in the mountains of Scotland, especially when there’s snow! 

After completing his undergraduate degree in Physics, with an emphasis on statistical analysis and coding, he decided to pivot to learning about the natural environment. His research allows him to utilise his knowledge of maths, physics and coding to better understand the mountain environments he’s passionate about."

Panellist: Dr Anna Jungbluth - Internal Research Fellow, European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Office.

The ESA Climate Office is the focal point for the Agency’s climate-related activities and is based at ESA's ECSAT facility, Harwell in Oxfordshire, UK. It is part of the ESA Climate and Long-term Action Division within ESA's Earth Observation programme. The Climate Office aims to increase the availability and use of global, satellite-based Earth observation data for decision-making.

Anna Jungbluth is a Research Fellow based here, where she works on machine learning applications for Earth Observation satellite data. She earned her PhD in Physics from the University of Oxford, researching how to make solar panels more efficient. 

Anna's passion for applying machine learning to science began in 2018 when she won the UK finals of the ESA-sponsored Act in Space Hackathon. The following year, she joined a NASA-funded summer research programme (the Frontier Development Lab), where she worked in an interdisciplinary team of researchers to develop machine learning models for studying the Sun. Anna is dedicated to mentorship and promoting diversity in STEM. 

Panellist: James Mulqueeney - PhD Student in Evolutionary Biology, Department of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton & Life Sciences at the Natural History Museum London (NHM).

As an evolutionary biologist, James’ research focuses on the evolution of planktonic foraminifera (a type of zooplankton) over the last few million years, where he analyses 3D models generated from advanced microscopy techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning. This work aims to combine data related to the size and shape of these organisms with geochemical data to understand how climate has impacted the evolution of life on Earth. 

After completing his undergraduate degree in Palaeontology & Evolution at the University of Bristol, James continued to develop his mathematical and computational skills further by undertaking a PhD focused on understanding the process of evolution through the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and statistical techniques. As a PhD student, he has run workshops focused on mathematics and computer science applications to the biological sciences and presented his work at international conferences.