Research


My Role as a Researcher at Carleton University

Like many Government of Canada scientists, I maintain strong and formal links to academia. I am an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, where I have taught and supervised students since 2003. I recently expanded my role at the University to also include the positions of Associate Scientist with the Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Laboratory and Affiliated Researcher with the CU Global Water Institute.

My current research program is generally aligned with my past and present research activities at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. While the detailed nature of my individual research projects vary, they all integrate various aspects of remote sensing, spatial analysis and spatio-temporal modeling.

General Research Interests

To date, my published research has focused primarily on the integration of spectral data (ground radiometry, airborne and satellite imagery) with other types of geospatial information for characterizing, modeling and understanding landscape dynamics and processes through both space and time.

This research has been conducted across a wide range of geographic scales (local, landscape, regional, national), and spans a wide range of scientific disciplines (GIS, remote sensing, spatial analysis, community and landscape ecology, soil science, climatology, modeling, biometeorology, fisheries science).

A few examples of the multi-disciplinary nature of this work include:

    An international comparison of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) based methods for crop type and crop condition monitoring [CURRENT];
    Operational Implementation of RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) Data in AAFC's Annual Space-Based Crop Inventory [CURRENT];
    Improving albedo parameterizations for input to biogeochemical models using in situ, MODIS and GOES optical remote sensing data;
    Modeling lake surface temperatures and lake ice phenology using climate station data and MODIS and AVHRR optical and thermal remote sensing data;
    Estimating vegetation water content in mixed prairie communities at plot- to Landsat-resolutions using in situ radiometer and plant biophysical data;
    Investigating plant community diversity-productivity relationships in northern Mixed Grass prairie using in situ spectral and plant biophysical data;
    Assessing various models for interpolating temperature and precipitation fields across topographically complex and simple terrain over Canada;
    Investigating the linking of landscape processes to phylogeographic patterns in the wood frog using methods based on circuit theory.

The above research has been published in peer-reviewed science journals, including The Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing of Environment, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and GeoInformation, the Journal of Geophysical Research, Community Ecology, Environmetrics, the International Journal of Climatology and Molecular Ecology.

Student Research Opportunities

Enquiries about undergraduate and graduate research opportunities can be directed to me by clicking on the email link provided at the top right of this page.

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