The Team
Our Team
Dr Peter Fretwell, Geographic Information Officer, British Antarctic Survey
Peter is the head of the Wildlife from Space team at the British Antarctic Survey. Over the past decade, Peter has led investigations using satellite technology to identify, count and monitor different species in Antarctica and elsewhere. His team have tested the capability of new satellites, applied bespoke methods to different species and developed automated counting techniques using Artificial Intelligence. These innovative developments have led to breakthroughs in the understanding of distribution and population trends, and increased uptake of the new technology by many other institutions and academics.
Dr Marie Attard, Postdoctoral Albatross Image Analyst, British Antarctic Survey
Marie leads the Albatrosses from Space project. She develops the online citizen science campaigns to count breeding pairs of Wandering albatrosses on South Georgia, and is responsible for analysing and publishing the research findings. Albatross counts will be used to develop an automated, standardised and efficient monitoring protocol for future satellite surveys, greatly improving our understanding of archipelago-wide population dynamics.
Dr Richard Phillips, Seabird Ecologist, Deputy Science Leader, British Antarctic Survey
Richard is the leader of the Higher Predators and Conservation group at the British Antarctic Survey. He works closely with the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), including as convenor of the ACAP Populations and Conservation Status working group. His expertise on the breeding biology and behaviour of albatrosses has been vital to develop the Albatrosses from Space project.
Dr Ellen Bowler, Machine Learning Research Scientist, British Antarctic Survey
Ellen is a machine learning researcher based in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab at the British Antarctic Survey. Her research focuses on using machine learning to monitor and detect wildlife, particularly using satellite and drone imagery. She works closely with the Wildlife from Space research group, developing image algorithms to automatically count wildlife in very high resolution satellite imagery.
Our collaborators
The Albatross from Space project is an international collaboration involving British Antarctic Survey (BAS), RSPB, GSGSSI and other stakeholders. Key collaborators on the project include:
- Mark Belchier, Marine Ecologist and Science Manager for South Georgia Fisheries (CCAMLR)
- Jennifer Black, Environmental Officer, The Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI)
- Martin Collins, South Georgia Science Manager at BAS
- Trevor Glass, Conservation Officer for Tristan da Cunha, Tristan Conservation
- Jonathan Hall, Head of UK Overseas Territories and RSPB & Strategy Advisor
- Phil Hollyman, Fisheries Ecologist at BAS
- David Kinchin-Smith, UK Overseas Territories project Officer, RSPB
- Stephanie Martin, UK-based Environment and Conservation Officer, Tristan da Cunha Government
- Steffen Oppel, Senior Conservation Scientist at RSPB centre for Conservation Science
- Sally Poncet, South Georgia Surveys, Stanley, Falkland Islands
- Andy Schofield, Senior UK Overseas Territories Officer at RSPB
- Siobhan Vye, Atlantic Guardians Project Manager of RSPB Overseas Territories Team
Field teams
This work would not be possible without the amazing work of the field teams conducting ground surveys of breeding great albatrosses in South Georgia and Gough Island.
Photo of the Gough Island field team monitoring critically endangered Tristan Albatrosses.
