Professor David A Coomes

I am interested in understanding how humans are changing the world's forests and how we can reduce impacts. This includes biodiversity conservation and informing conservation policy through research. My group uses large databases of remotely sensed data and modern computational approaches, alongside traditional field approaches to address fundamental ecological questions as well as the most pressing ecological and biodiversity loss issues. Spaceborne and airborne sensors such as LiDAR, hyperspectral and multispectral sensors collect large amounts of data which allow us to assess the impact of land-use change on carbon storage and biodiversity, and to evaluate the impact of climate change. The use of modern computational approaches such as machine learning algorithms allows us to map with evermore precision species distributions and estimate carbon storage in various landscapes, a key factor in determining the potential of forests as a nature-based solution to climate change.

Our research includes:

• Assessing the impact of land-use change on carbon and biodiversity using LiDAR and hyperspectral sensing
• Measuring carbon storage in forests using airborne and space-borne technologies
• Evaluating the success of carbon projects aimed at reducing deforestation in developing countries 
• Researching the effects of introduced organisms on forest communities and developing control strategies
• Species distribution modelling to understand the effects on climate change on biological diversity and trait evolution
• Developing new biological scaling theories, and confirming their significance by statistical analyses of forest inventory data
• Simulation modelling to examine the responses of forests to environmental change