Professor Gareth Rees

Professor Gareth ReesProfessor of Polar GeoinformaticsScott Polar Research InstituteBiography

Specialist in the use of satellite- and drone-based data collection and analysis to address broadly environmental issues at high latitudes or altitudes. Much of my research has been focussed on arctic Russia although more recently I have shifted towards arctic Norway and the Armenian highlands.

Research

I am a specialist in the development and use of remote sensing methods applied to the study of polar environments. My academic background is in physics. Particular research interests include glacier morphology and dynamics; development of novel methods of detecting animals at high latitudes; high-latitude vegetation dynamics; and how land use and the need for electricity generation interact in the arctic.

I enjoy communicating scientific ideas to others, through university teaching and also through wider outreach activities. I have taken part in Science Festivals in Cambridge and Moscow, and contributes to museum-based education in Cambridge. I am a member of the network ‘Polar Educators International’ and helped to found its UK branch in 2018. Having recognised the fundamental role that the concept of ‘colour’ plays, not just in remote sensing research but also in many other fields, I helped to found the virtual ‘Colour Institute’ in Cambridge in 2017.