Eleanor Thomson

Hi, I’m Eleanor. I joined the Seascape Ecology lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral researcher in ecological remote sensing. My background is in environmental remote sensing and machine learning, with a focus on tropical forest ecosystems.

I’m currently working on a Bertarelli Marine Science Project that seeks to quantify the importance of seabird nutrient subsidies on tropical island terrestrial and marine ecosystems. This research aims to support tropical island conservation and restoration, and is a joint project between Oxford, Exeter and Lancaster University. I’m working with Dr Lisa Wedding and Professor Yadvinder Malhi to investigate how seabird nutrient input influences plant productivity and native ecosystem woodland regeneration across the Chagos Islands, Seychelles and French Polynesia. I’m using my remote sensing background to map and measure spatial and temporal patterns of nutrient export across these island landscapes and coral reef seascapes using multispectral drone and satellite imagery.

In addition to this work, I’m a senior researcher at Gentian Ltd. and a co-founder of the Oxford Drone Society.  Outside of work, you can see me cycling around Oxfordshire, flying my drone up at Wytham woods, or swimming in the river.

Selected publications

Thomson, ER., Spiegel, MP., Althuizen, IHJ., Bass, P., Chen, S., Chmurzynski, A., Halbritter, AH., Henn, JJ., Jónsdóttir, IS. and Klanderud, K. (2021) Mapping plant functional groups and plant traits in the High Arctic using handheld spectra, multispectral UAV imagery and satellite data. Environmental Research Letters 16(5) 55006.

Thomson ER, Malhi Y, Bartholomeus H, Oliveras I, Gvozdevaite A, Peprah T, Suomalainen J, Quansah J, Seidu J and Adonteng C (2018) Mapping (2018) Mapping the leaf economic spectrum in West African tropical forests using UAV-acquired hyperspectral imagery’. Remote Sensing 10(10) 1532.