Landscape Observatory is pleased to announce seven new graduates have joined the project to establish its GIS & Digitisation Technical Team. This new cohort will support cutting-edge research contributing to AI mapping, habitat condition monitoring and climate smart adaptive management to prepare our landscapes for the impacts of climate change. The expansion of the team is the next step towards Landscape Observatory’s goal to prepare protected landscape and national trail teams for a digital and AI engaged future in the context of a warming world.
The new recruits, all recent graduates from universities across the UK, have studied disciplines including; geography, ecology, GIS, remote sensing. Their appointments represent a direct investment in the next generation of environmental professionals and reflect Landscape Observatory’s ambition to develop job opportunities for graduates in the green digital economy. The project was recently recognised by Government’s Land Use Framework, published earlier this year, as innovative and contributing to the national effort to ‘make land digital’ and reform data tools and decision-making systems.
As part of Landscape Observatory’s expanding national programme, their work will help provide Protected Landscape teams, land managers and policymakers with the evidence to make informed and timely decisions about the future management of some of England’s most valued landscapes. Supported by Defra; Landscape Observatory is one of the three Protected Landscape Partnership incubator projects and was developed, and is hosted by, the Peak District National Park Authority.
“The addition of this new team is a critical step in the delivery of our mapping workstream. Their work will support the production of high-resolution land cover maps data for Protected Landscapes, helping ensure that teams have access to the information they need to influence decision-making within their partnerships. We’re delighted to welcome them to Landscape Observatory and look forward to working with them as the programme develops.”
Simon Giekie, Director of Landscape Observatory
The new team will undertake an intensive six-to-eight-week training and induction programme, working alongside specialists from project partner, Cranfield University, and colleagues from across the Protected Landscapes family. This will provide them with the technical skills, environmental knowledge and operational understanding required to support the delivery of one of the most ambitious landscape mapping programmes currently underway in England.