Emma Higgins

Biography

I'm a conservation technologist and ecologist. My work asks how technology can improve how we monitor wildlife and habitats, and how best to integrate remote sensing and conservation technology workflows into conservation planning decisions.

I lecture in Ecology at the University of South Wales. I am Course Leader for the new MSc Conservation Technology and Ecological Data Science, launching in 2028, and Associate Editor for Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation and Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Prospective students Interested in collaborating?

Interests

Conservation technology
Remote sensing & UAVs
Movement ecology
Thermal ecology
Passive acoustic monitoring
Machine learning for ecology

Education

PhD Geography, 2022
University of Nottingham
MSc Conservation and GIS, 2015
University of South Wales
BSc (Hons) Biology, 2014
University of South Wales

Research

All research →

Acoustics

Passive acoustic monitoring of wildlife, from horseshoe bats to large carnivores, and low-cost networked sensors that bring sound data in from the field.

Earth observation

Satellite, drone and laser-scanning data for mapping habitats and land-use change, and understanding how error in these maps affects conservation decisions.

Microclimate ecology

How vegetation structure shapes the fine-scale climates animals actually live in, measured with sensor networks and 3D forest scans.

Thermal biology

Operative temperature, thermal preference and thermal habitat for tropical reptiles, and how warming changes the habitat available to them.

Movement ecology

GPS tracking and step-selection models to understand how large mammals such as elephants and carnivores use space.

Machine learning in conservation

Machine learning that links remote sensing and sensor data to field measurements, to predict species, habitats and conditions across whole landscapes.

Computer vision

Automated detection, species classification and individual identification from camera-trap images.

Ethics of conservation technology

How conservation data and technology can be misused, and how protected areas can reduce those risks.

Get in touch

I'm happy to hear from prospective students, collaborators and conservation partners.

Email | E-bost: emma.higgins@southwales.ac.uk
Bluesky: @eangharad.bsky.social
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emma-higgins-91533184
GitHub: github.com/eahiggins
ResearchGate: Emma Higgins
Pure profile: Emma Higgins, University of South Wales

Dr Emma Higgins