JRSRP Staff
Dr Robert Denham
Senior Research Fellow
Robert Denham is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of the Environment at UQ, working closely with the Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation in the Earth Observation and Social Sciences unit. Robert has a background in Environmental Statistics, and an interest in predictive modelling using satellite imagery at regional and continental scales. He is actively working on deep learning approaches to detect vegetation changes in Australian ecosystems. More recently, he has taken on the role of developing and maintaining operational workflows for ingesting and processing large amounts of data on the department’s high performance computer. An active software developer, working primarily in python and R, he enjoys supporting scientists in their data analysis and modelling activities.
William Duckworth
Senior Software Developer
William Duckworth is an experienced software engineer with a strong background in industrial automation, control systems, and large-scale computing infrastructure. Over his career, he has delivered automation and systems integration solutions across the agricultural industry, with a focus on industrial electronic circuitry and data gathering, as well as proprietary software systems.
William currently serves as a Senior Software Developer for the JRSRP, working on behalf of the NSW Government. In this role, he develops and maintains continuous integration and delivery pipelines, implements containerised workflows, and writes production-grade code to support remote sensing scientists working on complex data analysis. His work enables the efficient execution of satellite data processing workflows on high-performance computing (HPC) systems across the state partners, ensuring reproducibility, scalability, and optimal use of computational resources.
Jo Edkins
Research Manager
Joanne Edkins is an experienced Research Manager at the University of Queensland with broad experience supporting academic research operations. She brings extensive experience in contract management, pre- and post-award grant administration, financial oversight, and human resources coordination. Joanne has facilitated complex research projects by navigating funding requirements, streamlining administrative processes, and ensuring compliance with institutional and external policies. She works closely with academic and professional staff to facilitate research outcomes.
Prior to her role in research management, Joanne worked in the IT sector, with a background in computer science and extensive experience managing large-scale software development projects. She led teams and delivered enterprise solutions for corporate institutions across Australia, New Zealand, the US, and the UK.
Dr Nicholas Goodwin
Research Fellow
Dr Nicholas Goodwin has over twenty years’ experience in remote sensing working across a wide range of projects and technologies at different spatial and temporal scales. Nicholas gained his undergraduate degree and PhD at the University of NSW before undertaking a post-doc at the University of British Columbia. He is now a member of the JRSRP and works with the Queensland and NSW Government on the development of standardised workflows and products for LiDAR datasets.
Dr Leonardo Hardtke
Research Fellow
Leonardo Hardtke is a Research Fellow at the School of the Environment at UQ, working closely with the Queensland Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation in the Earth Observation and Social Sciences. He leads research in spatial bioassessment and environmental condition monitoring, including the development of methods for assessing habitat condition at landscape scales. Leonardo has developed datasets and tools that support environmental decision-making, such as the Sentinel-2 fire scars dataset for Queensland. He also supports and develops containerized workflows for high-performance computing environments, enabling reproducible and efficient processing of large-scale remote sensing and environmental data.
Catherine James
Senior Research Officer
Catherine James is an experienced research scientist and communications specialist, currently supporting the Joint Remote Sensing Research Program at the University of Queensland. With over 18 years’ expertise in environmental resource management and remote sensing, Catherine provides expertise in environmental monitoring and spatial data analysis. She excels in developing and promoting research findings through engaging media and stakeholder outreach, utilising her skills in spatial mapping, technical writing, and the creation of public-facing educational materials. Her work underpins rigorous, science-based decision-making for environmental management and fosters greater public and sector awareness of innovative Earth observation techniques.
Dr Lydia Li
Research Fellow
Dr Lydia Li is a geospatial data scientist specialising in remote sensing and Earth observation for environmental monitoring. Her current research focuses on modelling canopy height across Australia by integrating GEDI LiDAR and Sentinel-2 data. Lydia develops scalable, reproducible workflows using high-performance computing, cloud platforms, and machine learning to support ecosystem monitoring and land management.
She has previously led research on grassland curing for fire monitoring and contributed to government initiatives in environmental water planning and floodplain management. Lydia’s expertise spans the integration of LiDAR and multispectral data, AI/ML applications in land cover change detection, and the development of EO-based indicators for climate adaptation, biodiversity policy, and fire management.
Dr Anthea Mitchell
Research Fellow
Visiting Research Fellow, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES), University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW 2052.
Anthea Mitchell is currently a member of the JRSRP and collaborating with NSW Government on developing methods for mapping woody regrowth using satellite optical and radar data. She is based at UNSW in Sydney.
Anthea has ~20 years of experience in remote sensing research in support of natural resource management. Her research interests include forest and land cover change monitoring, post-fire recovery, and imaging radar for assessing mangrove and wetlands dynamics. She has led or participated in several major research projects supported by the European Commission, Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI). Anthea has a BSc in Applied Geography and PhD in Remote Sensing from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).