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Stuart Phinn is a Lecturer/Scientist who works at the Department of Geographica Sciences and Planning at The University of Queensland. In which area or areas of science do you work? Remote sensing, which involves the collection and analysis of images of the earth’s (and other planets’) atmosphere, surface and water bodies from satellite and airborne platforms. My work is multi-disciplinary and I commonly conduct projects with other scientists in earth-sciences, zoology, botany, biology, climatology, meteorology, physics and oceanography, as well as natural resource managers and planners. When did you first become interested in this career? At the start of my university course and at high school when I was fascinated by images of the earth from space and the ability people had to detect and map ocean features, weather patterns, minerals, types of forest. At the same time the people involved in these activities were addressing major environmental problems, conducting both image and work in the field. There was a good mix of science, technology, resource management and field work in different environments that really appealed to me. At this stage I also started to work out the more you understand how different environments function, the more likely you are to make informed decisions on how to maintain and utilise the environment in a sustainable manner. What education and training do you have to have for your job? I have a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in geography from the University of California at Santa Barbara and San Diego State University (1997) and a Bachelor of Science with honours in geographical science from the University of Queensland (1991). My science degree was focussed on geographical science subjects (including remote sensing, geographic information systems, geomorphology and climatology) with a number of courses in computer science, environmental physics, statistics and pure mathematics. Honours is an extra year taken to focus on a specific research project in your area of interest. I focused on establishing the weather systems responsible for different types of wave conditions and beach changes on the Gold Coast. My Ph.D. studies were conducted in the U.S. as there were no universities in Australia covering applied remote sensing and I needed a change of environment. A major part of my Ph.D. was involved in providing research support for the commercialisation of new remote sensing technologies by NASA. How long did it take you to get the necessary qualifications? Bachelor of Science = 3 years Honours = 2 years (part-time) Ph.D. = 5 years (at a U.S. university) How has your career progressed? My career has progressed quite rapidly since completing my Ph.D., I was offered two jobs six months before I finished, so I was straight into lecturing and research when I arrived back in Australia. Since 1997 I have constructed and taught eight new courses and have acquired sufficient equipment and expert research assistants to build a high-quality applied remote sensing program. Since initiating this program we have had continued work for local, state and commonwealth government agencies, s well as a number of private companies. What are the tasks that you do in a typical day? Teaching (preparation of courses, lecturing, conducting practical classes and field work) Project design and management Reading the latest scientific and trade journals Corresponding with colleagues throughout Australia and the rest of the world Presentation of project results and plans at public and private seminars and workshops Writing proposals, reports and journal articles Fieldwork by foot, car, boat or plane in terrestrial and aquatic environments What skills do you use in your job? Written, graphic and oral presentation/communication skills Listening/counselling/advising Project design and management Mathematical and statistical analysis Computer Programming Personnel management What do you enjoy most about your job? My job isn’t really routine and I am free to choose how and what I teach and research. As a result I am able to focus on what I feel are key environmental monitoring problems and environments (e.g. urban development in coastal and nearshore areas). I am also interacting with a highly varied group of people all the time and I get to meet a lot of interesting and exciting people (scientists, students, etc) in Australia and overseas. Watching people learn and move on to bigger and better things is also exciting. The travel required for fieldwork is fun (most of the time) and working in challenging environments (mangroves, coral reefs, etc) is always fun, as is the integration of technology in all of this. What is the most exciting aspect of your job? Fieldwork in lots of different environments (especially tropical environments, wetlands and coral reefs) combined with a technological focus on airborne and satellite imaging systems which are changing all the time. What do you enjoy least about your job? Marking assessment items, politics, administrative paperwork and administrative meetings. What are some alternative jobs that you would be qualified for? Remote sensing scientist Hyperspectral scientist Environmental program coordinator Science writer Image processing programmer Environmental consultant Intelligence analyst Geomorphologist/Cimatologist Project coordinator What are some of the advantages to working in this field? Flexibility to choose what to work on, who to work with and where to work. What are some of the disadvantages to working in this field? The hours worked aren’t fixed, so it can take up a lot of your time. How has your work contributed to science? Developed a technique enabling the condition and dynamics of restored wetlands and other environments to be monitored from airborne and satellite imaging systems. Established how wetlands can be monitored from the current and next generation of satellite imaging sensors. Established a link between El-Nino/La-Nina events and wave conditions along the coast of eastern Australia, enabling periods above/below-average wave power (beach erosion) to be predicted. How has your work benefited society? Increased the ability for society to be provided with a realistic assessment of the condition of a restored environment or of a wetland environment from remotely sensed data from local to global scales. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? With an established teaching and research program in applied remote sensing, filling the "gap" that forced me to pursue my Ph.D. in the United States. This program will provide a comprehensive introduction and advanced courses on the correct application to monitoring environmental conditions from local to global scales. We will also be conducting research for major private companies adopting remote sensing technologies and providing advice and highly skilled graduates to various government departments for applied remote sensing. In short, we will have established Australia further as a world leader in remote sensing development, teaching and applications.