Our lab seeks to better understand plant systems through the lens of remote sensing and environmental data science.

We are interested in the mechanisms controlling the way photons bounce off or come from plants, and use this to inform our understanding of ecosystem health, productivity, and stress. 

How we do it

This work is largely interdisciplinary and combines the fields of plant ecophysiology, biophysics, optics, statistical and computer science. We develop instruments and methods for mapping vegetation structure and function at the leaf, tower, airborne, and satellite scales. This includes optical sensors that measure vegetation reflectance, thermal emission and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), as well as active sensors (lidar, radar, microwave).

What comes of it

Anything that enables us to quantify plant processes across space and time. Some examples include: using satellite data to map crop nutrient- and water-use efficiencies; investigating Boreal forest photosynthesis from tower-mounted scanning spectrometers; mapping bird habitat using lasers (lidar); tracking crop stress using custom built spectrometers.