Ross Hill

Dr Ross Hill, Associate Dean Education

Loves being up mountains at high altitude

Ross joined BU in 2007 having spent 10 years at the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in the Earth Observation team. Before CEH, he completed a PhD at the University of Wales, Swansea. He also has a 1st class BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Oxford and is a member of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc).

Ross’ research focuses on applying remote sensed data to model forest structure and species composition, so he can identify the factors determining habitat quality and measure how they change over time. "I am currently investigating forest dynamics in the Peruvian Amazon where using technology like laser scanners, I can understand and explain how birds and mammals are using the forest as their habitat. This is important in a changing world," Ross explains.

His passion for the subject can be summed up simply in one phrase: "I love forests! They are fascinating and beautiful throughout the year and have so much diversity. There's always something to explore." And his exploring has taken him all over the world – Japan, Australia, Alaska and mainland USA, all round Scandinavia and western Europe, and back, via Leicester – his home town! Fieldwork, which has taken him from deserts in Africa to rain forests in the Amazon, Borneo and Ghana, has created some lifelong memories: "I’ll never forget being up a canopy tower watching the sun rise over a tributary of the Amazon, and listening to the red howler monkeys screaming as they asserted their authority over the rest of the forest dwellers."

It’s a good job he has nerves of steel. He’s had close encounters with snakes, alligators, tarantulas, tapirs and elephants while on fieldwork. "I've also had my bed eaten by a goat and watched a train of rats run through my bedroom on their nightly journey. Oh yes, and I’ve been threatened with being shot more than once – It’s a miracle of modern preventive medicine that I haven’t come back with all sorts of tropical diseases in the past," says Ross.

Proud to be a scientist, he enjoys everything this entails, from publishing papers and attending conferences, to being recognised by peers as an established scientist doing good work. "But I get most pride from being a custodian of science. Science is a body of learning built over generations, with each generation adding something more to either strengthen or reposition that collective understanding. I»m proud to have added my own little piece to that enormous body of knowledge".

Naturally Ross loves the outdoors, so when he gets time to relax, outdoor pursuits are top of the list including hiking, running, cycling, kayaking and scuba diving. Best of all, "I love being up in the mountains at high altitude. Mountains are very tough and unforgiving places to be, but their splendour and majesty is to behold!"

So what’s the best thing about his job? "Being in an environment where I can learn all the time, but also where I get to share the knowledge that I have gained. Hopefully that can inspire a new generation to go out and make new scientific discoveries."

And what’s the most pressing issue the world faces in his area of research right now? "I’d say working out a true value of rain forests. In my opinion, they are still being cut down at unacceptable rates across the tropics. The best way for them to be saved is if they have a real economic value that»s of direct benefit to the local populations and their governments. If they are worth more as forests than as sources of timber or land, then they are more likely to be preserved".

"This is where my research comes in. Thanks to satellite imagery we can map where the forests are and monitor where they are being cut down (or allowed to regenerate). We can also start to work out the amount of stored carbon that they contain, and that helps to work out an economic value of the forests as carbon stores become tradable. It’s only part of the answer as rain forests provide a whole raft of ecosystem services which can benefit both local and even global populations. But with remote sensing data we can start to identify indicators for many of these ecosystem services and hopefully help to save more of the world's rain forest".