Josie Lynch
PhD Student
Research Degree Students
email: lynj1_16@uni.worc.ac.uk
Josie is a full-time PhD student in the School of Science and the Environment at the University of Worcester.
Josie’s main research interest is monitoring the effects of Conservation Agriculture (CA) on soil erosion using drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Her PhD research concerns the use of ultra-high resolution assessments of the implementation of CA on soil erosion rates at sites within Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Powys. CA is considered a sustainable approach to agriculture production, aiming to protect soil from erosion and degradation, providing benefits to biodiversity whilst optimising yields.
The novel aspect of Josie’s research is this uses remotely sensed imagery obtained by UAVs to create ultra-high resolution Digital Surface Models (DSM). Repeat surveys at critical times relating to farming practice and erosion-inducing rainfall events will enable field scale analysis of the amount (in m3) and location of erosion (with an accuracy of 1-2cm) at an unprecedented fine scale and with complete coverage across the soil surface. This advances existing monitoring that only samples at specific locations and is susceptible to large errors associated with the high degree of spatial variations in soil erosion location and rates.
Her research will work with landowners performing varying types of tillage practice to examine the effectiveness of CA and assess the potential use of CA to reduce runoff and contribute to Natural Flood Management (NFM) and the environmental, anthropogenic and economic benefits it can sustain.
Josie is a member of Socio-ecological Systems and Sustainability Research Group - University Of Worcester. Her supervisors are Prof. Ian Maddock and Dr Des McDougall.
Alongside her PhD, Josie holds a CAA Approved UAV Pilot Licence (RPQs) and works as a Research Assistant on projects i) Analysing UAV DEMs and their sensitivity and accuracy to GCP placement and the effect of this on estimates of channel bathymetry. ii) The application of RTK drone sensors to map and measure soil erosion in Herefordshire (funded by the Environment Agency), iii) Using drones for snow depth estimation in the Arolla Valley, Switzerland (including fieldwork assistance).
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/josie-lynch-b6ba63146/
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Geography, 2020, University of Worcester
Publications
Smith, M., Collins, R., Bratt, E., Lynch, J., Bisp, E., Hayman, M. and Evans, S. (2019) The use of Short Camtasia Videos to Support Students with SPSS and Excel Software. Poster Presentation. University of Worcester Learning and Teaching Conference 2019