Research
Robust Systematic Conservation Prioritization
An R package for conservation planning under uncertainty — generating solutions robust to climate projections, species distribution models, and ecosystem service estimates.
Risk Modelling for UK Tree Planting
Decision-support framework for resilient tree-planting strategies under compounding climate and economic uncertainties, informing national net-zero land use policy.
Presented at EAERE 2022. Media coverage: The Guardian, Phys.org, and others.
Flexible Koala Conservation Decisions
Stochastic optimization model showing that adaptive conservation strategies can substantially reduce costs and mitigate climate-driven extinction risk for koalas on private land.
VESDIO — Supply Chain Ecosystem Risk
A web app for quantifying how ecosystem service disruptions propagate through global supply chains, helping businesses assess and disclose nature-related financial risk.
Monte Carlo Landscape Decisions
Spatially-explicit Monte Carlo simulations of land-use decision models, examining how parameter uncertainty propagates through landscape-scale policy outcomes.
Presented at BIOECON 2023.
Remote Sensing of Post-Typhoon Effects
Geospatial analysis of typhoon-induced landscape change using satellite imagery, combining Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS to map recovery patterns.
ESRI China Young Scholars Award 2019 — Second Runner-Up.
Current Opportunities
Decision AI for Biodiversity Conservation
Supervised by Prof. Iadine Chades, Dr Lily Xu (Columbia University) & Dr Frankie Cho
Conservation decisions must balance learning (surveying, monitoring, reducing uncertainty) and acting (managing threats, reducing extinction risk) — yet existing approaches too often optimise one at the expense of the other. This PhD will develop Decision AI methods that explicitly integrate information-gathering and management objectives, enabling decision-makers to learn about complex ecological systems while delivering effective conservation outcomes.
The project sits at the intersection of: decision-making under uncertainty; sequential and adaptive decision processes; multi-objective optimisation; Markov Decision Processes; reinforcement learning; value of information; and biodiversity conservation. The successful candidate will join the Environmental Informatics Hub.
Evaluating Protected Area Expansion Strategies for Biodiversity Conservation in Australia
Supervised by Dr Brooke Williams (UoN) & Dr Frankie Cho (Monash)
Australia has committed to expanding its protected area network, but the effectiveness of newly designated areas remains uncertain. This project will evaluate how well new protected areas contribute to biodiversity conservation, compare business-as-usual expansion with prioritisation-driven approaches, and identify strategies to better achieve national conservation targets.
Funding is not attached — interested applicants should reach out to Dr Brooke Williams to discuss ideas and potential funding.
Mapping Monitoring Gaps: Aligning Species Data with Biodiversity Observation Effort in Australia
Supervised by Dr Brooke Williams (UoN) & Dr Frankie Cho (Monash)
Observation efforts often fail to align with expert knowledge of species distributions. This project will compare expert-derived species range maps with existing monitoring data to identify spatial gaps and mismatches in survey effort, highlighting priority regions where targeted, low-cost monitoring could rapidly improve biodiversity knowledge and inform conservation decision-making.
Funding is not attached — interested applicants should reach out to Dr Brooke Williams to discuss ideas and potential funding.
About
I am a Research Fellow in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Monash University. My research develops computational tools — combining optimisation, machine learning, and geospatial analysis — to guide environmental decisions under uncertainty. I work at the intersection of biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and AI.
Previously, I completed a joint PhD in Environmental Economics at the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland, and hold a bachelor's and master's degree in Geography from the University of Hong Kong.