Dr Lauren Biermann
Profiles

Dr Lauren Biermann

Lecturer in Marine Science (Remote Sensing)

School of Biological and Marine Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Biography

Biography

Lauren is a marine remote sensing scientist with a varied research background that includes molecular biology, ichthyology, and biological oceanography. She did her undergraduate and MSc degrees in South Africa, where she grew up, but moved to Scotland to undertake a PhD at the University of St. Andrews' Scottish Oceans Institute. 
After graduating, Lauren first worked as the senior Earth Observation scientist for Cefas and marine lead on the Defra Earth Observation (EO) Centre of Excellence for 3 years. Thereafter, she joined the EO Science Applications group at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, where she divided her time between leading EUMETSAT marine earth observation training workshops, and using high-resolution satellite data and machine learning for detection and classification of materials floating on the ocean surface. In September 2023, Lauren joined the School of Biological and Marine Sciences as Marine Remote Sensing lecturer and researcher.

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography. Sea Mammal Research Unity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews (UK).
  • M.Sc. in Marine Science, with distinction. Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town (South Africa).
  • Honours in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Environmental Stress Tolerance Unit, University of Cape Town (South Africa).
  • B.Sc. in Microbiology and Ichthyology, with distinction. Rhodes University (South Africa).
Teaching

Teaching

Teaching interests

I teach marine remote sensing on two modules, one aimed at second year students, and the other for Masters-level research.
Current PhD Students:
  1. Co-supervisor ARISE funded PhD Ahmed Aslam Waheed: Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Atoll Islands of the Maldives. Lead: Gerd Masselink
  2. Co-supervisor CDT SuMMeR funded PhD Kate Chadwick: Developing a Novel System to Monitor Status of Coastal Ecosystems in SW England using a Complementary Approach: from Remote Sensing to Marine Top Predators. Supervised between PML, University of Plymouth, and the University of Exeter. Lead: Luis Huckstadt. 
  3. Co-supervisor Eddystone Institute funded PhD Oliver Thomas: Assessing Ecological and Socio-Economic Benefits of Restoring Intertidal Seagrass Meadows in Southwest England Estuaries, for Application to Global Restoration Efforts. Supervised between PML and University of Plymouth. Lead: Mel Austin. 
Publications

Publications

Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Fidai YA, Dash J, Marsh R, Oxenford HA, Biermann L, Martin N & Tompkins EL (2023) 'Tracking and detecting sargassum pathways across the tropical Atlantic' Environmental Research Communications 5, (12) 125010-125010 , DOI
Tasseron PF, Schreyers L, Peller J, Biermann L & van Emmerik T (2022) 'Toward Robust River Plastic Detection: Combining Lab and Field‐Based Hyperspectral Imagery' Earth and Space Science 9, (11) , DOI
Janssens N, Schreyers L, Biermann L, van der Ploeg M, Bui T-KL & van Emmerik T (2022) 'Rivers running green: water hyacinth invasion monitored from space' Environmental Research Letters 17, (4) 044069-044069 , DOI
van Emmerik T, González-Fernández D, Mendrik F, Biermann L, Drummond J & Liedermann M (2022) 'Editorial: Early Career Scientists’ Contributions to River Plastic Monitoring Across Scales' Frontiers in Earth Science 10, , DOI Open access
Maximenko N, Palacz A, Biermann L, Carlton J, Centurioni L, Crowley M, Hafner J, Haram L, Helm R & Hormann V (2021) 'An Integrated Observing System for Monitoring Marine Debris and Biodiversity' Oceanography 52-59 , DOI
Schreyers L, van Emmerik T, Nguyen TL, Phung N-A, Kieu-Le T-C, Castrop E, Bui T-KL, Strady E, Kosten S & Biermann L (2021) 'A Field Guide for Monitoring Riverine Macroplastic Entrapment in Water Hyacinths' Frontiers in Environmental Science 9, , DOI
Belcher A, Fielding S, Gray A, Biermann L, Stowasser G, Fretwell P, Ireland L & Tarling GA (2021) 'Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill (<i>Euphausia superba</i>) in the Scotia Sea' Antarctic Science 33, (4) 402-414 , DOI
Tasseron P, van Emmerik T, Peller J, Schreyers L & Biermann L (2021) 'Advancing Floating Macroplastic Detection from Space Using Experimental Hyperspectral Imagery' Remote Sensing 13, (12) 2335-2335 , DOI
Schreyers L, van Emmerik T, Nguyen TL, Castrop E, Phung N-A, Kieu-Le T-C, Strady E, Biermann L & van der Ploeg M (2021) 'Plastic Plants: The Role of Water Hyacinths in Plastic Transport in Tropical Rivers' Frontiers in Environmental Science 9, , DOI
Schreyers L, van Emmerik T, Biermann L & Le Lay Y-F (2021) 'Spotting Green Tides over Brittany from Space: Three Decades of Monitoring with Landsat Imagery' Remote Sensing 13, (8) 1408-1408 , DOI
Biermann L, Clewley D, Martinez-Vicente V & Topouzelis K (2020) 'Author Correction: Finding Plastic Patches in Coastal Waters using Optical Satellite Data' Scientific Reports 10, (1) , DOI
Biermann L, Clewley D, Martinez-Vicente V & Topouzelis K (2020) 'Finding Plastic Patches in Coastal Waters using Optical Satellite Data' Scientific Reports 10, (1) , DOI
Snapir B, Waine T & Biermann L (2019) 'Maritime Vessel Classification to Monitor Fisheries with SAR: Demonstration in the North Sea' Remote Sensing 11, (3) 353-353 , DOI
Bean TP, Greenwood N, Beckett R, Biermann L, Bignell JP, Brant JL, Copp GH, Devlin MJ, Dye S & Feist SW (2017) 'A Review of the Tools Used for Marine Monitoring in the UK: Combining Historic and Contemporary Methods with Modeling and Socioeconomics to Fulfill Legislative Needs and Scientific Ambitions' Frontiers in Marine Science 4, , DOI
Biermann L, Guinet C, Bester M, Brierley A & Boehme L (2015) 'An alternative method for correcting fluorescence quenching' Ocean Science 11, (1) 83-91 , DOI
Conference Papers
Schreyers L, van Emmerik T, Biermann L & van der Ploeg M (2022) 'Direct and Indirect River Plastic Detection from Space' IGARSS 2022 - 2022 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 7-/-0/20227-/-0/2022IEEE , DOI
Fassbender AJ, Palevsky HI, Martz TR, Ingalls AE, Gledhill M, Fawcett SE, Brandes JA & Aluwihare LI (2017) 'Perspectives on Chemical Oceanography in the 21st century: Participants of the COME ABOARD Meeting examine aspects of the field in the context of 40 years of DISCO' Elsevier BV 181-190 , DOI
Personal

Personal

Reports & invited lectures

2023     
  • Trevor Platt Science Foundation Symposium Invited Lecturer and panellist 
  • Keynote speaker at the SARTRAC (Teleconnected SARgassum risks across the Atlantic: building capacity for TRansformational Adaptation in the Caribbean and West Africa) conference, Southampton.
2021     
  • Invited speaker at the COP26 EXTREME Event, Glasgow UK
  • Virtual seminar guest on NOAA Monster Seminar Jam series
  • Invited speaker on the Wilson Centre ‘Sea to See’ webcast
  • Invited speaker on the Ocean Plastic Webinars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVvr4CKj8M8
2020     
  • Presented two talks at the AGU Ocean Sciences meeting in San Diego, USA 
  • Primary Chair with NASA at AGU Ocean Sciences session, San Diego, USA 
  • Awarded best presenter and best podcast by the NERC National Centre for Earth Observation.
2019     
2018    
  • Primary Chair with NASA at AGU Ocean Sciences session: Advances in satellite remote sensing for monitoring water quality, food security, ecosystems, and change. Portland, USA.
2017     
  • Plenary speaker at Cefas' 20-year anniversary Marine Evidence conference, attended by the UK Secretary of State.

Additional information

In 2021, I was awarded the Blue Marine (BLUE) International Ocean Award in the category of ‘original scientific contribution’ https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/2021/03/17/ocean-awards-2021-finalists/. 
In 2020, our paper ‘Finding Plastic Patches in Coastal Waters using Optical Satellite Data’ was the third most downloaded paper in the category of earth science papers published by Nature Scientific Reports, and made the journals’ ‘Top 100’ publications overall.