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.

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. 

I teach marine remote sensing on two modules, one aimed at second year students, and the other for Masters-level research.

In 2021, I was awarded the Blue Marine (BLUE) International Ocean Award in the category of ‘original scientific contribution’.

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.