General Chairs
MIGARS wishes to acknowledge the below Organising Committee members for their commitment to hosting the 2024 MIGARS Conference at Shed 6, Queens Wharf, Wellington, New Zealand. Thank you for your time and contribution to the community.
Alejandro C. Frery (Victoria University of Wellington)
Gabor Kereszturi (Massey University)
Matthew Wilson (University of Canterbury)
Alejandro C. Frery
Alejandro C. Frery received a B.Sc. degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the Universidad de Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina, in 1985, the M.Sc. degree in Applied Mathematics (Statistics) from the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1990, and the Ph.D. degree in Applied Computing from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São José dos Campos, Brazil, in 1993. His research interests include statistical computing and stochastic modelling. He is a Statistics and Data Science Professor at Victoria University of Wellington.
Gabor Kereszturi
My research focuses on geospatial mapping and quantifying geological and environmental processes using remote sensing and field-based approaches. In particular, I have shown strong research leadership in developing new remote sensing applications in Earth Science and Agriculture. Currently as a Rutherford Discovery Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, I have been working on understanding volcanic hydrothermal systems using hyperspectral remote sensing.
I hold a MSc in Geography (Geoinformatics) from University of Miskolc, Hungary, and a PhD in Earth Science (Volcanology) from Massey University, New Zealand. Post-PhD, I have completed Research Officer and Senior Lecturer positions, before becoming Associate Professor at the School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University.
Matthew Wilson
Matt Wilson is a Professor in Spatial Information and Director of the Geospatial Research Institute Toi Hangarau at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is a surface water hydrologist and geographical information scientist with specialisations including flood risk, surface water dynamics, water resources and uncertainty, using remote sensing, numerical modelling and machine learning methods. His current research includes leading the uncertainty theme for the NIWA-led national scale flood risk programme, the creation of a digital twin for flood resilience, and the development of machine learning algorithms for processing of novel airborne GNSS reflectometry measurements for the Rongowai remote sensing mission.
Australia-New Zealand Scientific Committee
Li-minn Ang (University of the Sunshine Coast)
Brett Bamsley (MetService)
Albert Bifet (University of Waikato)
Barbara Bollard (University of Wollongong)
Thanh Duc Dang (NIWA)
Thomas Dowling (University of Auckland)
Yongsheng Gao (Griffith University)
Fang Huang (CSIRO)
Laise Harris (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research)
Ian Hamling (GNS Science)
Ben Jolly (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research)
Yuxin Ma (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research)
James Moloney (CSIRO)
Alvaro Orsi (Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited)
Biswajeet Pradhan (University of Technology Sydney)
Reddy Pullanagari (University of Adelaide)
Pierre Roudier (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research)
Wolfgang Rack (University of Canterbury)
Stuart Phinn (University of Queensland)
Yizhe Zhan (MetService)
Technical Programme Committee
Mark Bebbington (Massey University)
B. S. Daya Sagar (Indian Statistical Institute)
Publications Committee
John Haywood (Victoria University Wellington)
Hitendra Sarma (Vasavi College of Engineering)
Melody Whitehead (Massey University)
Young Professionals Activities Committee
Chair: Nitin Bhatia (Massey AgriFood Digital Lab)
Vanessa Brum-Bastos (University of Canterbury)
Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka (GISCience at the University of Auckland)
Nitin Bhatia
Nitin Bhatia is experienced with Hyperspectral Remote Sensing and Data Science.
With over 10 years of experience in leveraging advanced techniques to extract meaningful insights from complex hyperspectral data. Proven track record of designing and implementing innovative data analysis methodologies to solve real-world problems across various industries. Strong background in image processing, spectral analysis, machine learning, and spatial data visualization.
Vanessa Brum-Bastos
Dr Vanessa Brum-Bastos is a lecturer in geographic data science at the University of Canterbury. A geographer by training, she believes that insights from spatial data can help us improve our transportation systems and cities. Her research focuses on the development of new spatiotemporal modelling techniques to use movement data (e.g., location-based services, transactional records, social media, and GPS tracking) to better understand the dynamics of human activities. She is particularly interested in using movement analysis to support more egalitarian and effective transportation planning in collaboration with practitioners and policy makers in New Zealand.
Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka
Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka is currently a senior lecturer in GISCience at the University of Auckland where she has been working since 2019. Prior to that she worked for four years as a Research Associate in Urban Methods, Modelling and Simulations in the ESRC-funded Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow, UK. She holds a PhD in Geoinformatics from the University of St Andrews, UK.
Her area of expertise is GIScience and urban analytics where her research interests mainly involve developing spatiotemporal analytics, modelling techniques to study and understand movement and protect privacy of movement data.