Prem Gill

Prem Gill is a PhD Candidate leading the “Seals from Space: the study of Antarctic seals by remote sensing” priority project with the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 
Antarctic ice seals are long-lived, upper trophic level predators and amongst the largest consumers of Antarctic krill. The monitoring of Antarctic ice seal populations can indicate changes in the Antarctic ecosystem’s status and health. However, seals inhabit the dynamic and inaccessible sea ice zone, making traditional surveys (e.g. by plane/boat) logistically difficult. As a result of these challenges, reliable population estimates and habitat information for ice seals are lacking. To overcome the limitations of traditional surveys, Prem’s research looks into the use of very high-resolution (VHR) satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery to study Antarctic ice seals.