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4. Gerard Summers

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Biography

Gerard graduated with a BSc in Geology from University College Cork in 2015. He has since completed an MSc in Applied Coastal and Marine Management from UCC in 2017. Thereafter, he completed a PhD in Seabed Habitat Mapping in UCC in 2023.

A common theme throughout Gerard’s academic career is the use of GIS technology to determine the ecosystem drivers that sculpt ecologically important environments. His PhD thesis: "The Application of Object-Based Image Analysis to Geomorphological Seabed Mapping" he uncovered the capacity of object-based image analysis to create scale resilient seabed habitat maps and exploit the information within these maps to provide insights into the hydrodynamics of the seafloor. Furthermore, he was able to provide recommendations for optimising seabed mapping workflows for large scale projects such as INFOMAR and Seabed 2030. 

Since 2018, Gerard has published 4 peer reviewed articles in journals including Remote Sensing, Frontiers in Marine Science and Geomorphology and has acquired 4 separate research awards and grants including GeoHab's Ron McDowell award and the IEOS award for best presentation. Gerard has participated in 10 research surveys, each of which have the baseline data for several high impact publications.

Currently, Gerard is a post-doctoral researcher as part of the SEAMANS_Carbon project, whose goals are to accurately determine the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrass habitats using drone photogrammetry, sidescan sonar, and sediment cores. His background in automated image processing, offshore marine science and geology will allow him to effectively tackle the mysteries that lie at the heart of these ecosystems.‍

Research Interests

• Establishment of pioneering scale resilient techniques for the assessment of seabed habitats. 
• Understanding the hydrodynamic environment and its influence on benthic ecosystems.
• Combining multiple advanced technological systems with imaging and spatial analysis to provide robust holistic models on offshore ecosystems.

Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	Evaluating COnsequences of SEAweed farming on SEAgrass ECOsystems at the turneffe atoll marine reserve (ECOSEA_SEAECO)	Marine Institute	01-OCT-24	01-OCT-26	€84,000.00

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Publications

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Multi resolution appraisal of Cork Harbour estuary: An object based image analysis approach' Gerard Summers, Aaron Lim, Andy Wheeler (2023) 'Multi resolution appraisal of Cork Harbour estuary: An object based image analysis approach'. Geomorphology,   [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'A review of new and existing non-extractive techniques for monitoring marine protected areas' McGeady, R; Runya, R. M; Dooley, J. S. G; Howe, J. A; Fox, C. J; Wheeler, A. J; Summers, G; Callaway, A; Beck, S; Brown, L. S; Dooly, G; McGonigle, C (2023) 'A review of new and existing non-extractive techniques for monitoring marine protected areas'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10   [DOI] [Details]
	(2022)	'A Characterisation of Benthic Currents from Seabed Bathymetry: An Object-Based Image Analysis of Cold-Water Coral Mounds' Summers, G; Lim, A; Wheeler, A. J (2022) 'A Characterisation of Benthic Currents from Seabed Bathymetry: An Object-Based Image Analysis of Cold-Water Coral Mounds'. Remote Sensing, 14 (19)   [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'A Scalable, Supervised Classification of Seabed Sediment Waves Using an Object-Based Image Analysis Approach' Summers, Gerard and Lim, Aaron and Wheeler, Andrew J. (2021) 'A Scalable, Supervised Classification of Seabed Sediment Waves Using an Object-Based Image Analysis Approach'. Remote Sensing, 13 (12)   [DOI] [Details]

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Thesis/Dissertation

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	The Application of Object-Based Image Analysis to Geomorphological Seabed Mapping. Summers, G (2023) The Application of Object-Based Image Analysis to Geomorphological Seabed Mapping. Thesis/Dissertation   [DOI] [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2022	IEOS Award for Best Presentation	Irish Earth Observation Symposium (IEOS)
	2022	Ron McDowell Student Award	GeoHab
	2022	Travel Grant	Marine Institute
	2020	IGRM Best Poster Presentation (Honourable Mention)	Irish Geological Research Meeting

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	School of BEES Postgraduate Community	Postgraduate Representative	2018 / 2020

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	University College Cork	Postdoctoral Researcher	01-OCT-23 /
	University College Cork	PhD Researcher	01-OCT-18 / 14-FEB-23

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	2017	University College Cork	MSc	Applied Coastal and Marine Management
	2023	University College Cork	PhD	Seabed Habitat Mapping
	2015	University College Cork	BSc	Geology

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Research Information

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Internal Collaborators

	Name	Institute	Country
	Aaron Lim	University College Cork	IRELAND
	Larissa Macedo de Oliveira	University College Cork	IRELAND

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External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country
	Tim Le Bas	National Oceanography Centre	UNITED KINGDOM
	Antonio Cano	University of Belize	BELIZE
	David Price	University of the Azores	PORTUGAL
	Stacey L. Felgate	National Oceanography Centre	UNITED KINGDOM