Simon Buckley

Simon Buckley hails from the UK, and studied geomatics at Newcastle University, both as an undergraduate and postgraduate. After completing his PhD in coastal erosion monitoring in 2003, he stuck with the Newcastle theme and worked as a postdoc at the University of Newcastle, Australia, working with combining aerial laser scanning and photogrammetric terrain data. He joined the VOG group in January 2005, and has since been responsible for all things spatially related, principally the development of workflows for using geomatics methods in outcrop geology and the geosciences. Despite being a non-geologist, he has picked up enough knowledge from a host of excellent field geologists to occasionally go undercover. Simon’s broad research interest is improving the contribution and uptake of geomatics in geoscience applications, through developments in methods, workflows and visualisation. This has culminated in development of LIME, as a lightweight tool for interpretation and advanced graphical presentation of 3D environments, as well as novel data fusions for showcasing 3D geoscience data. In 2016, Simon was convenor of the 2nd Virtual Geoscience Conference, and is also Editorial Advisor of The Photogrammetric Record.

Nicole Naumann

Nicole has a background in geoecology (specialising in remote sensing and GIS) and did her doctoral degree (Dr.rer.nat.) on hyperspectral remote sensing technologies and soil research at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam and Humboldt-University of Berlin (Germany). She joined the VOG group in June 2009, and is currently responsible for the design and configuration of the SAFARI database and the development of standards for outcrop nomenclature and modern depositional systems. Her main work at present includes extensive data upload to the SAFARI database and improvement of the SAFARIdb.com web pages. As SAFARI project coordinator, Nicole also acts as main contact for sponsors and database uses (general user support) and is responsible for the organisation of meetings and workshops.

Nicole considers herself as an interdisciplinary researcher, who has the ability to communicate her skills and expertise in different research fields, and collaborate with others of various scientific backgrounds. After work you will find her playing with her kids, choir singing and hiking in the great Norwegian landscape. 

Kari Ringdal

Kari studied computer science at the University of Bergen, and completed her MSc degree specialised in visualisation in 2012. After finishing her studies she worked as a summer student at CMR in Bergen. She joined the VOG group in January 2013 as a 3D programmer and works on the SAFARI project, developing a web-based viewer for outcrop data, as well as the LIME geoscience visualisation software. Before entering computer studies Kari studied art and design in Bergen. She has also been studying photography and worked in the photography business for several years. 

Kari is from Voss, a small town with long skiing traditions, and she loves to ski and snowboard. She also enjoys good food, travelling and spending time in nature. 

Bowei Tong  

Bowei considers himself to be a born software developer and traveller, with a main interest in modern software development and system integration. He gained an MSc in Computer Engineering at Narvik University College, and a BSc in Chemical Engineering at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Bowei decided to specialise himself as a software engineer after working for more than six years as a chemical engineer, and started his career as a software developer in 2005. He focuses on 3D visualisation, image processing, computer vision, machine learning-based object detection and backend data handling. Before joining the group at the end of 2017, he worked as a senior developer at Roxar Software Solutions for 5 years, and as a senior software design engineer at Scantrol AS for 6 years. Offline he enjoys travelling and has visited many countries in east Asia and northern Europe.

Joris Vanbiervliet

Joris is a software developer working in the VOG Group. He has a background in mathematics and computer science and is working heavily on professionalising the LIME codebase, as well as adding some killer features.

Conor Lewis

After studying Geographical Information Science at Newcastle University, Conor developed his focus on remote sensing and computing technology. Working with machine learning, Conor helped develop an automated building recognition model using high resolution, multispectral satellite imagery, being primarily responsible for GPU optimisation and statistical testing using Linux and Python. Continuing with his interest in remote sensing, Conor moved into measuring rates of change in oil storage using thermal imagery from drones, helping to establish and develop the processing methodology and quality assessment. In addition to this, Conor has applied his skills in GIS to flood extent mapping and flood depth modelling during CAT events and has a keen interest in Python scripting for automating workflows. Outside of the office, Conor has a passion for archaeology and history, thoroughly enjoys long hikes and mountaineering, and can often be found enjoying a spicy curry.

 Former group members