About Me

Hi There!

My name is Henry Simmons, and thank you for checking out Merrow Mapping. I grew up in London with a deep fascination for the ocean, and went on to study Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University of Plymouth, graduating with a first-class BSc. My undergraduate thesis compared classification models for shallow-water habitat mapping using drone-acquired imagery, an early sign of where my interests were heading.

I then completed an MRes in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth and the Marine Biological Association, where I investigated environmentally driven phenotypic plasticity in Artemia. Before beginning my PhD, I gained field and research experience through positions with Coral Cay Conservation and LaMaVE, and as a student intern at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) in Oslo.

For the past three years, I have been pursuing my PhD at Deakin University, advancing AI-driven tools in remote sensing with a focus on habitat and community mapping in temperate Southern Australian systems. My work applies Random Forests, Convolutional Neural Networks, self-supervised learning, and Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC).

My research sits at the intersection of accuracy, interpretability, and conservation utility in marine spatial planning. I aim to inform evidence-based policy through rigorous quantification of marine park ecosystems, advocating for the active management of critical habitats and fish communities in coastal systems under pressure. It is a deep sense of responsibility toward the ocean, and a lifelong passion for nature, that drives everything I do.