Alisdair Cunningham

Senior Lecturer
Alisdair Cunningham Headshot

Background

Dr Alisdair Cunningham brings over two decades of professional and academic experience in environmental monitoring and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). 

With over a decade of experience in consultancy, he integrates practical, real-world applications into his teaching, bridging the gap between theoretical concepts and applied environmental management. 

Dr Cunningham has applied his academic expertise to support global environmental monitoring initiatives across sectors such as forestry, water quality, agriculture, and infrastructure monitoring. 

Dr Cunningham earned his PhD in Remote Sensing from Aberystwyth University, where his research focused on multi-sensor time-series analysis for monitoring landscape change in Wales using EO technologies. 

Alisdair’s extensive industry experience and research interests help inform his teaching across our undergraduate and postgraduate portfolio, where teaching is at the cutting edge of industry innovation. 

Specialist Subjects

  • Geographical Information Systems
  • Remote Sensing
  • Geospatial Analysis
  • Forestry
  • Environmental Monitoring

Professional and/or Research Experience

Dr Alisdair Cunningham has applied his academic knowledge across a number of roles in consultancy, primarily around the application of earth observation technologies to support land surface monitoring. Through projects, Dr Cunningham has supported institutes globally with developing systems to help monitor resources and assets, ranging from UK water quality monitoring and habitat mapping, the various toolsets for assessing the state and health of forests in Australia and North America as well as Europe.

In terms of research, Dr Cunningham's work has focussed on the application of EO to monitor landscape changes in the UK, predominantly in Wales, with a particular focus on climate change and its impacts.

Qualifications

  • Geography BSc (Hons), Swansea University
  • Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change MSc (Hons), Swansea University
  • Remote Sensing PhD, Aberystwyth University

Languages Spoken

English is Alisdair's first language, and basic French

Professional Membership or Roles

Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP, formally IEMA) Associate Member

Academic Teaching

External Recognition or Rewards

Nexus Learning and Teaching Award: Craig Y Nos collaborative project on Sustainability and Heritage

Professional Publications

  • Cunningham, A., Lucas, R., & Bunting, P. (2014). Application of multi-resolution remotely sensed imagery for the monitoring of land cover change. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium Proceedings.
  • Flatley, A., Drummond, M., Cunningham, A., Alun, E., Jenkins, R. and Williams, H., 2025. Optimising Survey Approaches for Over-Stabilised Urban Dunes in South Wales. Journal of Coastal Research, 113(SI), pp.438-442.

Available to Supervise Doctoral Students

Yes