Niall Burnside: Monitoring Scotland’s Temperate Rainforests across Sea and Land

In this episode of Smart Forests Radio, we speak with Niall Burnside, Senior Lecturer in Biogeography and Geoinformatics at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), about marine ecosystems and their connections to Scotland's Atlantic temperate rainforests. The conversation explores how ecological research is increasingly organised around interconnected ‘source-to-sea’ systems rather than fixed geographical boundaries. Niall walks us through the technologies SAMS deploys, such as drones, LiDAR, robotics, and AI, and how they help understand marine and forest systems as a whole. He also reflects on the educational networks developed through SAMS's Scientific Robotics Academy, including STEM outreach, hands-on training, and knowledge exchange with woodland communities, and their role in widening access to digital environmental technologies.

Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys and Phoebe Hamilton Jones

Producer: Harry Murdoch

Image: SAMS Robotics Academy