Scoping Our Planet

Opportunity seeds support ambitious research aligned to our opportunity spaces. We’re looking to challenge assumptions, open up new research paths, and provide steps towards new capabilities.

Can we fill gaps in Earth system measurement to respond confidently to the climate crisis?

From sensors that fingerprint methane emissions to measuring ocean mixing by combining seismic reflection + hydrographic data, we're funding an array of projects with up to £500k each, across individual research teams, universities and start ups to maximise the chance of breakthroughs.

Meet the Creators

Unlocking Ground-Breaking Observations of Antarctic Mixing With Legacy Data

Kathryn Gunn, University of Southampton

Self-degrading Environmental Exploration Drones

Marc Phillipe Yves Desmulliez, Heriot-Watt University

Photonics for Portable Isotopologue and PPT Sensing

Peter Nisbet-Jones, Twin Paradox Labs + Christopher Bridges, University of Surrey

Distributed Photovoltaic Neural Networks for Environmental Monitoring

Andrea Di Falco, University of St Andrews

Antarctic Explorations: Where does glacial meltwater go?

Laura Cimoli, University of Cambridge

REMM: REthinking Methane Measurement

Jane Hodgkinson, Cranfield University

Next-CAM

Ronald Clark, University of Oxford

Persistent Monitoring of Climate Variables Using High Altitude Pseudo Satellites

Steve Tate, Voltitude

Clouds Decoded

Jacqueline Campbell, Asterisk Labs

Rapid Development of a Mass-manufacturable SWIR Hyperspectral Camera

Sam Hornett, Living Optic

WAVECLIM

Serge Guillas, University College London

"Scoping Our Planet will allow us to do hardcore research in one of the most extreme environments – the oceans around Antarctica – to observe never-before-explored regions. We’ll be able to gain much-needed information in a region that’s experiencing rapid + drastic climatic changes."

Laura CimoliUniversity of Cambridge

Meet the programme team

Our Programme Directors are supported by a Programme Specialist (P-Spec) and Technical Specialist (T-Spec); this is the nucleus of each programme team. P-Specs co-ordinate and oversee the project management of their respective programmes, whilst T-Specs provide highly specialised and targeted technical expertise to support programmatic rigour.

A photo of Sarah Bohndiek and Gemma Bale

Gemma Bale + Sarah Bohndiek

Programme Directors

Gemma Bale and Sarah Bohndiek are biomedical physicists working as co-Programme Directors. They both joined ARIA from the University of Cambridge, where Gemma continues to lead teams working on non-invasive brain monitoring, and Sarah in optical imaging technology for earlier cancer detection.

Jess Humphreys

Programme Specialist

Prior working with ARIA, Jess built a career innovating clinical trial management at tech SMEs, where she led teams developing interactive response technology platforms to streamline trial processes, and oversaw global data management and quality control at neuroimaging facilities. Jess supports ARIA as an operating partner from Pace.

Dan Giles

Technical Specialist

Dan has a diverse academic background in applied mathematics, statistics, and computer science, with a focus on developing and enhancing ocean and atmospheric models. He joined ARIA from University College London, where he is a Senior Research Fellow in machine learning for weather and climate sciences.