Professor Mal McMillan
Professor in Earth ObservationResearch Overview
Summary
Mal is Co-Director of the joint Lancaster University-UKCEH Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science (CEEDS), and Co-Director of Science for the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM).
His research interests lie in the development and use of novel satellite measurements to study Earth's polar ice sheets, to better understand their contribution to global sea level rise. He has co-authored over 35 publications, including articles in Science and Nature. He has received research funding from a range of sources, including the European Space Agency, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and the UK Natural Environment Research Council, and advises the European Space Agency on a number of current, and future, polar satellite missions.
Active Projects
- GLOBE: The Greenland Subglacial Lake Observatory (PI; UKRI-ERC).
- CLEV2ER Land Ice and Inland Water (PI; ESA).
- Cryo-TEMPO (PI; ESA).
- Digital Twin Components - Ice Sheets (Co-I; ESA).
- 4D Greenland (Co-I; ESA).
- 5D Antarctica (Co-I; ESA).
- Arctex: Arctic Extremes (Co-I; ESA).
- Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry - Follow On (Co-I; ESA).
- PICANTE: Processes, Impacts, and Changes of Antarctic Extreme Weather (Co-I; NERC).
- AI Forecasting for Ice Shelf Collapse (Co-I; ESA).
Completed Projects
- UK Earth Observation Climate Information Service.
- Earth Observation for Surface Mass Balance.
- 4D Antarctica.
- Digital Twin Antarctica.
- The Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Centre.
- The Copernicus Climate Change Service (further details).
- Sentinel-3 Performance Improvement for Ice Sheets (further details).
- Sentinel-3 Tandem for Climate (further details).
- Polar Monitoring Mission, Assessment & Consolidation of Requirements.
- CryoSat Follow-on SAR Trade-off Study
I am also a member of several expert advisory groups for the European Space Agency:
- The Sentinel-3 Mission Performance Centre.
- The Sentinel-3 Validation Team.
- The CryoSat-2 Quality Working Group.
Media
You can read about a selection of my research via the following links:
- Antarctica's increasing contribution to sea level over the past 25 years (World Economic Forum).
- First view of Antarctic change from Sentinel-3 (BBC).
- Increased ice loss from Antarctica (BBC).
- Dynamic activation of an Arctic Ice Cap (Washington Post).
- Subglacial lake drainage beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet (BBC).
- Measuring Greenland’s Ice Loss (Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC).
Career Details
2018 – present | Reader in Environmental Sensing | Lancaster University.
2018 | Associate Professor | University of Leeds.
2014 – 2018 | Academic Research Fellow | University of Leeds.
2012 – 2014 | Postdoctoral Researcher | University of Leeds.
Qualifications
2012 | PhD in Satellite Geodesy | University of Edinburgh
2006 | MSc in Remote Sensing & Image Processing | University of Edinburgh
2003 | MA in Mathematics & Philosophy | University of Edinburgh
PhD Opportunities
I am always keen to hear from motivated students who are interested in pursuing a PhD in satellite geodesy, Earth Observation, and Polar Science. I welcome enquiries from students with a background in subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, who are interested in applying numerical techniques to some of the most challenging environmental problems. If this is you then please get in touch to discuss current opportunities.
DSI: Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (COPM) - extension
01/04/2025 → 31/03/2029
Research
DSI: Arctic Extremes (ARCTEX)
01/01/2025 → 31/12/2026
Research
DSI: 5D Antarctica (5DAIS)
27/11/2024 → 26/11/2027
Research
DSI: DTC Ice Sheets
13/11/2024 → 12/11/2026
Research
DSI: GLOBE: The Greenland Subglacial Lake Observatory
01/04/2024 → 31/03/2029
Research
DSI: AI Forecasting for Ice Shelf Collapse (AI4IS)
06/02/2024 → 05/02/2026
Research
DSI: PICANTE – Processes, Impacts, and Changes of ANTarctic Extreme weather
01/02/2024 → 31/10/2027
Research
DSI: Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT-FO) Follow On
01/01/2024 → 31/12/2025
Research
DSI: CLEV2ER:LAND ICE AND INLAND WATER
15/05/2023 → 14/05/2026
Research
DSI: CryoSat-2 ThEMatic PrOducts | Cryo-TEMPO (Phase 2.2)
01/01/2023 → 31/12/2023
Research
DSI: UK Earth Observation Climate Information Service (UKEO CIS)
01/01/2023 → 31/03/2025
Research
DSI: 4D Greenland CCN1
23/11/2022 → 22/05/2024
Research
DSI: Envision: Assessing the Contribution of Antarctic Peninsula Glaciers to Global Sea Level Rise
01/10/2022 → 31/03/2026
Research
Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM)
01/04/2022 → 31/03/2027
Research
DSI: Antarctica4d. (additional funding)
31/03/2022 → 30/03/2023
Research
DSI: Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) supplement
01/03/2022 → 31/03/2027
Research
DSI: CryoSat-2 ThEMatic PrOducts | Cryo-TEMPO (Phase 2.1)
01/01/2022 → 31/12/2022
Research
DSI: Sentinel-3 Land Altimetry Mission Performance Cluster Service (S3MPC_ALT)
01/11/2021 → 30/06/2022
Research
DSI: 4DGreenland
19/11/2020 → 18/11/2022
Research
DSI: CryoSta-2 ThEMatic PrOducts | Cryo-TEMPO (Phase 1)
01/10/2020 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Antarctica4d - supplement
15/09/2020 → 14/09/2021
Research
DSI: Earth Observation 4 Surface Mass Balance
01/09/2020 → 31/12/2024
Research
DSI: Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
01/08/2020 → 31/03/2023
Research
DSI: Antarctica4d
15/11/2019 → 15/10/2022
Research
DSI: Fundamental Data Records for Altimetry (FDR4ALT)
01/11/2019 → 30/06/2022
Research
Polar Monitoring Mission, Assessment and Consolidation of Requirements and Analysis of Campaign Data
03/12/2018 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Centre for Polar Observation and Monitoring
01/11/2018 → 31/03/2022
Research
SEOM- Sentinel 3 Performance Improvements for ICE sheets (“SPICE”)
01/11/2018 → 31/08/2019
Research
Sentinel-3 Tandem for Climate (S3TC)
15/06/2018 → 31/12/2021
Research
DSI: Cryo-TEMPO (CCN3)
01/01/1900 → …
Research
NERC Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling
01/01/1900 → …
Research
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
- Centre of Excellence in Environmental Data Science
- DSI - Environment
- Geospatial Data Science