Mr Croy Langlands

I am a PhD researcher in Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling, funded by the NERC IAPETUS2 Doctoral Training Partnership with Sylvera as industry (CASE) partner.

My research uses terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and drone LiDAR to measure the 3D structure of Amazonian trees. I am interested in how tree architecture can reveal drought vulnerability before trees die, and how direct 3D measurements can improve estimates of forest biomass and carbon in remote, under-studied parts of the Amazon.

I work within the BioTechQuilombo project, part of the Amazonia+10 initiative, and collaborate with the REDE VEMAÇAÍ network at the Universidade Federal do Pará. In 2026 I led TLS fieldwork on the Jauaperi River and in açaí-managed floodplain forests near Belém, where I also trained local students in LiDAR data collection.

Before my PhD, I completed an MSc in Environmental Futures: Sustainable Systems (Distinction) at the University of Glasgow and a BSc (Hons) in Geography (First Class) at the University of Aberdeen. I have also worked on coastal change assessments at the University of Glasgow and developed AI-based hazard mapping tools at the British Geological Survey.

Supervisors: Dr Armando Marino, Prof. Katharine Abernethy, and Dr Thiago Sanna Freire Silva (University of Manchester)

Teaching assistant on undergraduate GIS and ecology practical and fieldwork classes (2025–present). Co-supervised two MSc dissertations at the University of Liverpool on LiDAR tree segmentation (2026), and trained five students from the Universidade Federal do Pará in terrestrial laser scanning across four Amazonian forest environments (2026).