Talks & Teaching

Teaching at Yale
Teaching at the AniMove Science School 2019 at Yale University, USA

Since 2019, I have a teaching position at the University of Würzburg. In addition, I have been teaching at the AniMove Science Schools for several years. Find out about my talks and teaching below.

2024

Seminar “Building web applications and interactive visualizations”, EAGLE MSc.

Interactive visualizations using shiny for R in combination with leaflet, plotly, ggplot2 and LaTeX. Basics of web design using html, css and javascript. Basics on Declarative Programming and Lazy Execution. Introduction into client-server communication using reactive contexts and event observation. Introduction into basic UI design such as dashboard UIs, interactive maps, interactive plots etc.

Duration: 3 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Deep learning for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This methodological course introduces Deep Learning with a practical focus on how to use it for image processing in Earth observation. Students get to know the principles behind the design of Neural Networks and the training thereof using Deep Learning. They learn about loss, backpropagation, optimization, activation functions & vanishing gradients, over- & underfitting, regularization, augmentation, convolutions, layers of state vs. stateless layers, sequential and non-sequential network designs for image processing tasks such as classification and segmentation etc. The course is taught in R and Pyhton, mainly using keras and tensorflow.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Introduction into remote sensing for ecological analyses”, Biology MSc.

Remote sensing applications; physical principles (electromagnetic radiation, absorption, emission, reflectance, optics, spectral information); spatial raster & vector data types; coordinate reference systems & projections; QGIS & R; R for spatial & remote sensing data analysis; spectral indices; basic modelling (classifiers, regressions); generating experience-driven ground truth using digitization; supervised classifications; (statistical) validation; accuracy assessment; scale of data vs. scale of observation targets; resolutions.

Duration: 10 sessions (full days, 2-weeks block)

Seminar “Animal movement tracking data analysis for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This modelling course introduces concepts and methods to Earth observation students who want to learn to work with animal movement trajectories, a special type of spatio-temporal data, and integrate such with Earth observation analyses. The course aims to find data-driven answers to questions such as: Why do animals move through the landscape the way they do? How are they impacted by their environments? And: Which environmental conditions are tied to what kind of of movement behavior? While the course introduces background knowledge on topics such as movement theory, the effects of discretely observing continuous processes (e.g. sampling rate, autocorrelation, bias etc.), scale-dependencies/matching, tracking approaches and location error, its practical focus lays on methods to handle and analyze tracking data (e.g. using geometric & variance component analyses, behavioral segmentation, area-metrics such as home ranges, remote-sensing driven trajectory analysis incl. corridor analysis & habitat analysis) as well as tracking data in combination with remotely sensed environmental data (e.g. through resource utilization modelling, resource selection modelling and step selection modelling). This leads students to eventually be able to independently spot patterns in movement data, make connections to environmental conditions, and, finally, jointly model movement tracking and remotely sensed environmental data.

Duration: 5 sessions (full days, 1-week block)

2023

Seminar “Introduction into programming and geo-statistics”, EAGLE MSc.

Basics of R & QGIS; version control using git; R in comparison to other languages (interpreter vs. compiler, memory management etc.); programming paradigms; procedural vs. object-oriented vs. functional programming; types/modes, structures, indexing; implicit vs. explicit type conversion; control flow constructs & vectorization; functions; package building; data visualization; statistics; spatial data analysis; image processing; classification models etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Cloud Computing: Google Earth Engine in R”, EAGLE MSc.

A practical guide towards building custom GEE processing pipelines natively in R using rgee.

Duration: 1 session (1.5 hours)

Seminar “Deep learning for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This methodological course introduces Deep Learning with a practical focus on how to use it for image processing in Earth observation. Students get to know the principles behind the design of Neural Networks and the training thereof using Deep Learning. They learn about loss, backpropagation, optimization, activation functions & vanishing gradients, over- & underfitting, regularization, augmentation, convolutions, layers of state vs. stateless layers, sequential and non-sequential network designs for image processing tasks such as classification and segmentation etc. The course is taught in R and Pyhton, mainly using keras and tensorflow.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Remote sensing field methods for ecological analyses”, Biology MSc.

This course introduces remote sensing field methods to ecologists. They are get to know field campaigning (sampling methods, routing, positioning etc.), in-situ data sampling (parameters, field devices such as spectrometers, soil moisture probes etc.) and UAS (drone) imagery acquisition (platforms, sensors, flight planning, licensing, training). This prepares them for a field day at a research site where data are collected under real-world research conditions. Afterwards, they learn to handle, process and analyse the recorded data and turn them into interpretable information.

Duration: 10 sessions (full days, 2-weeks block)

Seminar “Animal movement tracking data analysis for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This modelling course introduces concepts and methods to Earth observation students who want to learn to work with animal movement trajectories, a special type of spatio-temporal data, and integrate such with Earth observation analyses. The course aims to find data-driven answers to questions such as: Why do animals move through the landscape the way they do? How are they impacted by their environments? And: Which environmental conditions are tied to what kind of of movement behavior? While the course introduces background knowledge on topics such as movement theory, the effects of discretely observing continuous processes (e.g. sampling rate, autocorrelation, bias etc.), scale-dependencies/matching, tracking approaches and location error, its practical focus lays on methods to handle and analyze tracking data (e.g. using geometric & variance component analyses, behavioral segmentation, area-metrics such as home ranges, remote-sensing driven trajectory analysis incl. corridor analysis & habitat analysis) as well as tracking data in combination with remotely sensed environmental data (e.g. through resource utilization modelling, resource selection modelling and step selection modelling). This leads students to eventually be able to independently spot patterns in movement data, make connections to environmental conditions, and, finally, jointly model movement tracking and remotely sensed environmental data.

Duration: 5 sessions (full days, 1-week block)

Seminar “Introduction into remote sensing for ecological analyses”, Biology MSc.

Remote sensing applications; physical principles (electromagnetic radiation, absorption, emission, reflectance, optics, spectral information); spatial raster & vector data types; coordinate reference systems & projections; QGIS & R; R for spatial & remote sensing data analysis; spectral indices; basic modelling (classifiers, regressions); generating experience-driven ground truth using digitization; supervised classifications; (statistical) validation; accuracy assessment; scale of data vs. scale of observation targets; resolutions.

Duration: 10 sessions (full days, 2-weeks block)

2022

Seminar “Introduction into programming and geo-statistics”, EAGLE MSc.

Basics of R & QGIS; version control using git; R in comparison to other languages (interpreter vs. compiler, memory management etc.); programming paradigms; procedural vs. object-oriented vs. functional programming; types/modes, structures, indexing; implicit vs. explicit type conversion; control flow constructs & vectorization; functions; package building; data visualization; statistics; spatial data analysis; image processing; classification models etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Lecture “Applications of Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

Remote sensing of forests, vulnerabilities & risks, biodiversity, wildlife ecology, natural resources, fire & burnt areas, coasts, diseases & health, agriculture, soil, land cover & land use, human settlements, policy etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Movement data visualization in R”, AniMove Science School 2022, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany

Duration: 1 session (2.5 hours)

Seminar “Introduction into Remote sensing for animal movement analysis”, AniMove Science School 2022, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany

Duration: 2 sessions (full days)

Seminar “Remote sensing field methods for ecological analyses”, Biology MSc.

This course introduces remote sensing field methods to ecologists. They are get to know field campaigning (sampling methods, routing, positioning etc.), in-situ data sampling (parameters, field devices such as spectrometers, soil moisture probes etc.) and UAS (drone) imagery acquisition (platforms, sensors, flight planning, licensing, training). This prepares them for a field day at a research site where data are collected under real-world research conditions. Afterwards, they learn to handle, process and analyse the recorded data and turn them into interpretable information.

Duration: 10 sessions (full days, 2-week block)

Seminar “Deep learning for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This methodological course introduces Deep Learning with a practical focus on how to use it for image processing in Earth observation. Students get to know the principles behind the design of Neural Networks and the training thereof using Deep Learning. They learn about loss, backpropagation, optimization, activation functions & vanishing gradients, over- & underfitting, regularization, augmentation, convolutions, layers of state vs. stateless layers, sequential and non-sequential network designs for image processing tasks such as classification and segmentation etc. The course is taught in R and Pyhton, mainly using keras and tensorflow.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Scientific graphics”, EAGLE MSc.

(Interactive) visualizations using LaTeX, leaflet, plotly, ggplot2, shiny, basics of web design using html, css, javascript (including frameworks such as bootstrap), static site generation frameworks such as hugo, jekyll etc.

Duration: 5 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Animal movement tracking data analysis for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This modelling course introduces concepts and methods to Earth observation students who want to learn to work with animal movement trajectories, a special type of spatio-temporal data, and integrate such with Earth observation analyses. The course aims to find data-driven answers to questions such as: Why do animals move through the landscape the way they do? How are they impacted by their environments? And: Which environmental conditions are tied to what kind of of movement behavior? While the course introduces background knowledge on topics such as movement theory, the effects of discretely observing continuous processes (e.g. sampling rate, autocorrelation, bias etc.), scale-dependencies/matching, tracking approaches and location error, its practical focus lays on methods to handle and analyze tracking data (e.g. using geometric & variance component analyses, behavioral segmentation, area-metrics such as home ranges, remote-sensing driven trajectory analysis incl. corridor analysis & habitat analysis) as well as tracking data in combination with remotely sensed environmental data (e.g. through resource utilization modelling, resource selection modelling and step selection modelling). This leads students to eventually be able to independently spot patterns in movement data, make connections to environmental conditions, and, finally, jointly model movement tracking and remotely sensed environmental data.

Duration: 5 sessions (full days, 1-week block)

Seminar “Introduction into remote sensing for ecological analyses”, Biology MSc.

Remote sensing applications; physical principles (electromagnetic radiation, absorption, emission, reflectance, optics, spectral information); spatial raster & vector data types; coordinate reference systems & projections; QGIS & R; R for spatial & remote sensing data analysis; spectral indices; basic modelling (classifiers, regressions); generating experience-driven ground truth using digitization; supervised classifications; (statistical) validation; accuracy assessment; scale of data vs. scale of observation targets; resolutions.

Duration: 10 sessions (full days, 2-weeks block)

2021

Seminar “Introduction into programming and geo-statistics”, EAGLE MSc.

Basics of R & QGIS; version control using git; R in comparison to other languages (interpreter vs. compiler, memory management etc.); programming paradigms; procedural vs. object-oriented vs. functional programming; types/modes, structures, indexing; implicit vs. explicit type conversion; control flow constructs & vectorization; functions; package building; data visualization; statistics; spatial data analysis; image processing; classification models etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Lecture “Applications of Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

Remote sensing of forests, vulnerabilities & risks, biodiversity, wildlife ecology, natural resources, fire & burnt areas, coasts, diseases & health, agriculture, soil, land cover & land use, human settlements, policy etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Deep Learning for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This methodological course introduces Deep Learning with a practical focus on how to use it for image processing in Earth observation. Students get to know the principles behind the design of Neural Networks and the training thereof using Deep Learning. They learn about loss, backpropagation, optimization, activation functions & vanishing gradients, over- & underfitting, regularization, augmentation, convolutions, layers of state vs. stateless layers, sequential and non-sequential network designs for image processing tasks such as classification and segmentation etc. The course is taught in R and Pyhton, mainly using keras and tensorflow.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Hyperspectral remote sensing”, EAGLE MSc.

Spectrometric field sampling, hyperspectral image processing, spectral unmixing in R & QGIS etc.

Duration: 2 sessions (full days, 2-days block)

Seminar “Scientific graphics”, EAGLE MSc.

(Interactive) visualizations using LaTeX, leaflet, plotly, ggplot2, shiny, basics of web design using html, css, javascript (including frameworks such as bootstrap), static site generation frameworks such as hugo, jekyll etc.

Duration: 5 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Animal movement tracking data analysis for Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

This modelling course introduces concepts and methods to Earth observation students who want to learn to work with animal movement trajectories, a special type of spatio-temporal data, and integrate such with Earth observation analyses. The course aims to find data-driven answers to questions such as: Why do animals move through the landscape the way they do? How are they impacted by their environments? And: Which environmental conditions are tied to what kind of of movement behavior? While the course introduces background knowledge on topics such as movement theory, the effects of discretely observing continuous processes (e.g. sampling rate, autocorrelation, bias etc.), scale-dependencies/matching, tracking approaches and location error, its practical focus lays on methods to handle and analyze tracking data (e.g. using geometric & variance component analyses, behavioral segmentation, area-metrics such as home ranges, remote-sensing driven trajectory analysis incl. corridor analysis & habitat analysis) as well as tracking data in combination with remotely sensed environmental data (e.g. through resource utilization modelling, resource selection modelling and step selection modelling). This leads students to eventually be able to independently spot patterns in movement data, make connections to environmental conditions, and, finally, jointly model movement tracking and remotely sensed environmental data.

Duration: 5 sessions (full days, 1-week block)

2020

Seminar “Introduction into programming and geo-statistics”, EAGLE MSc.

Basics of R & QGIS; version control using git; R in comparison to other languages (interpreter vs. compiler, memory management etc.); programming paradigms; procedural vs. object-oriented vs. functional programming; types/modes, structures, indexing; implicit vs. explicit type conversion; control flow constructs & vectorization; functions; package building; data visualization; statistics; spatial data analysis; image processing; classification models etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Lecture “Applications of Earth observation”, EAGLE MSc.

Remote sensing of forests, vulnerabilities & risks, biodiversity, wildlife ecology, natural resources, fire & burnt areas, coasts, diseases & health, agriculture, soil, land cover & land use, human settlements, policy etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Advanced Programming for Spatial Analysis”, EAGLE MSc.

introduction into machine learning, deep neural networks, computer vision, discriminative modelling; (web-)APIs, web protocols, machine-to-machine communication; development environments, code maintenance, unit testing, continuous integration, version control etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Seminar “Hyperspectral remote sensing”, EAGLE MSc.

Spectrometric field sampling, hyperspectral image processing, spectral unmixing in R & QGIS etc.

Duration: 2 sessions (full days, 2-days block)

Seminar “Scientific graphics”, EAGLE MSc.

(Interactive) visualizations using LaTeX, leaflet, plotly, ggplot2, shiny, basics of web design using html, css, javascript (including frameworks such as bootstrap), static site generation frameworks such as hugo, jekyll etc.

Duration: 5 sessions (1.5 hours each)

2019

Seminar “Visualizing Animal Movement in Synchronicity with Environmental Data using moveVis”, AniMove Science School 2019, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.

Duration: 1 session (2.5 hours)

Seminar “Introduction to Remote Sensing”, AniMove Science School 2019, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.

Duration: 1 session (2.5 hours)

Seminar “Advanced Programming for Spatial Analysis”, EAGLE MSc.

introduction into machine learning, deep neural networks, computer vision, discriminative modelling; (web-)APIs, web protocols, machine-to-machine communication; development environments, code maintenance, unit testing, continuous integration, version control etc.

Duration: 12 sessions (1.5 hours each)

Guest Lecture “Animal Movement Tracking for Remote Sensing”, Geography BSc.

Title of the talk: Potentials of integrating animal movement tracking data with remote sensing.

2018

Seminar “Visualizing Animal Movement in Synchronicity with Environmental Data using moveVis”, AniMove Science School 2018, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany

Duration: 1 session (2.5 hours)

2017

Seminar “Visualizing Animal Movement in Synchronicity with Environmental Data using moveVis”, AniMove Science School 2017, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany

Duration: 1 session (2.5 hours)