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Doctor Dat Pham

Dr Dat PhamI am a spatial scientist interested in solving environmental issues and ecological questions. I am currently a Digital Phenotyping Coordinator for the Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPN) at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE), Western Sydney University. Prior to joining HIE, I was a Macquarie University Research Fellow (MQRF), working on wetlands monitoring using remote sensing and geoinformatics.

I earned my MSc and PhD from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, funded by the JICA and Japanese Government Scholarships, respectively. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the RIKEN Centre for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP), Japan’s largest comprehensive research institution, comprising a network of world-class research centers and institutes. Following this, I undertook a 12-month fellowship at Florida International University in the United States. During my time at RIKEN and FIU, I applied machine learning algorithms to interpret remotely sensed imagery, achieving breakthroughs in wetland inventory and monitoring.

Areas of research

My research focuses on applying innovative mapping techniques and remote sensing technologies. This includes leveraging multisensor Earth Observation (EO) data—such as multispectral and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery—combined with advanced machine learning methods for precision agriculture, agricultural yield estimation, and monitoring Blue Carbon ecosystem changes. I am also interested in understanding how natural drivers, such as climate change, sea-level rise, drought, and hurricanes, influence ecosystem dynamics.

Teaching expertise

Sessional Lecturer: Teaching Academic at the School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University

  • S1 2024: ENVS2364/ENVS6364/NSCI7364: Introduction to GIS and Remote Sensing: Practical sessions (online via Zoom and at the Computer Lab): (Evaluation 5/5 overall, 30 undergraduate and master’s students)

Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia

  • S2 2024: Invited Lecture on the course entitled “Mangrove Blue Carbon Mapping Using Remote Sensing and AI”: 4 sessions for 50+ undergraduate students of the Marine Science Program (online via Zoom).
  • S2 2022: Invited Lecture on the course entitled “Marine Resource Mapping”: 8 sessions for 40+ undergraduate students of the Marine Science Program (online via Zoom).

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia

  • S1 2022: Invited Lecture on GIS and Remote Sensing application in forest mapping (55 undergraduate students)

United Nations University, Institute for Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Tokyo, Japan

  • S1 2018: Invited Special Lecture on Monitoring Mangrove Forest changes using GIS, Remote sensing data and Machine learning techniques (20 master students).

Awards and recognition

  • Macquarie University Research fellowship (MQRF 2022-2025): the most competitive grant scheme at Macquarie University with a success rate of ~5%, awarded to one of top ten fellows commencing in 2022.
  • High Impact Publications: Authored 50+ papers, 90% in Q1 journals and well-known conferences
  • Citations impact: Achieved 3700+citations, an H-index of 29, an i10-index 44
  • Editor board of Remote Sensing and associate Editor of Frontier in Forest conservation.
  • Has secured a total of 1million AUD from Macquarie University and NSW Government and JAXA.
  • Outstanding research performance and the University of Tsukuba President Prize winner (Top 1%) in Graduation Ceremony on March 23, 2018 at the University of Tsukuba – awarded by the President of University of Tsukuba, Japan
  • Independent Reviewer for Postdoctoral Fellowships and Funding Grants for (1) NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP), (2) BELSPO’s Research Programme for Earth Observation STEREO IV; (3) CIVIS Alliance Programme; (4) The American University of Sharjah (AUS), the United Arab Emirates
  • Global Peer Review Awards 2018 & 2019: Top Peer Reviewer in Geosciences 2018 & 2019; Top Peer Reviewer for Remote Sensing in 2018 by Publons, Web of Science Group.

Grants

  • 1/2022 – 1/2025: Grant for outstanding research funded by Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (~ AU $ 430,000).
  • 4/2022 – 3/2025: ALOS-2 PALSAR-2/ ALOS-4: Data granted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
  • 1/2020 – 12/2020: Postdoctoral Fellowship granted by Florida International University (FIU), USA (~ US $55,000).
  • 5/2018 – 11/2019: Postdoctoral Fellowship granted by RIKEN, Japan (~ 10 million JPY).
  • 2/2012NAFOSTED, Vietnam (Vietnamese National Foundation for Science and Technology Development) Travel Grant to attend the SPIE Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium 2012 at Kyoto (US $5,000).
  • 11/2012SEARCA (Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture): Travel Grant to attend the International Conference on Sustainable Future for Human Security – SUSTAIN 2012 (US $1,200).

Selected publications

Nyamtseren M, Pham TD, Vu TTP, Navaandorj I, Shoyama K, (2025) 'Mapping Vegetation Changes in Mongolian Grasslands (1990–2024) Using Landsat Data and Advanced Machine Learning Algorithm', Remote Sensing, 17(3), art. no. 400

T.D. Pham*, N.T. Ha, N. Saintilan, A. Skidmore, D.C. Phan, N.N Le, H.V. Luu, W. Takeuchi, D.A. Friess, 2023. “Advances in Earth Observation and Machine Learning for Quantifying Blue Carbon”. Earth-Science Reviews, 243, 104501; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104501

N. Saintilan, L. Lymburner, L. Wen, I.D. Haigh, E. Ai, J.J. Kelleway, K. Rogers, T.D. Pham, R. Lucas, 2022. "The lunar nodal cycle controls mangrove canopy cover on the Australian continent". Science Advances, 8 (37). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo6602

T.T. Nguyen, T.D. Pham*, C.T. Nguyen, J. Delfos, R. Archibald, K.B. Dang, N.B. Hoang, W. Guo, H.H. Ngo*, 2022. “A novel intelligence approach based active and ensemble learning for agricultural soil organic carbon prediction using multispectral and SAR data fusion”. Science of the Total Environment, 804 (6), 150187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150187

T.D. Pham*, N. Yokoya, T.T.T. Nguyen, N.N. Le, N.T. Ha, J. Xia, W. Takeuchi, T.D. Pham, 2021. “Improvement of Mangrove Soil Carbon Stocks Estimation in North Vietnam Using Sentinel-2 Data and Machine Learning Approach”. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 58 (1): 68-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2020.1857623

T.D. Pham*, N. Yokoya, J. Xia, N.T. Ha, N.N. Le, T.T.T. Nguyen, T.H. Dao, T.T.P. Vu, T.D. Pham, W. Takeuchi, 2020. "Comparison of Machine Learning Methods for Estimating Mangrove Above-ground Biomass Using Multiple Source Remote Sensing Data in the Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam". Remote Sensing, 12 (8), 1334. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12081334

T.D. Pham*, N.N. Le, N.T. Ha, L.V. Nguyen, J. Xia, N. Yokoya, T.T. To, H.X. Trinh, L.Q. Kieu, W. Takeuchi, 2020. “Estimating Mangrove Above-Ground Biomass Using Extreme Gradient Boosting Decision Trees Algorithm with Fused Sentinel-2 and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Data in Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam”. Remote Sensing, 12 (5), 777. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12050777

T.D. Pham*, N. Yokoya, D.T. Bui, K. Yoshino, D.A. Friess, 2019. “Remote Sensing approaches for monitoring mangrove species, structure and biomass: opportunities and challenges”. Remote Sensing, 11 (3), 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11030230

D.T. Bui, P.T.T. Ngo, T.D. Pham, A. Jaafari, N.Q. Minh, P.V. Hoa, P. Samui, 2019. “A novel hybrid approach based on swam intelligent optimized extreme learning machine for flash flood susceptibility mapping”. CATENA, 179,  pp184-196

T.D. Pham*, K. Yoshino, N.N. Le, D.T. Bui, 2018. “Estimating aboveground biomass of a mangrove plantation on the Northern coast of Vietnam using machine learning techniques with an integration of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 and Sentinel-2A data”. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 39 (22): pp 7761-7788

T.D. Pham*, N. Kaida, K. Yoshino, X.H. Nguyen, H.T. Nguyen, D.T. Bui, 2018. “Willingness to pay for mangrove restoration in the context of climate change in the Cat Ba biosphere reserve, Vietnam”. Ocean & Coastal Management; 163 (1): pp 269-277