Wenjie Liu is from the College of Science and Engineering and is one of the eight winners of the Best HDR Student Publication Award for 2024.

His winning publication Remote sensing delineation of wildfire spatial extents and post-fire recovery along a semi-arid climate gradient explores improving the use of remote sensing indices to detect wildfire extent and monitor post-fire vegetation recovery in semi-arid regions.

Wenjie is supervised by Professor Huade Guan, Professor Okke Batelaan and Professor Patrick Hesp at Flinders University.

We invited Wenjie to share insights into the PhD journey and what winning this award means.

What does winning this award mean to you?

I feel honoured and grateful to receive this award. It’s very encouraging to know that my work is recognised, and it gives me more confidence to keep going with my research.

Why did you choose to commence a PhD?

My master’s study focused on processing methods for satellite remote sensing images. After finishing it, I realised that I wanted to go further and explore how remote sensing can be applied to real-world environmental problems. Doing a PhD gives me the opportunity to focus on meaningful research and apply my skills in a practical way.

How did you choose your supervisor?

I first heard about Huade from a senior student who spoke highly of him as a supervisor. After a few discussions, I was impressed by his deep knowledge in ecohydrology and remote sensing. He has been consistently supportive and patient throughout my PhD journey, and I am truly grateful for his guidance.