RSPSoc | Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Society

Obituary for Professor Mike Barnsley

Professor Mike Barnsley (1960-2007)

The remote sensing community both in the UK and abroad will have been shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Professor Mike Barnsley on 6 December 2007. Mike had been suffering from skin cancer but had received the “all clear”. The cancer returned recently in a very aggressive form. Our thoughts are with his partner, Lyn, and his family at this difficult time.

Mike took both his undergraduate (1st class) and postgraduate (PhD) degrees at the University of Reading. His PhD work was on Remote Sensing of Vegetation : Effects and Implications of Off-Nadir Viewing Sensors. His first academic appointment was a `New Blood’ Lectureship in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems, which was held jointly between University College and Birkbeck College. In 1989, he moved to a full-time post in the Department of Geography at UCL.

He was appointed as Research Professor of Remote Sensing and GIS at Swansea University in 1995, becoming Head of the Department of Geography in 2002 and Head of the School of the Environment in 2005. More recently, in January 2007, he was appointed to the post of Pro Vice Chancellor at Swansea. Between 2003 and 2005, he was also the first Director of the Climate and Land-Surface Systems Interaction Centre (CLASSIC), one of the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) six Centres of Excellence in Earth Observation. He was also a member of the Geography sub-panel for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. In recent years, he has also been a member of NERC’s Peer Review Panel, the UK national committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the Ordnance Survey’s Science and Technology Advisory Group and the British National Space Centre’s Earth Observation Programme Board. He was also the land science team leader on a European Space Agency small satellite mission, known as PROBA/CHRIS, and has also been an associate team member of NASA’s MODIS science team.

Mike was a devoted supporter of Arsenal FC. We used to exchange emails whenever Arsenal played Bolton Wanderers, and he was never complacent in defeat or triumphalist on the relatively rare occasions that Arsenal actually won the fixture. He was “completely gutted” when Arsenal lost a UEFA Cup Final in Paris when Seaman was beaten by a shot from the half way line. The fact that the scorer was an ex-Tottenham player only rubbed salt into the wound.

One of Mike’s many admirable features was his ability to achieve results, whether as Head of Department or as a researcher, without fuss or excitement. He was without a doubt one of the top remote sensing specialists in the UK and the wider world, as noted earlier. He could motivate people and achieve results without rancour or antagonism creeping in. He was an excellent communicator and a dedicated teacher. His recently published book, Environmental Modelling (CRC Press London, 2007) stands as an impressive memorial to his commitment to excellence in teaching. Mike was a constant supporter of the RSPSoc and a regular attendee at annual conferences.

The Society, and the wider world, has lost an eminent scientist and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He achieved much in his relatively short career. One wonders where his career path would have taken him had he lived. At a personal level, I always found Mike to be good company – relaxed and humorous. He was not driven by overwhelming ambition – he just got on with things in an effective and efficient way.

He will be sadly missed by all his colleagues and friends in the Society.

Paul Mather
University of Nottingham