Sarah Hamylton

Position:    Lecturer in Geographical Information Sciences
Room:        41.G34
Phone:        + 612 4221 3589
Email:        shamylto@uow.edu.au

Course coordinator:

• Introduction to Spatial Science (EESC204 and EESC213)
• Fundamentals of Spatial Science (EESC914)
• Geographical Information Science (EESC304)

Sarah’s research interests lie in the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) to the study of tropical coastal systems (coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses). In particular, Sarah is interested in the development of models to further understand structural and functional aspects of coastlines at the landscape scale. Sarah has worked in Fiji, Thailand, the Philippines, the Seychelles, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Belize. She has carried out remote sensing projects on tropical marine ecosystems for several organisations, including: the Australian Museum, the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation, the Fijian Ministry of Tourism, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Republic of the Philippines, the United Nations Environment Programme, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Seychelles Islands Foundation and the Living Oceans Foundation. Having completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK entitled “Modelling the Structure and Function of Tropical Marine Communities at the Landscape Scale”, Sarah is now applying her modelling techniques to Australian reef systems.

Research Project: Modelling carbonate production at Lizard Island

PUBLICATIONS

Searchable Publications

Hamylton, S., Spencer, T & Andréfouët, S. (2012) Comparing coral reef geomorphic and habitat diversity at the landscape scale, Amirantes Archipelago, western Indian Ocean, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2012.06.001.

Hamylton, S. & Prosper, J (2012) Development of a Spatial Data Infrastructure for coastal management in the Amirante Islands, Seychelles, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoscience, 19: 24-30.

Hamylton, S., Spencer, T & Hagan, A (2012) Spatial modelling of benthic cover using remote sensing data in the Aldabra lagoon, western Indian Ocean, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 460: 35-47.

Hamylton, S (2012) A comparison of spatially explicit and classic regression modelling of live coral cover using hyperspectral remote sensing data in the Al Wajh lagoon, Red Sea, International Journal of Geographic Information Science, 10.1080/13658816.2012.683195.

Hamylton, S., Hagan, A & Doak, N (2012) Observations of Dugongs at Aldabra Atoll, Western Indian Ocean: Lagoon Habitat Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Sighting Records, International Journal of Geographic Information Science, 26: 839-853.

Walker, RJ, Whitmore, N., Rafeliarisoa, T.H., Hamylton, S. (2012) The effect of habitat degradation on the long term survival of the Critically Endangered Madagascar spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides). Biological Conservation, 152: 152–158.

Hamylton, S (2011) The use of remote sensing and linear wave theory to model local wave energy around Alphonse Atoll, Seychelles, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 95: 349-358.

Hamylton, S.  and Spencer, T. (2011) Geomorphological modeling of tropical marine landscapes: Remote sensing, patches and spatial statistics, Continental Shelf Research, Special Issue on Coastal Remote Sensing, 31: 151-161.

Hamylton, S. (2011) An evaluation of waveband pairs for water column correction using band ratio methods for seabed mapping in the Seychelles, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32: 9185 - 9195.

Hamylton, S. (2011) Estimating the coverage of coral reef benthic communities in the Al Wajh, Red Sea from airborne hyperspectral remote sensing data: Multiple discriminant function analysis and linear spectral unmixing, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32: 9673 - 9690.

Hamylton, S., Spencer, T & Hagan, A (2009) Coral reefs and reef islands of the Amirantes Archipelago, western Indian Ocean, pp. 99 – 106. In: Harris, P & Baker, E (Eds.) (2009) Atlas of Seafloor Geomorphology as Habitat, Elsevier, Chatswood, Australia. 600pp.

Hamylton, S. (2009) The Al Wajh Bank reef system, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, pp. 28 – 37. In: Harris, P & Baker, E (Eds.) (2009) Atlas of Seafloor Geomorphology as Habitat, Elsevier, Chatswood, Australia. 600pp.

Hamylton, S., Hagan, A., & Spencer, T. (2010) Development of an island habitat classification scheme for the Amirante Islands, Seychelles, WIO Journal of Marine Science, 9 (1) 43-55.

Hamylton, S. (2009) Determination of the separability of coastal community assemblages of the Al Wajh Barrier Reef, Red Sea, from hyperspectral data, European Journal of Geosciences, 01: 1-11

Spencer, T., Hagan, A.B., Hamylton, S.M. & Renaud, P. (2008) Atlas of the Amirantes, Cambridge Coastal Research Unit, University of Cambridge, ISBN: 978-1-901480-09-2.

Hamylton, S (2008) Airborne Remote Sensing of the Al Wajh Barrier Reef, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea., In: N. McWilliam, R . Teeuw, M. Whiteside & P. Zukowskyj (2008) Expedition Field Techniques: GIS, GPS and Remote Sensing Manual. Pages 318-328, Royal Geographical Society-IBG Publication.

Hamylton, S. and Spencer, T (2008) An Investigation of Seagrass Patterns at Alphonse Atoll, Seychelles: Linking Structure to Function in Marine Landscapes, Proceedings of the Eleventh International Coral Reef Symposium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 17: 621-625.

Hagan, A, Hamylton, S. & Spencer, T. (2007) Status of Carbonate Reefs of the Amirantes and Alphonse Groups, Southern Seychelles. In: Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean, Status Report, International Coral Reef Initiative.

Hamylton, S. & Spencer, T. (2007) Classification of Seagrass habitat structure as a response to wave exposure at Etoile Cay, Seychelles, European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories, EARSeL Proceedings,6:2, 82-94.

Hamylton, S. (2006) Image Segmentation, Classification and use of Geographical Information Systems to conduct a Reefscape Ecology Assessment of Alphonse Atoll, Seychelles, Proceedings of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society, September, 2: 10-20.

Comley, J., Hamylton, S. & Raines, P. (2006) A Marine Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Shangri-La Resort on Boracay Island, Republic of the Philippines.

Comley, J, Hamylton, S, Ingwersen, C. Walker, R (2005) The Impact of the December 26th Tsunami on the coral reefs of Mu Ko Surin Marine National Park, Thailand, Proceedings of the World Maritime Technology Conference, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology, 7: 143-154.