Meet The Team
Founder & Director
Daneen Cowling
I am an environmental data and spatial strategy specialist with particular expertise in habitat connectivity modelling and evidence-led nature recovery planning. My work focuses on understanding how landscapes function for nature and how spatial data can be used to design effective, resilient environmental strategies at local, regional and national scales.
I specialise in connectivity and resistance modelling, using tools including Condatis and Circuitscape, supporting projects that bridge science, policy and practical land management.
I am a specialist in environmental spatial strategies and a co-author of the nationally recognised exemplar Isle of Wight Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). My background includes significant experience in the public sector, having worked with Natural England and Defra, giving me strong insight into nature policy, regulation and delivery frameworks, and how to translate complex data into decision-ready outputs. I have influenced national approaches to habitat connectivity and nature recovery through my contribution as a published author on Natural England research, helping embed advanced spatial modelling into policy-relevant evidence. I am also a member of the Strategic Nature Network Advisory Group for Rebuilding Nature, where I provide expert advice on connectivity, spatial prioritisation and delivery at scale.
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Alongside my work at Nature Data Solutions, I am Co-Director of The Common Space, an Isle of Wight-based not-for-profit organisation focused on nature recovery and social recovery, working at the intersection of environment, communities and place. I also lead policy and research collaboration with Artecology, a leading eco-engineering organisation, supporting innovation at the boundary between ecology, design and infrastructure.
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I am a part-time PhD researcher at the University of Exeter, where my research uses remote sensing to understand the changing resilience of nature across the UK, strengthening the link between academic research and applied environmental decision-making.
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GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist
Dr Olly Bartlett
Dr Olly Bartlett is a specialist in Earth observation with over half a decade's expertise in remote sensing and GIS. His research explores how polar and alpine environments are changing in a warming world, with work published in internationally recognised scientific journals, including a landmark Nature Geoscience study on the greening of the Antarctic Peninsula. This research received global attention, featuring in nearly 600 media outlets worldwide, along with radio and television appearances. Across his research, Olly aims to provide data driven insights for biodiversity conservation and biosecurity in vulnerable polar and alpine ecosystems.
Olly is an expert in Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV)–based remote sensing, holding a CAA GVC for UAV operation, and has extensive experience conducting flight campaigns across the UK, Greenland, Nepal, Svalbard, and the Peruvian Andes.
At Nature Data Solutions, Olly applies his expertise in Earth observation and UAV deployment to develop innovative methods for ecological surveys and machine learning models that power open-access remote sensing monitoring tools.
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