SustainNET researchers, here at Edge Hill University, are exploring how AI and data science can support sustainable solutions, from mapping food systems to understanding how climate change is discussed in the media. This is one of our newest research themes, and we’re actively looking to grow it — read on to see where it’s heading.

Applying multimodal AI to real-world challenges

Leading and contributing to funded research in multimodal artificial intelligence, spanning big data analytics, natural language processing, image processing, software engineering, computational linguistics and healthcare informatics.

This research is:

applying AI for social good, including Home Office-funded research identifying perpetrators of technology-facilitated domestic abuse (£115K), and Nuffield Foundation / British Academy funded work using behavioural data to understand community wellbeing (£120K)

Understanding climate conversations with AI

Early-stage work is testing how far large language models can be trusted to capture semantic knowledge — a first step towards AI tools that can reliably analyse how climate change is represented and discussed in the media, using natural language processing, semantic knowledge graphs and machine learning.

This research is

  • testing the trustworthiness of large language models for building semantic knowledge graphs
  • laying the groundwork for a data-driven lens on climate communication, linking directly to the Communication and Engagement theme

Growing this theme Data is a young but fast-growing theme for SustainNET. We’re keen to build on work and connect -whether that’s applying existing tools to sustainability questions, or starting new collaborations from scratch.

Get involved  Working with data, AI or modelling for sustainability, or keen to start? Get in touch with the SustainNET team — we’d love to help this theme grow.

  • Dr Nonso Nnamoko— multimodal AI, data modelling and machine learning for sustainability [email protected]