Geospatial Systems - Clive Drowley
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Profile
Clive Drowley
Biography
About Clive
I’m Clive Drowley, a PhD researcher at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Geospatial Systems, a collaborative partnership between Newcastle University and the University of Nottingham. My academic journey began with a degree in Geography from the University of Leeds, along with a year of studying Computer Science in Eindhoven and a year in Wuhan learning Mandarin as part of the British Council’s Generation UK program.
Before joining the CDT, I gained industry experience as a Data Scientist and Location Planner, where I worked with global retailers to optimise store site selection and network planning. I later transitioned to a role as a Data Engineer, focusing on human mobility and connected vehicle data, which deepened my expertise in large-scale data handling and spatial analysis.
I recently completed the Master of Research (MRes) as part of the 1+3 CDT program here with the Geospatial CDT. The Master’s project itself came from the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) and their Masters Dissertation Scheme in collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs and University College London (UCL). My MRes dissertation focused on integrating spatial signatures—an urban land use classification—with public health datasets to model asthma prescription outcomes. I leveraged modern geospatial technologies and machine learning to improve interpretability and prediction accuracy.
As I begin my PhD, I aim to explore topics like the modifiable unit area problem, spatial scale and resolution, and consumer transaction and mobility data, with Freegle and other industry partners (feel free to reach out if you have interesting problems). My project, tentatively titled “What is my local area? Finding the relevant spatial scale,” seeks to address questions surrounding spatial partitioning in urban areas, people movement, and trade area analysis.
