Earth System Scientist · DMI Copenhagen
Alex Hayward
I'm an Earth system scientist and photographer based in Copenhagen. I work with satellite observations, polar climate, and machine learning at the Danish Meteorological Institute, looking at changes across the Arctic, Antarctic, and the wider Earth system. This site is a place to share both the science and everything around it—the landscapes, wildlife, and fieldwork behind the data, along with moments from travelling and being outdoors. A lot of what I study happens at a distance, so photography has become a way of staying a bit closer to it all.
Bodies of Work
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Projects I'm Involved In
Active projects spanning research, climate tools, and ocean observation.
PHYTOCCI
WP4 Lead on validation of phytoplankton Essential Climate Variables. European Space Agency project focused on merging multi-sensor ocean colour datasets to monitor global phytoplankton and climate impacts.
ObsSea4Clim
Leader for MHW Definitions dataset and production >15Tb of daily MHW data under varying definitions (link to MHW-MAD paper). Improving ocean observing systems to deliver better data for climate modeling, forecasting, and marine ecosystem management.
C3S (RETROKLIM)
Extending the CERRA regional reanalysis back to ~1901 using diffusion-based consistency models. Funded by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, and integraing into Denmark's Klimaatlas project, aiding the Danish public understand climate change at the municipal level.
AMAP 2026
Coordinating the Arctic Marine Heatwaves assessment chapter, synthesising physics, ecology, and social science into policy narratives for the Arctic Council.
FOCCUS
SST fiducial reference measurements. Forecasting Ocean Consortium advancing coastal ocean forecasting capabilities by integrating satellite earth observation data with modeling.
phytoclass
Open-source chemotaxonomic tool for deriving phytoplankton community composition from pigment data. Adopted internationally.
Communications & Press
Public engagement, featured articles, and media coverage of my scientific work.
Background & Research
I'm an earth system scientist and photographer based in Copenhagen, working in the Satellites & Arctic Division at the Danish Meteorological Institute. My research spans satellite Earth observation, Arctic marine heatwaves, climate downscaling via machine learning, and polar primary production.
I hold a PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and an MSci in Earth Sciences from UCL. I have fieldwork experience in both Antarctica and the Arctic — from the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean to the Central Arctic and Qaanaaq, Greenland. I developed the phytoclass tool and have authored 18 peer-reviewed publications including a first-author paper in Nature Climate Change.
Photography isn't separate from the science — it comes from the same instinct to look carefully at the world. I photograph the places I work in and the changes I study.
Career Timeline
Fieldwork Expeditions
Get in Touch
I'm open to scientific collaboration, photographic commissions, editorial work, and conversations about the Arctic. Whether you're a researcher, editor, or fellow photographer — I'd be glad to hear from you.
Lyngbyvej 100, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark