About Contested Ground

Contested Ground is an open-access research project that documents and analyses events in military, humanitarian and international affairs using publicly available satellite imagery.

I create satellite imagery reports to support academia, civil society, legal professionals and the media. All reports are freely available on Research Gate. Look at my Work With Me pages to explore partnering options, pro bono work and consultancy. 

This project is crowdfunded. For access to additional commentary and content, consider joining my online community on Patreon.

My name is Will and I am a forensic imagery analyst.

I analyse satellite imagery and aerial footage to better understand complex military, security and humanitarian environments.

I have extensive experience conducting fieldwork in Ukraine. I worked for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine between 2015-17 and 2020-22 as a Monitoring Officer, Patrol Leader and Imagery Analyst. During my time with the OSCE, I was also fortunate to work in Forward Patrol Bases in Kadiivka (Stakhanov), Debaltseve and Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmiysk).

Areas of Expertise:

• Geopolitical analysis and International Relations.
• Military affairs, peacebuilding and ceasefire monitoring.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and imagery analysis.

Qualifications:

• Masters of Public Administration, University of York
• Masters in Countering Organised Crime and Terrorism, University College London 
• Masters in War, Violence and Security Studies, University of Sussex 
• BA (Hons) English Literature, Durham University