Thomas Baird

Thomas is an accomplished geospatial data scientist and digital innovation leader whose work sits at the intersection of environmental science, large-scale data analytics, and advanced visualisation. As Associate Director and GIS & Digital Lead at City Science, Thomas drives the development and delivery of cutting-edge geospatial and digital products, leveraging his deep expertise in GIS, data, remote sensing, and 3D terrestrial reconstruction. Thomas holds a PhD in Geomatics and Environmental Science from University College London, an MSc (Distinction) in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Management from King’s College London, and a BSc (Hons) in Geography from the University of Nottingham. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). Before joining City Science, Thomas held senior data engineering and analytical roles across the Energy and Insurance sectors, including at UK Power Networks and Arch Insurance. At UKPN, he was involved in projects such as the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo), and Smart Grid Delivery dashboards.. At Arch Insurance, he designed automated data pipelines and dashboards that transformed cyber risk exposure analysis and reporting. At City Science, Thomas leads the technical delivery of major projects including the application of AI to junction and traffic management, digitising local planning, the Nature Investment Land Assessment Toolkit, and the State of the Region report for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. Most recently, Thomas has been project directing a Digital Twin project which has uploaded harmonised datasets across Great Britain and platformed them in Cadence, City Science's flagship GIS tool. The datasets are available for free and showcase Thomas' drive to ensure data and insights are publicly available. Thomas is passionate about empowering organisations through open data, digital twins, and GIS innovation, helping them make smarter, evidence-based decisions for a more sustainable, resilient, and data-driven future.