Maycira Costa

Dr. Maycira Costa holds the British Columbia Leadership Research Chair in Environmental Remote Sensing and serves as the Director of the Spectral Remote Sensing Research Laboratory in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria. She brings a multidisciplinary background with a BSc in Biological Oceanography, an MSc in Remote Sensing, and a PhD in Geography, specializing in aquatic remote sensing.

Dr. Costa’s research focuses on leveraging satellite technologies to monitor ocean ecosystem dynamics, including ocean productivity and nearshore habitats such as kelp forests, eelgrass meadows, and sargassum beds. She explores the relationships between these critical habitats and the marine food web, with a strong emphasis on their ecological and socio-economic implications for coastal communities.

Her work integrates diverse data sources, including optical and SAR satellite imagery, UAVs, aerial photography, vessels of opportunity, and Indigenous knowledge systems to address pressing environmental challenges across broad spatial and temporal scales. Committed to collaborative science, Dr. Costa partners extensively with academia, government agencies, non-profits, industry, coastal communities, and Indigenous Peoples.

Dr. Costa has also contributed her expertise to several international satellite initiatives, serving as an advisor to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency’s Ocean Colour programs, the Brazilian Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency