麻豆传媒

My research and teaching address the issue of long-term water security, directly engaging with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 (water) and 15 (includes desertification). I am a specialist in using Earth observation and machine learning for recording endangered hydraulic heritage and desertification of traditional oases, primarily in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

My recent roles include:

Lecturer at 麻豆传媒 since 2025

麻豆传媒 Academic Track (NUAcT) Research Fellow in Water Security 2020-2025.

Research Associate at the University of Leicester 2015-2020 on the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa project (EAMENA). 

PhD University of Durham 2015 (Archaeology and Geography)

I am the Open Research Champion for my School.

Selected outputs of my recent research

Highlighted recent projects

Resilience in a fragile environment: Oases in the northern Sahara since 500 BC

Funded by a NUACT fellowship. I’m researching the development of water management in oases in the Sahara and investigating how this could inform future sustainability. Oases are environments created as a result of long-term, human-environment interactions but are vulnerable to human adaptability to changes. Although traditional methods of irrigation have been seen as sustainable, archaeological evidence for this is needed. I am following an interdisciplinary methodology using satellite imagery, archived data and fieldwork to map the traces of past water management features and identify and model the risk of desertification.

Vanishing archaeological landscapes under anthropogenic and climate change threats

A collaboration with CNR-ISAC (Italy) funded by the Royal Society/CNR to develop innovative ways of mapping heritage in southern Iraq under threat from climate change and other causes.

Dating the remains of an agricultural system in southern Iraq

A collaboration with Radboud University (Netherlands), Basra and Al-Qadisiyah Universities (Iraq) funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung to investigate water management systems in the hinterland of Basra.

Monitoring heritage destruction

I developed bespoke algorithms using open source data to automate the monitoring of archaeological sites. This has been tested so far in Egypt, Libya and Iraq.

See my blog post: 

As a specialist in geospatial data and landscape archaeology I teach classes to undergraduate and postgraduate students in techniques of digital mapping and remote sensing. I also taught these subjects as part of a series of training workshops (2017-2019) for heritage professionals based in the Middle East and North Africa. I’m committed to supporting increased uptake of remote sensing technologies for archaeologists, with a focus on using open-source data and software.  

Current PhD students

Jen Lavris Makovics (School of History, Classics and Archaeology)

Hope Irvine (School of Engineering)

Brittni Bradford (School of Arts and Cultures)

Jodie Vaughn (School of History, Classics and Archaeology)

• Articles

  • Brown P, Jotheri J, Abdalwahab N, Andrieux E, Rayne L. . Antiquity 2025, 99(406), 1065-1081.
  • Rayne L, de Gruchy M, Jotheri J, Abdan R. . Iraq 2025. In Press.
  • Jotheri J, Rokan M, Al-Ghanim A, Rayne L, de Gruchy M, Alabdan R. . Antiquity Project Gallery 2025, 99(405), e20.
  • Cigna F, Rayne L, Makovics JL, Irvine HK, Jotheri J, Algabri A, Tapete D. . Land 2025, 14(5), 1013.
  • Rayne L, Brandolini F, Makovics JL, Hayes-Rich E, Levy J, Irvine H, Assi L, Bokbot Y. . Scientific Reports 2023, 13, 19424.
  • Fenwick C, Sterry M, Mattingly D, Rayne L, Bokbot Y. . Journal of Islamic Archaeology 2022, 8(2), 139-165.
  • Rayne L, Gatto MC, Abdulaati L, Al-Haddad M, Sterry M, Sheldrick N, Mattingly D. . Remote Sensing 2020, 12(22), 3694.
  • Nikolaus J, Mugnai N, Rayne L, Zerbini A, Mattingly D, Walker S, Abdrbba M, Alhaddad M, Buzaian A, Emrage A. . Quaderni di Archeologia della Libya 2018, 21.
  • Rayne L, Donoghue D. . Remote Sensing 2018, 10(12), 1-21.
  • Mattingly DJ, Bokbot Y, Sterry M, Cuénod A, Fenwick C, Gatto MC, Ray N, Rayne L, Janin K, Lamb A, Mugnai N. . Journal of African Archaeology 2017, 15(2), 141-172.
  • Rayne L, Bradbury J, Mattingly D, Philip G, Bewley R, Wilson A. . Geosciences 2017, 7(4), 1-31.
  • Rayne L, Sheldrick N, Nikolaus J. . Libyan Studies 2017, 48, 23-49.
  • Rayne L. . Water History 2015, 7, 419-440.
  • Wilkinson TJ, Rayne L, Jotheri J. . Water History 2015, 7, 397-418.
  • Wilkinson TJ, Rayne L. . Water History 2010, 2, 115-144.

• Book Chapters

  • Jotheri J, Al-Mayali R, Al-Gburi A, Rayne L, Al-Gabri A, Haddad A, Al-Hamzah M. . In: Insoll, T; Maclean, R; Almahari, S, ed. The Archaeology of Irrigation Technology and Water Management in the Islamic World. Oxfordshire: Archaeopress Archaeology, 2025.
  • Rayne L. . In: Kennedy, H; Bessard, F, ed. Land and Trade in Early Islam: The Economy of the Islamic Middle East 750–1050 CE. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025, pp.140-183.
  • Rayne L, Rouhani B, Lavris Makovics J. . In: Rouhani, B; Romão, X, ed. Managing Disaster Risks to Cultural Heritage: From Risk Preparedness to Recovery for Immovable Heritage. Routledge, 2023, pp.114-132.
  • Mattingly DJ, Sterry M, Rayne L. Pre-Islamic oasis settlements in the Eastern Sahara. In: Mattingly, DJ; Sterry, M, ed. Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp.112-146.
  • Rayne L. . In: Lawrence, D; Altaweel, M; Philip, G, ed. New Agendas in Remote Sensing and Landscape Archaeology in the Near East: Studies in honour of Tony J Wilkinson. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2020, pp.306-320.
  • Wilkinson TJ, Rayne L. . In: Selin, H, ed. Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Rayne L, Brandolini F, Makovics J, Hayes-Rich E, Levy J, Irvine H, Assi L, Bokbot Y. . In: IEEE Mediterranean and Middle-East Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (M2GARSS 2024). 2024, Oran, Algeria: IEEE.
  • Cigna F, Tapete D, Rayne L, Makovics J, Irvine H, de Gruchy M, Jotheri J. . In: IEEE Mediterranean and Middle-East Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (M2GARSS 2024). 2024, Oran, Algeria: IEEE.
  • Rayne L. . In: 2022 IEEE Mediterranean and Middle-East Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (M2GARSS). 2022, Istanbul, Turkey: IEEE.
  • Bewley R, Wilson A, Kennedy D, Mattingly D, Banks R, Bishop M, Bradbury J, Cunliffe E, Fradley M, Jennings R, Mason R, Rayne L, Sterry M, Sheldrick N, Zerbini A. . In: CAA2015. Keep the Revolution Going: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. 2016, Siena, Italy: Archaeopress Archaeology.

• Online Publication

  • Abou-Hayid A, Choudhary K, El Beltagy A, Magdy Gabr A, Kuppuswamy C, Pope E, Rayne L, Reay D, Sakr M, Sanders D, Shoukry M, Tzachor A, Whitfield S, Zaghloul S. . https://uucn.ac.uk/uucn_briefings/achieving-food-security-under-climate-change/: UK Universities Climate Network, 2022. Available at: .

• Software

  • Rayne L, Cigna F. . [program]. 麻豆传媒 upon Tyne: 麻豆传媒, 2024.
  • Rayne L. . [program]. 麻豆传媒 upon Tyne: 麻豆传媒, 2023.