[3] Cressie's research lies broadly in data science in the area of environmental informatics, emphasizing uncertainty quantification and using tools from the fields of Statistics, Mathematics, Computing, and Visualization.
His main area of application in the 2010s and beyond has been in remote sensing of the environment using spatial and spatio-temporal statistical methodology.
It has been applied in areas of ‘big science,’ such as remote sensing of Earth on a global scale,[7] understanding the global carbon cycle and its effect on climate change,[8] Greenland ice-sheet mass balance,[9] and disease mapping.
[10] Over the course of his statistical career, Cressie has authored or coauthored four books and around 300 articles in scholarly journals and edited volumes.
The book, Spatio-Temporal Statistics with R (2019) by Christopher K. Wikle, Andrew Zammit-Mangion, and Cressie received the 2019 Taylor and Francis Award for Outstanding Reference/Monograph in the Science and Medical category.