My research falls within the interdisciplinary field of Land System Science. I received a Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I focused on Land-Use Modeling and Remote Sensing of the Environment. I also completed the GIS Certificate and International Studies graduate programs at Oklahoma State University and a post-doc on land use modeling in Germany at IAMO. Before joining AU as a Full Professor in Land System Science, I had been working as an Associate Professor in Remote Sensing and Modeling Land-Use Land-Cover Changes at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Geography section (2015-2026).
I conduct integrative work to understand the patterns, drivers, and implications of land-cover change, climate change vulnerability, resilience, options for adaptation, with a focus on agricultural expansion and decline, rural-urban transitions, and the human impact on environmental systems, remote sensing of human footprint, extralegal activities in relationship to land cover and land use. I use a variety of methods, including coupled socio-ecological modeling, participatory approaches, spatial econometrics, machine learning, and integrated land-use modeling, to reveal the patterns of landscape change, and its drivers, complex interlinkages between climatic changes, land-use land-cover change, society, and environment. My research aims to answer several key questions, including:
1) Which methods are best suited to monitor and model current, past, and future landscapes and their transitions?
2) What factors contribute to the formation and transformation of landscapes and the implications of climate change?
3) What are the consequences of landscape and land-use transitions for the environment and society?
4) What solutions are available to guide sustainable land-use development pathways?
I publish individually, with supervised students and colleagues in leading in my field international peer-reviewed journals and research is covered by renowned outlets, such as Nature News, Science Magazine, Guardian, Berlingske. You can watch some relevant webinars on my Youtube channel.
My mission is to conduct relevant research, teaching and ad-hoc practical works in order to address Sustainable Development Goals: SDG15 Life on Land, SDG2 Zero Hunger, SDG4 Quality Education, SDG13 Climate Action, SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG1 No Poverty, SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
I am a scientific steering board member of the Global Land Programme (GLP) https://glp.earth/ and also coordinate GLP's interdisciplinary Global Land Abandonment Working Group: https://bit.ly/3uYmGn7, with a scope collaboratively to understand emerging patterns, reasons, and implications of global farmland abandonment and rural-urban transitions. I developed and co-developed methods to monitor farmland abandonment and evaluate their drivers in various parts of the world. I served as an ad-hoc adviser for national governments on coping with farmland abandonment and, with colleagues, revealed opportunities and constraints for alternatives to agricultural land uses, also in favor of Nature Solutions. Some announcements and relevant products on interdisciplinary collaboration on farmland abandonment topics are here https://www.land-abandonment.org/.
