People
Principal Investigators
Joern Fischer (Speaker)
Professor of Sustainable Landscapes at Leuphana’ University Lüneburg. His research interests include sustainability science, landscape ecology, social-ecological systems, and conservation science.
Tobias Kuemmerle
Professor for Biogeography and Conservation Biology at Humboldt-University Berlin. His research aims to improve our understanding of what characterises sustainable land systems that balance biodiversity conservation and humanity’s needs.
Katharina Löhr
Deputy Head of working group Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries at Zalf. Her research focuses on land-use /resource conflicts, strengthening social cohesion, and conflict management.
Jacqueline Loos
Junior Professor of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her main interests are the relationships and responses between the environment, biodiversity and humans within social-ecological systems.
Berta Martín-López
Professor of International Sustainable Development and Planning. Her research is collaborative, inter- and transdisciplinary aiming to understand the role of values, knowledge, and institutions in supporting transformation pathways to sustainability.
Tobias Plieninger
Professor in Social-Ecological Interactions at Georg-August-University of Göttingen and University of Kassel. His research interests include rural landscape change, ecosystem services, and sustainability transformations,
Stefan Sieber
Associate Professor (PD) for Land Use and Governance. His research focuses on food and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, climate change, bioenergy, and governance. He is also a systemic business coach & mediator.
Vicky Temperton
Professor of Ecosystem Functioning and Services at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research focuses on gaining and using knowledge about functional plant traits and diversity of plant communities to help inform ecological restoration.
Meike Wollni
Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at Georg-August-University of Göttingen. Her research deals with sustainable land use in developing countries. A main focus is on technology choices of smallholder farmers, ecological and socio-economic outcomes, and policies for a transition towards more sustainable food systems.
Team members
Matthias Baumann
Senior Researcher working in the conservation Biogeography Lab at Humboldt-University Berlin. His research aims to characterize and map land-use processes and to establish causal linkages to underlying drivers. He works quantitatively using large and complex datasets and by employing a wide range of concepts and methods.
Sophia Bohn
Ph.D. student in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Georg-August-University of Göttingen. In her research she applies primarily quantitative research methods on household survey data to identify causal effects on dietary quality and food security.
Dula Wakassa Duguma
Research Associate at the Social-Ecological Systems Institute at Leuphana University Lüneburg. My research focus is on land use change, biodiversity and ecosystem services in social-ecological systems in the Global South.
Marina Frietsch
Postdoctoral researcher at the Socio-Ecological Systems Institute at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research aims to integrate social-ecological systems thinking with ecosystem restoration science and practice. She is interested in exploring approaches to ecosystem restoration that enhance both ecological integrity and human well-being in the long run.
Laura Kmoch
Part of the Chair of Social-Ecological Interactions at Georg-August-University of Göttingen. She studies agroforestry systems and transformation processes. Her methodological strengths include the use of digital questionnaires, as well as mixed methods and participatory approaches.
Valery Ndagijimana
Verene Nyiramvuyekure
Ph.D. student at the Institute of Ecology and Socio-Ecological Systems Institute at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research focuses on the impact of ecosystem restoration intervention
on biodiversity in the restored landscapes.
Ping Sun
Ph.D. student at the Socio-Ecological Systems Institute at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research interests are the application of environmental information technologies in landscape connectivity, biodiversity and biogeography research.
Gaelle Ndayizeye
Ph.D. student at University of Georg-August-University Göttingen in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. Her research focuses on understanding and mapping local people’s Nature Contribution to People-related values, rules, and knowledge in landscapes under restoration.
Susanne Vögele
Ph.D. student in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Georg-August-University of Göttingen. In her research she applies primarily quantitative research methods on household survey data to identify causal effects on livelihoods and food security.
Dimitrie Sissi Mukanyiligira
PhD student at the University of Vienna. My research focusses on Governance for Equity in the context of ecosystem restoration in Rwanda. My interest is the diversity and inclusion of all social groups in the process especially women.
William Apollinaire
Research Fellow, Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management, University of Rwanda and Postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). His research aims to integrate social-ecological system thinking approach, to inform sustainable livelihoods and resilience of ecosystems.
Collaborators
Beth A. Kaplin
Senior Researcher and Advisor at University of Rwanda.
Jean Damascene Bariyanga
Assistant Lecturer, University of Rwanda.
Athanase Mukuralinda
Senior scientist and country representative for Rwanda at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).
Venuste Nsengimana
Director of the Centre of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management at University of Rwanda. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Sciences and Bioengineering. His area of research is Conservation Biology focusing on insect biodiversity and socio-ecological resilience.
Richard Nasasira
Principal, IPRC-Kitabi.
Jean Nduwamungu
Professor of Forestry, University of Rwanda.