PLACE OF WORK

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management
University of Copenhagen

Øster Voldgade 10
DK 1350 København K
Phone: +45 35322526 (direct), 3532 2500 (switch board), +45 20885383 (mobile)
E-mail: [email protected]

EDUCATION

2004: PhD. in Geography, University of Copenhagen.

1998: Master of Science in Physical Geography, University of Copenhagen.

POSITIONS HELD

2017 – present:     Professor at Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management (IGN), University of Copenhagen

2009: Associate professorship position at Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management (IGN), University of Copenhagen (3 months of parental leave in 2009 and 2013).

2007: Assistant professorship position at Department of Geography & Geology (DGG), University of Copenhagen (3 months of parental leave in 2007).

2004: Post doc. position at IGN (3 Years).

2000 - 2004: PhD. study at University of Copenhagen.

1999 - 2000: Consultant at the National Ministry of Hydrology in Dakar, Senegal (18 months).

EXTENDED RESEARCH VISITS

2006: Visiting research fellow at Boston University, Department of Geography (R. Myneni).

2005: Visiting research fellow at NASA; Earth Sciences Technology Center (C. Tucker).

2002: Visiting Ph.D. student at Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, University of Montana, USA. (S. Running).

HONOURS & AWARDS

2021: Clarivate Plc. Highly Cited Researchers (2010-2020 - top 1% by citations)

2014: Vega gratia; Swedish society for Anthropology and Geography.

2011: Sapere Aude research leader grant (The Danish Council for Independent Research career program).

2011: Invited for ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants interview.

2007: Niels Nielsen price for young promising scientist. The Royal Danish Geographical Society.

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

2018: Expert Reviewer on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change) Special Report on Climate Change and Land (Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)).

2018: Advisory Board member of Sci (open access journal covering all research fields).

2017: Member of the editorial board of Remote Sensing (open access journal).

2017: Evaluator of the Horizon 2020 Space 2017 call (proposals under topic EO-1-2017)

2016: Lead Author of World Atlas of Desertification 3^rd edition (coordinated by the European Commission in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)).

2016: Invited Guest Editor in Remote Sensing - Open Access Journal: Special Issue "Remote Sensing of Land Degradation and Drivers of Change".

2013 - 2014: Consultant on DIVERSITY II (Supporting the Convention on Biological Diversity) European Space Agency - Data User Element project.

2010 - Present: Member (16) and chair (3) of assessment and PhD. committees in Denmark and abroad.

2007 - 2010: Member of the Steering Committee of the ENDELEO project: “Development of a remote sensing derived tool to assess drought in East African ecosystems”.

2006 - Present: Reviewer for the Belgian Science Policy, Belgian Earth Observation Programme.

2002 - Present: Peer reviewer of >30 international scientific journals covering climate change, biogeography and Remote Sensing (including Nature and Science).

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

2018 – Present: Member of the committee for Danish Space Research

2015 – Present: Member of International Soil Moisture Network.

2014 – Present: Member of SpecNet - Linking optical measurements with flux sampling around the world.

2014 – Present: Member of Management Committee COST Actions, Earth System Science and Environmental Management.

2012 - Present: Member of the Expert group for evaluation of Copernicus Land service products

2011 - 2013: Member of the International Steering Committee of the TickRisk project in West Africa (BelSpo).

2010 - 2013: Member of the IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) National Committee.

GRANTS

Total PI project funding of 10.860.000 € obtained

2022 - 2025: Clisa: "Unravelling CLImate change impacts on SAvanna vegetation ecosystems". The Danish Council for Independent Research, Grant holder. 832.000 €.

2022 - 2024: “PARDI - Partial disturbances” H2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Post doc. Fellowships. Grant holder. 200.000 €

2021 - 2023: "CTREES - Tracking Carbon Sequestration at Tree Level" EuroStars Grant. Grant holder. 660.000 €

2020 - 2025: DeReEco: "Deep Learning and Remote Sensing for Unlocking Global Ecosystem Resource Dynamics". Villum Synergy. Grant holder. 2.000.000 € 

2018 - 2020: “Between degradation and conservation: The carbon balance of the Chinese karst ecosystems” H2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Post doc. Fellowships. Grant holder. 200.000 €

2016 - 2019: “Understanding Turning Points in Dryland Ecosystem Functioning”. Belgium, Federal Science Policy, Support to Exploration and Research in Earth Observation. External partner. 130.000 €

2016 - 2019: “Greening of drylands: Towards understanding ecosystem functioning changes, drivers and impacts on livelihoods”. The Danish Council for Independent Research, Grant holder. 822.700 €.

2015 - 2017: “Biophysical Changes in the Sahel, Ground and Satellite Based Evidence Across Scales and Disciplines”. H2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Post doc. Fellowships. Grant holder. 200.000 €

2015 - 2017: “GlobTemperature, User Case Study for Soil moisture assessment using the triangle method with SEVIRI and AATSR land surface temperature”, European Space Agency (ESA). Grant holder. 100.000 €

2011 - 2016: “VegTrends - Earth Observation based Land Degradation Trends in Global Drylands” (The Danish Council for Independent Research, Sapere Aude Research Leader Grant). Grant holder. 1.150.000 €.

2010 - 2015:“Impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Stocks” I-REDD+ (EU 7th Framework Programme). Co-investigator.

2010 - 2013: “A region wide assessment of land system resilience and climate robustness in the agricultural frontline of Sahel” (LaSyRe-Sahel) (The Danish Council for Independent Research). Co-investigator.

2008 - 2013: “West African Network for Studies of Environmental Change” (WANSEC) (The Danish Council for Independent Research). Grant holder. 670.000 €.

2006 - 2009:“Developing an improved early warning system for Africa using a new generation of Earth Observation data.” (The Danish Council for Independent Research).Grant holder. 360.000€.

2005 - 2008: “KISS - Kenyan Integrated Satellite Savanna Survey.” (The Danish Council for Independent Research). Grant holder. 320.000 €.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

PUBLICATIONS

Peer reviewed journal papers; 215 

(26 Nature & Science journal group papers)

Peer reviewed book chapters; 4 

21184 citations; H index; 72

(Google scholar citations, Dec. 5th 2023)

SUPERVISION

47 completed M.Sc. projects, 17 PhD, 7 Post. Doc.

Currently supervising 11 PhD’s and 7 Post-docs.

Remote sensing/Earth observation ecology studies of terrestrial ecosystems.

Overarching research goals: Quantitative assessment of carbon/water fluxes of terrestrial vegetation and advancing our knowledge about forcing mechanisms (human vs. climate induced) of changes in functioning of vegetation ecosystem services.

Research relates to: global environmental change, land system science, climate change, primary productivity monitoring, carbon stocks, forest degradation, plant water stress, land degradation, land surface phenology.

10 Relevant recent senior authored publications:

Tucker, C., Brandt, M., Hiernaux, P., Kariryaa, A., Rasmussen, K., Small, J., Igel, C., Reiner, F., Melocik, K., Meyer, J., Sinno, S., Romero, E., Glennie, E., Fitts,Y., Morin, A., Pinzon, J., McClain, D., Morin, P,. Porter, C., Loeffler, S., Kergoat, L., Issoufou, B., Savadogo, P., Wigneron, J.P., Poulter, B., Ciais, P., Kaufmann, R., Myneni, R., Saatchi, S.  and Fensholt, R. (2023). Sub-continental-scale carbon stocks of individual trees in African drylands. Nature, 615(7950), 80-86.

Reiner, F., Brandt, M., Tong, X., Skole, D., Kariryaa, A., Ciais, P., Davies, A., Hiernaux, P., Chave, J., Mugabowindekwe., Igel, C., Oehmcke, S., Gieseke, F., Li, S., Liu, S., Saatchi, S., Boucher, P., Singh, J., Taugourdeau, S., Dendoncker, M., Song X., Mertz, O., Tucker, C.J and Fensholt, R. (2023). More than one quarter of Africa’s tree cover is found outside areas previously classified as forest. Nature Communications 14, 2258

Zhang, W., Schurgers, G., Peñuelas, J., Fensholt, R., Yang, H., Tang, J., Tong, X., Ciais, P. and Brandt, M. (2023). Recent decrease of the impact of tropical temperature on the carbon cycle linked to increased precipitation. Nature Communications, 14(1), p.965.

Mugabowindekwe, M., Brandt, M., Chave, J., Reiner, F., Skole, D.L., Kariryaa, A., Igel, C., Hiernaux, P., Ciais, P., Mertz, O. and Tong, X., Li, S., Rwanyiziri, G., Dushimiyimana, T., Ndoli, A., Uwizeyimana, V., Lillesø, J.B., Gieseke, F., Tucker, C.J., Saatchi, S. and Fensholt, R. (2022). Nation-wide mapping of tree-level aboveground carbon stocks in Rwanda. Nature Climate Change, pp.1-7.

Fan, L., Wigneron, J.P., Ciais, P., Chave, J., Brandt, M., Sitch, S., Yue, C., Bastos, A., Li, X., Qin, Y. and Yuan, W., Schepaschenko, D., Mukhortova, L., Li, X., Liu, X., Wang, M., Frappart, F., Xiao, X., Chen, J., Ma, M., Wen, J., Chen, X., Yang, H., van Wees, D. and Fensholt, R. (2022). Siberian carbon sink reduced by forest disturbances. Nature Geoscience, pp.1-7.

Zhang, X., Brandt, M., Tong, X., Ciais, P., Yue, Y., Xiao, X., Zhang, W., Wang., K and Fensholt, R. (2022). A large but transient carbon sink from urbanization and rural depopulation in China. Nature Sustainability, 1-8.

Brandt, M., Tucker, C.J., Kariryaa, A., Rasmussen, K., Abel, C., Small, J., Chave, J., Rasmussen, L.V., Hiernaux, P., Diouf, A.A., Kergoat, L., Mertz, O., Igel, I., Gieseke, F., Schöning, J., Li, S., Melocik, K., Meyer, J., Sinno, S., Romero, E., Glennie, E., Montagu, A., Dendoncker, M. and Fensholt. R. (2020). An unexpectedly large count of trees in the West African Sahara and Sahel. Nature, 587, pp. 78-82.

Abel, C., Horion, S., Tagesson, T., De Keersmaecker, W., Seddon, A. W., Abdi, A. M., & Fensholt, R. (2020). The human–environment nexus and vegetation–rainfall sensitivity in tropical drylands. Nature Sustainability, 1-8.

Tagesson, T., Schurgers, G., Horion, S., Ciais, P., Tian, F., Brandt, M., Ahlström, A., Wigneron, J.P., Ardö, J., Olin, S., Fan, L., Wu, Z. and Fensholt, R. (2020). Recent divergence in the contributions of tropical and boreal forests to the terrestrial carbon sink. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-8.

Grogan, K., Pflugmacher, D., Hostert, P., Mertz, O. and Fensholt, R. (2019). Unravelling the link between global rubber price and tropical deforestation in Cambodia. Nature Plants, 5, 47–53.