Research output per year
Research output per year
PhD., Cand. scient.
Øster Voldgade 10
1350 København K
Research activity per year
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]
2004: PhD. in Geography, University of Copenhagen.
1998: Master of Science in Physical Geography, University of Copenhagen.
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 3rd 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
Research Institution |
Country |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Biospheric Science Branch |
USA |
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology |
Germany |
Instituto de Economía, Geografía y Demografía (IEGD), Madrid |
Spain |
University of Lund, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science |
Sweden |
VITO - Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Remote Sensing and Earth Observation |
Belgium |
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), Toulouse |
France |
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Geography Department, Geomatics Lab |
Germany |
Wageningen University, (1) Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing (2) Plant Production Systems Group |
Netherlands |
EC-JRC Joint Research Centre, Ispra |
Italy |
Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing |
China |
Kenyatta University, Dept of Geography & Kenya Wildlife Service |
Kenya |
University of Dakar, Institut des Sciences de l'Environnement (ISE) & Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE) |
Senegal |
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.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Daniel Ortiz Gonzalo (Speaker), Martin Stefan Brandt (Other), Rasmus Fensholt (Other), Florian Reiner (Other), Ankit Kariryaa (Other), Wanting Yang (Other), Xiaoye Tong (Other), Todd S Rosenstock (Other) & Amelie Gaudin (Other)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
Alexander Prishchepov & Rasmus Fensholt
22/01/2022
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media