My research looks at three aspects of informing sustainable land management:

• Unlocking spatial soil management information;
• Assessing viability and sustainability of land management;
• Appreciating land management decisions.

Respectively, these research domains consider dynamic environments, land management technologies and approaches, and stakeholder motivations and policy goals as system components that together shape the sustainability of land management.

I have over 22 years experience working on sustainable land management in advisory, researching, and consulting positions with a focus on Africa and Southern Europe.

Current research projects

WATDEV (2022-2026, funding by EU DeSIRA initiative) - Climate Smart WATer Management and Sustainable DEVelopment for Food and Agriculture aims to develop an in-depth understanding of small and large-scale water and agricultural resource dynamics and management while boosting people’s resilience to climate, through innovative research, modelling, and capacity building approaches. The SLM group develops integrated modelling approaches for the WATDEV study areas in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. Four sandwich PhD candidates each focus on one of the study areas. 

Previous research projects

• LAUREL (2017-2020, funding by World Bank), on development of a land simulation platform to support land use planning for enhanced resilience of landscapes in Madagascar
• AfriAlliance Action Group 'Upscaling of water harvesting in Africa' (2016-2018, funding by AfriAlliance
• SOILCARE (2016-2021, funding by EU H2020), on soil improving cropping systems in Europe
• iSQAPER (2015-2020, funding by EU H2020), on interactive soil quality assessment in Europe and China
• RECARE (2013-2017, funding by EU FP7), on preventing and remediating degradation of soils in Europe through land care
• CASCADE (2012-2016, funding by EU FP7), on catastrophic shifts in Mediterranean drylands and development of management schemes for sustainable resource use and conservation of ecosystem services.
• WAHARA (2011-2016, funding by EU FP7), on water harvesting for rainfed Africa to enhance food production and resilience, with study sites in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Zambia.