Collins B. Kukunda

A doctoral degree in Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology from the University of Goettingen, Germany (2020) and a master’s degree in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation for Environment Modelling and Management at Lund University in Sweden and at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Research interests are in the application of remote sensing and GIS tools, and data science, in the inventory of forest ecosystems. Research background includes projects on:

1. Manipulation and processing large-area airborne LiDAR, RADAR, and optical satellite data to characterize, map and monitor changes in forest structural heterogeneity, forest area, carbon stock, and Land Use Land Cover in space and time.
2. Tree species discrimination using airborne LiDAR, multi- and hyper-spectral data.
3. Integration of remotely sensed and field data sets, collected at varying scales of observation, into forest inventories.
4. Quantification of forest ecosystem dynamics, natural and anthropogenic forest disturbances (deforestation and forest degradation), from field and remotely sensed data.

Current projects and research collaborations are on:

1. Strengthening the National Carbon Monitoring Center (NCMC) and GHG accounting system in Tanzania: Capacity building and research on monitoring and mapping of deforestation, forest degradation, and associated carbon dynamics in tropical forests and woodlands within the context of climate change mitigation – Tanzania.
2. One Health: Capacity building and research on the urban-suburban nexus of food, water, energy, housing, and waste management towards a One Health approach – Ethiopia and Malawi.
3. Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR): Restoring highly degraded forest landscapes, in vast highlands in north-western Ethiopia, into productive agricultural and forest landscapes – Ethiopia.