I am a researcher at the Pant Production Systems group and a Sr Technical Specialist at the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). My research uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate how to better balance biodiversity conservation, agricultural development and human well-being in the tropics. This includes investigating impacts of land-use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services using future scenarios, modelling and spatial analysis to inform agricultural development policy and planning. I currently lead and conduct research on the risks and opportunities for biodiversity and ecosystem services from cocoa development in West/Central Africa. In my research, I use a combination of tools and methods such as GIS, remote sensing, social and ecological field surveys, statistical analysis, and scenario development. During my PhD (Wageningen University, 2014), I investigated the outcomes of the interactions between socio-economic, political and ecological processes in space and over time on a mountain forest in Uganda. Previously, I worked for the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Cameroon and Gabon, assessing local values for forests to inform conservation management.
Lead work on mapping the vulnerability of and opportunities for biodiversity and ecosystem services in (potential) cocoa growing regions in West and Central Africa, now and under climate change (CocoaSoils and Trade Hub projects). Conduct integrated assessment of the social and environmental impacts of cocoa (and oil palm) trade along a gradient of production intensities and commodity-driven deforestation from West to Central Africa.
I also supervise thesis and internship students on cocoa and biodiversity related topics.