Alessandro Gimona

alessandro.gimona@hutton.ac.uk

Alessandro is a spatial ecologist and a geographer with experience of both terrestrial and aquatic systems. His current research if focussed around understanding how climate, soil and land use shape (1) species distribution at the continental, landscape, and local scale and (2) the spatial distribution of ecosystem services, and the associated uncertainty. He is investigating how to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services in spatial planning for multi-functional landscapes and the effects of climatic change and land use change on these areas of study, and possible adaptation options. Within this research he uses mechanistic and statistical modelling, as well as GIS and remote sensing technology. Alessandro is currently supervising a PhD student investigating how incentive schemes can be devised at the landscape scale. The following areas of Alessandro’s expertise will be brought to bear in the ALTER project. He will work with colleagues in Ethiopia and Uganda to develop and implement the relevant techniques:

Landscape Ecology: 

• Modelling of and mapping ecosystem services and species distribution
• Future land capability for agriculture and habitat networks
• Capacity Building for Temperate Rainforest Biodiversity Conservation

Bayesian Statistical Models (including Bayesian Networks)

• Spatial Bayesian models
• Construction of tools to couple Bayesian Networks to GIS

Coupled socio-ecosystem models

• Modelling effects of conservation payments on agro-ecosystems

GIS and Earth Observation

• Relating Earth observation to ecosystem services and soil properties