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PhD Student in Land Use and Climate Change
My current interests include: agent-based modeling, simulating social complexity, land use, dynamic networks, social and cultural anthropology, HIV transmission dynamics, socio-political conflicts and social movements
Development of spatial agent-based models to sustainability science and ecosystem service assessment, integration of agent-based model with biophysical process based model, improvement of theory of GIScience and land use change science, development of spatial analytical approach (all varieties of spatial regression), spatial data modeling including data mining, linking processes such as climate change, market, and policy to study patterns.
Dr. Dawn Parker is a professor at the University of Waterloo in the School of Planning. Her research focuses on the development of integrated socio-economic and biophysical models of land-use change. Dr. Parker works with agent-based modeling, complexity theory, geographic information systems, and environmental and resource economics. Her current ongoing projects include Waterloo Area Regional Model (WARM) Urban intensification vs. suburban flight, a SSHRC funded development grant that explores the causal relationships between light rail transit and core-area intensification, and the Digging into Data MIRACLE (Mining relationships among variables in large datasets from complex systems) project.
I am an agent-based simulation modeler and social scientist living near Cambridge, UK.
In recent years, I have developed supply chain models for Durham University (Department of Anthropology), epidemiological models for the Covid-19 pandemic, and agent-based land-use models with Geography PhD students at Cambridge University.
Previously, I spent three years at Ludwig-Maximillians University, Munich, working on Human-Environment Relations and Sustainability, and over two and a half years at Surrey University, working on Innovation with Nigel Gilbert in the Centre for Research in Social Simulation (CRESS). The project at Surrey resulted in a book in 2014, “Simulating Innovation: Computer-based Tools for Rethinking Innovation”. My PhD topic, modeling human agents who energise or de-energise each other in social interactions, drew upon the work of sociologist Randall Collins. My multi-disciplinary background includes degrees in Operational Research (MSc) and Philosophy (BA/MA).
I got hooked on agent-based modeling and complexity science some time around 2000, via the work of Brian Arthur, Stuart Kauffman, Robert Axelrod and Duncan Watts (no relation!).
As an agent-based modeler, I specialize in NetLogo. For data analysis, I use Excel/VBA, and R, and occasionally Python 3, and Octave / MatLab.
My recent interests include:
* conflict and the emergence of dominant groups (in collaboration with S. M. Amadae, University of Helsinki);
* simulating innovation / novelty, context-dependency, and the Frame Problem.
When not working on simulations, I’m probably talking Philosophy with one of the research seminars based in Cambridge. I have a particular interests when these meet my agent-based modeling interests, including:
* Social Epistemology / Collective Intelligence;
* Phenomenology / Frame Problem / Context / Post-Heideggerian A.I.;
* History of Cybernetics & Society.
If you’re based near Cambridge and have an idea for a modeling project, then, for the cost of a coffee / beer, I’m always willing to offer advice.
My research focuses on building a systemic understanding of coupled human-natural systems. In particular, I am interested in understanding how patterns of land-use and land-cover change emerge from human alterations of natural processes and the resulting feedbacks. Study systems of interest include those undergoing agricultural to urban conversion, typically known as urban sprawl, and those in which protective measures, such as wildfire suppression or flood/storm impact controls, can lead to long-term instability.
Dynamic agent- and process-based simulation models are my primary tools for studying human and natural systems, respectively. My past work includes the creation of dynamic, process-based simulation models of the wildland fires along the urban-wildland interface (UWI), and artificial dune construction to protect coastal development along a barrier island coastline. My current research involves the testing, refinement, extension of an economic agent-based model of coupled housing and land markets (CHALMS), and a new project developing a generalized agent-based model of land-use change to explore local human-environmental interactions globally.
Agent based modelling;
Land use/land cover change;
Payment for ecosystem services;
Bayesian Network;
System Dynamics
Ronja Hotz is a PhD student in the Land Use Change & Climate Research Group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where she has been working since August 2023. Her research focuses on understanding and modelling the social processes underlying land use change using agent-based modelling, with a particular emphasis on the CRAFTY framework. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Freie Universität Berlin and a Master’s degree in Theoretical Physics from Technische Universität Berlin.
Prior to her PhD, she worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, where she implemented a generic decision-making layer for land managers in agent-based socio-ecological models. The framework was analysed in a stylised model to investigate emergent dynamics and critical transitions and was subsequently integrated into the InSEEDS model, which simulates the adoption of conservation agriculture at regional to global scales.
Agent-based modelling; socio-ecological systems; land use change; human decision-making and behaviour; social norms and learning; spreading processes on complex networks; critical transitions and social tipping dynamics for sustainability transformations.
• GIS Analyst / GIS Specialist: Experienced in applying GIS tools and spatial analysis techniques to
support decision-making in urban planning, environmental management, transportation, and infrastructure
projects. Skilled in producing high-quality maps, conducting spatial analysis, and delivering actionable
geospatial insights for operational and policy use.
• Geospatial Data Scientist: Specialized in developing spatial predictive models by integrating machine
learning and geospatial data to perform risk assessment, suitability analysis, and forecasting using large-
scale datasets such as satellite imagery, climate variables, and land-use data.
• Spatial Data Engineering & Processing: Strong ability to manage and preprocess complex geospatial
datasets, including raster and vector data, DEMs, remote sensing products, and climate projections, with
rigorous attention to spatial reference systems, accuracy, and data quality control.
• GIS Workflow Automation & Optimization: Proven experience in automating geospatial workflows
using ArcGIS Pro, ArcPy, ModelBuilder, FME (ETL), and Python to improve efficiency in spatial analysis,
data processing, and large-scale mapping tasks.
• Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analysis: Proficient in satellite imagery processing and analysis,
including cloud masking, spectral analysis, vegetation indices, land cover classification, and temporal
change detection using Google Earth Engine and Python.
• Geospatial Visualization & Cartography: Skilled in producing professional-grade thematic maps, spa-
tial dashboards, and web-based geovisualizations to communicate complex geospatial patterns to both
technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Experienced working with multidisciplinary teams across academia,
government, and industry to deliver geospatial solutions for planning, environmental risk assessment, and
policy-driven decision-making.
I am an agent-based modeller at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland. I specialise in large-scale modelling of social and socio-ecological systems, with a particular focus on simulating stressors and process that could give rise to transformational change. To date, my research has focused on food and agricultural systems, rural economies, and the WASH sector, with much of it informed by firsthand fieldwork in Africa, Asia, and Europe. I am also interested in leveraging open science, participatory research, quantitative ethnography, and grounded theory within modelling processes to collaboratively generate nuanced insights into individual behaviour and societal dynamics. I received the Open Science Award from the International Land Use Study Centre in 2023 for such work. I currently co-lead the European Social Simulation Association’s Special Interest Group on Modelling Transformative Change.
Displaying 10 of 26 results land use clear search