Verden står i en biodiversitetskrise, hvor bestande af dyr og planter skrumper i antal, og levesteder tabes med en uset hastighed. I den sidste ende fører dette til udryddelse af mange arter – også i Danmark. Dertil kommer, at et stigende ressourceforbrug, klimaændringer og en øget tilstrømning af invasive arter forstærker den negative udvikling i fremtiden. Der er derfor behov for en ambitiøs indsats for naturbeskyttelse og –genopretning. Dette kræver en forståelse af grundlæggende biologiske sammenhænge og af de årsager, som ligger til grund for disse udfordringer.
På Institut for Biologi arbejder vi med spørgsmål som: Hvordan skabes en bedre balance mellem civilisationens behov og naturens modstandsdygtighed? Hvordan integreres naturbeskyttelse og –genopretning i landskabsforvaltning og i samfundsudviklingen generelt? Forskningen fokuserer på betydningen af tab af biodiversitet på genetisk, arts- og økosystemniveau. Desuden udvikler vi egnede forvaltningstiltag og anvender drone- og satellitunderstøttede overvågningsmetoder til genopretning af bestande og af hele økosystemer.
Henrik Balslev worked in Latin America and Thailand on pant systematics, ethnobotany, and plant ecology in projects funded by the Danish Research Council, Danida, EU, and Carlsberg Foundation. His project on harvest of wild palms in the Amazon basin involved 24 months field work along the Amazon river. Recent work in Thailand is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (2 mio €; 2015-2024). He has trained numerous researchers from the third world, parallel to supervising Danish MSc and PhD students.
With my background in Biology, PhD in Global Development, and postdoc in Human Geography, l am trying to combine the best of different field to specialize in Environmental Justice and sustainability.
I am eager to explore creative and engaging approaches via inter- and transdisciplinary research collaborations and innovative students, from landscape design experiments and photography-based studies to body-mapping of nature relations, and Citizen Science.
Currently, l am steering a research project in South Africa with partners from University of Pretoria and private and public partner. We focus on collaborative, locally-anchored Green Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions as a strategy to address great challenges surrounding biodiversity, inequity, water and waste in green spaces of deprived urban areas. The project includes co-development and onsite testing of landscape designs and ecological restoration with and in local communities.
In parallel, I am part of the SustainScapes research center and the Biodiverse Cities partnership, where I supervise a PhD project, in which we will assess user perceptions through co-created landscape visualizations (maps, models and physical installations) in Vilhelmsborg, Aarhus, in close collaboration with Aarhus Municipality.
Tightly connected to my research, I coordinate and teach a course in Global Change Biology. I see teaching as a privilege and passion, and an opportunity to integrate mutual learning with student-driven studies (see Pasgaard 2017).
See further detail on this profile page or do not hesitate to reach out for more information.
Jens-Christian Svenning is a macroecologist and biogeographer, with strong interest in plants, animals and people across the world. Alongside basic curiosity about nature, Jens-Christian Svenning is highly motivated to contribute to help overcome the climate and biodiversity crises and promote sustainable societal development. His research includes foci on fundamental drivers of biodiversity, climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, and human-nature interactions from the past to the future, with interest in fundamental issues such as disequilibrium dynamics and top-down trophic effects. Key applied research foci include predictive modelling, the application of informatics and space-borne and other remote sensing technology to ecological and sustainability research, human dependence on and benefits from nature, and rewilding as a promising approach to ecosystem restoration. Jens-Christian Svenning is committed to ensuring the societal benefits of his research and knowledge, working closely with a range of public and private actors on concrete real-world conservation, restoration, and sustainability projects and challenges, as well as doing large amounts of outreach.
