About Us

The SNF-Professorship of Applied Ecology and Conservation at the ETH Zurich is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). Research within the group focuses on addressing emerging environmental and socioeconomic challenges facing tropical developing nations including intensifying land-use conflicts, carbon emissions from land-use change and forestry, and threats to natural ecosystems and wildlife.

We adopt a holistic systems approach to evaluate the implications and tradeoffs of alternative land-use and development scenarios in relation to food and biofuel production, carbon storage and sequestration, conservation of forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and rural development.

We employ a variety of scientific approaches including conducting field surveys and experiments, and developing theoretical and computer simulation models. We also develop and implement innovative approaches to disseminate science and science-based decision-support tools to the general public. These tools include the REDD Calculator, the Species Extinction Calculator, the Land Use Calculator, and DeforLeaks.org.