The overarching goal of my research is to advance the understanding of land-system change, including its multiple repercussions on human welfare, food production, carbon balance and biodiversity. I approach these issues with integrative approaches that combine my expertise in resource economics and natural sciences. I conduct empirical work at different spatial scales. Specifically, I combine methodological approaches from economic development, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), spatial statistics, and artificial intelligence. The current geographic focus of my work are the successor countries of the former Soviet Union, specifically those in Central Asia, as well as Southeast Asia, and China.