Eric Lambin

Eric Lambin divides his time between the University of Louvain, Belgium (from mid-June to December every year), where he is professor at the Department of Geography, and Stanford University, were he occupies the George and Setsuko Ishiyama Provostial Professorship at the School of Earth Sciences  and Woods Institute for the Environment  (from January to mid-June every year).

He leads a research team that is involved in several international scientific projects on human-environment interactions in different parts of the world. These projects combine remote sensing, socio-economic data, and spatial models to better understand and predict terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and their impacts.

He was Chair of the international scientific project Land Use and Land Cover Change (IGBP/IHDP LUCC) from 1999 to 2005. He also contributed to the United Nations programme Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. He is often consulted by international organisations on issues related to tropical deforestation, desertification, the potential role of tropical forests in mitigating climate change, and environmental impacts of biofuels.

He is Foreign associate at the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences, one of the five Belgians to have this honour. He is also member of the European Academy of Sciences, the “Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique” and associated member of the “Académie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer de Belgique”.

He was awarded the 2009 Francqui prize the most prestigious scientific prize in Belgium that was presented to him personnaly by His Majesty Albert II, the King of Belgium.

Eric Lambin published numerous scientific papers (list of main publications ) and two broad audience books: The Middle path: Avoiding environmental catastrophe  (University of Chicago Press, 2007, translated from “La Terre sur un fil”) and “Une écologie du bonheur” (Editions Le Pommier, 2009, to be translated soon).

Research themes    

The research of Eric Lambin’s team concerns:

• Detection of land cover changes and terrestrial ecosystem dynamics at regional scales based on time series of wide-field-of-view Earth observation satellites. This work contributed to a better understanding of the geographic distribution of biodiversity and the dynamics of forest and savannah fires in Africa.
  
• An integrated approach to study human-environment interactions, linking remote sensing and socio-economic data. This research allowed for a better modelling of causes and impacts of tropical deforestation, desertification, and conflicts between wildlife and agriculture around large African national parks. These studies concerned Africa, China, Thailand, the Amazon, Indonesia…
  
• Responses by rural communities to environmental changes. Attention is being paid to non-linear transformations of terrestrial ecosystems and the transition from environmental degradation to environmental restoration that is taking place since a few years in some developing countries, in tropical forest regions (Vietnam, Bhutan…) ou drylands. These projects also concern strategies adopted by rural communities to adapt to and anticipate climate change (in the African Sahel) and modifications in macroeconomic policies (in Europe).
  
• The impact of land change on emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases that are transmitted by vectors (ticks, mosquitoes, flies). An integrated analysis at the landcape scale of changes in ecosystems and climate, the ecology of vectors and animal hosts of infectious agents, human behaviour, land use, and agricultural practices contribute to better understand  the emergence of diseases.

This research work helps identifying the conditions under which a society adopts more sustainable practices when using the natural environment. It also contributes to the emergence of a theory of human-environment interactions.