Leadership

Ida Djenontin

Role on the project: Lead PI
Affiliation: Department of Geography, Penn State University (https://www.geog.psu.edu/directory/ida-djenontin)
Education: PhD in Geography (Nature-Society Studies) and in Environmental Science & Policy, Michigan State University (US)
Research interests: Resource and land-use governance, Sustainable livelihoods, climate change adaptation and mitigation, participatory methods, knowledge coproduction, equity and justice.
Hobbies: Traveling
Something that you appreciate most about the project:
- the focus on understanding trade-offs between the many expected outcomes and benefits of restoration,
- the examination of the governance and institutional mediators of observed outcomes, and
- the particular and nuanced attention to dryland forest ecosystems.

Role on the project: co-PI
Affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University (https://nicholas.duke.edu/people/faculty/qiu)
Education: PhD. (2020), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research interests: Biodiversity, global change ecology, spatial ecology, remote sensing
Hobbies: Running, tennis, swimming
Something that you appreciate most about the project:
- study biodiversity of the complex grassland-forest mosaic on the ground and from space
- evidence-based scientific insights to inform policymaking
- generating data for local communities and many other relevant ecosystems

Role on the project: co-PI
Affiliation: University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources (https://forestry.umn.edu/people/forrest-fleischman)
Education: PhD Public Policy, Indiana University 2012. BS/MS Earth Systems, Stanford 2003
Research interests: Restoration social science, environmental justice, environmental governance
Hobbies (OPTIONAL): Gardens, birds, walking
Something that you appreciate most about the project: Combining social and natural science to really understand what impact restoration has on people

Role on the project: co-PI
Affiliation: Distinguished Professor of Geography, Director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (https://www.eesi.psu.edu/), Director of the Penn State Climate Consortium (https://climate.psu.edu/)
Education: PhD Oregon State (Forest Science); MS University of Montana (Forestry and Resource Conservation)
Research interests: wildfire, landscape and ecosystem ecology, coupled natural-human systems, climate change
Hobbies (OPTIONAL): trail running, gardening, pets, travel, and movies
Something that you appreciate most about the project: Getting to work in the miombo again! My MS degree (1995-1996) involved fire research in Zambian miombo and dambo ecosystems and, while I have worked in many other parts of Africa since (Ghana, South Africa, Kenya), being back in the miombo almost 30 years later (yikes!) is exciting.

Role on the project: Collaborator/Coordinator of South African component on socio-ecological issues
Affiliation: University of the Witwatersrand (https://www.wits.ac.za/people/academic-a-z-listing/t/waynetwinewitsacza/)
Education: PhD in natural resource use
Research interests: Ecology and human-environment relationships in rural African socio-ecological systems
Hobbies: Camping, bonsai
Something that you appreciate most about the project: I appreciate the important contribution this project is making to improved understanding of the social dimensions of ecological restoration which has not received enough attention, especially in semi-arid and mosaic African ecosystems.

Role on the project: Collaborator/Coordinator of Malawi component on socio-ecological issues
Affiliation: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and natural Resources (https://www.luanar.ac.mw/luanar/) and Miombo Network (http://miombonetwork.org/teams/dr-judith-kamoto/)
Education: PhD In International and Rural Development, University of Reading, UK; MSc Tropical Forestry (Social Forestry)
Research interests: Forestry, Gender, Policy analysis, governance and institutional functioning
Hobbies: Dancing, Listening to Music
Something that you appreciate most about the project: Working to change the environment for people and planet