🌿Meet Our Partners – BioClima Project: 🇳🇱 University of Twente – Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)

📍 Netherlands | 🌐 https://www.itc.nl/

Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) is part of the University of Twente, and contributes to BioClima specifically through their Natural Resources Department (NRS). ITC Faculty specializes in Earth observation and geo-information science capacity building.

Role in BioClima

ITC researchers lead Work Package 2 of the biodiversity conservation project, which aims to advance biodiversity and climate monitoring in vulnerable ecosystems. Their specific focus is on bridging the gap between essential climate variables (ECVs) and essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) by utilizing Earth observation and in situ data.

Pilot site

ITC will lead a case study to implement the project activities in a climate change-sensitive Samaria National Park in Crete, Greece. This case study will be carried out in close cooperation with work packages 2 and 4, which focus on using drones and hyperspectral data. The site on Crete Island serves as the primary pilot site for testing the integration of ECVs and EBVs. The aim is to better understand the impacts of climate change-related extreme events on ecosystem structure, health, and functioning.

Team behind the work

The BioClima research at ITC is carried out by a dedicated team from the NRS department:

Dr. Yue Dou – Assistant Professor
Dr. Elnaz Neinavaz – Assistant Professor
Dr. Roshanak Darvishzadeh – Associate Professor
Dr. Panagiotis Nyktas – Assistant Professor
Qi Sun (MSc) – PhD Candidate

Quote – Why is BioClima important to your work?

As Dr. Yue Dou explains:

"This project is not just about cutting-edge science. It's also about building bridges between different cultures and research approaches. Through this project, we hope to strengthen the collaboration between Chinese and European scientific communities".

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Samaria National park in Crete

ITC Faculty building

ITC Faculty building

Organisation logo

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