Research
Felicia is a certified Geographic Information System professional (GISP). As a land system and ecological remote sensing researcher, her work intersects geoinformatics, environmental change and sustainability. Her research focuses on how land system change relates to degrading processes in coupled human-natural systems over multidecadal timescales. Land system change, that is, the spatial and temporal changes in the interplay of systems that shape land use and land cover, is implicated in ongoing sustainability challenges such as biodiversity decline, climate change and land degradation. These three interrelated themes are the pillars of her research: i) Land system change, ii) Land Degradation Neutrality - LDN (Sustainable Development Goal 15.3.1 - Life on Land), and iii) Modelling land use futures in the face of climate change for alternative development pathways, considering potential trade-offs and synergies between competing land uses. She is leading efforts to develop frameworks integrating GeoAI and remote sensing-based metrics for assessing land degradation, and predicting crop types in heterogenous smallholder farming systems.听
Teaching
Felicia has a habilitation (venia docendi) in Remote Sensing and Integrative Geography at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Felicia supervises student theses across all three cycles. She has experience handling courses at graduate and undergraduate programmes across different disciplines. Courses taught include the following:听
- Geospatial analysis with cloud computing in environmental monitoring
Spatial Statistics - Spatial Modelling and Remote Sensing of Natural Systems
- Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management听
- Assessing and Monitoring Land Surface Dynamics
- Environmental Assessment and Monitoring with Earth Observation听
- Principles of Geographic Information System
- Principles of Remote Sensing
Collaboration
Felicia collaborates with universities, research institutes and government departments in different countries including Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Botswana.
She contributes to the work of the Science Policy Interface group of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Scenarios-based Model Intercomparison WG of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Biodiversity Task Force of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). 听
Felicia conducts transdisciplinary research and has experience collaborating with stakeholders. Examples include engaging with the EU parliament intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development as a Panelist on the听EU鈥檚 biodiversity targets in 2022. Most recently within the EU-funded LucFRes project, she engaged with relevant stakeholders including government officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and smallholder farmers. Two stakeholder knowledge exchange workshops on modelling land use change impacts on smallholder farming systems in southwest Nigeria were convened in and . Deliberating about听the future of land use in the region and implications of changing land use on farming systems, a major output is the definition of farming system resilience from farmers鈥 perspectives.
Projects include:
- Land-use change and the resilience of food production systems (). European Union Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship.
- Monitoring land degradation in the Central District of Botswana. A three-tier land degradation index mapping approach (LDIMapping). United States Agency for International Development. 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听
Selected publications
Akinyemi FO, Ifejika Speranza C. 2024. Land transformation across agroecological zones reveals expanding cropland and settlement at the expense of tree-cover and wetland areas in Nigeria. Geo-spatial Information Science.听
Alibakhshi S., Akinyemi FO, Narcisa G. Pricope, Almazroui M, Psilovikos A, Zhang, L, Elhag M. 2024. Water and energy dynamics in a disturbed ecosystem. Earth Systems and Environment.
Cowie A, Huber-Sannwald E, Kishchuk B, Ljusa M, Armenteras D, Akinyemi FO, Barger N, Gichenje H, Ulambayar T, Albagnac M, Boerger V, Bres A, 膶ustovi膰 H, Herrick J, Lettington RL, Olaeye A, Morley R, Murgu铆a RO, Sims N, Ziadat F. 2024. . A Report of the Science-Policy Interface. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Bonn, Germany.
UNCCD 2024. Sustainable Land Use Systems: The path to collectively achieving Land Degradation Neutrality. UNCCD Science-Policy Brief.
Frey F, Mohr F, Ruiz鈥怉rag贸n V, Akinyemi FO, B眉rgi M. 2024. Agricultural irrigation development in Castilla y Le贸n (Spain): Driving forces and outcomes for landscape and sustainability in the 21st Century. Landscape Ecology 39, 193.
Iheaturu CJ, Hepner S, Batchelor JL, Agonvonon GA, Akinyemi FO, Wingate VR, Ifejika Speranza C. Integrating UAV LiDAR and multispectral data to assess forest status and map disturbance severity in a West African forest patch. Ecological Informatics 84, 102876 听
Ekberzade B, Carrasco AR, Izdebski A, Sofo A, Larsen A, Akinyemi FO,听 Bruckman VJ, Baker N, Clark S, Hill C. 2024. fostering transformative change for biodiversity restoration through transdisciplinary research Geosci. Commun., 7, 57鈥61. 听
Sono P, Selepeng AT, Mizunaga H, Akinyemi FO. 2024. Geological mapping and mineral exploration in Francistown region, northeast Botswana from integration of ASTER TIR and Aeromagnetic data. Journal of African Earth Sciences 105270. 听
Wingate VR, Akinyemi FO, Ifejika Speranza C. 2023. Archetypes of remnant West African forest patches, their main characteristics and geographical distribution. 听Applied Geography 158, 103024.
B盲r V, Akinyemi FO, Ifejika Speranza C. 2023. Land cover degradation in the reference and monitoring periods of the SDG Land Degradation Neutrality Indicator for Switzerland. Ecological Indicators 151, 110252.
Ekberzade B, Carrasco R, Polo MJ, Bruckman VJ, Sofo A, Izdebski A, Akinyemi FO, Larsen A, Baker N, Clark S. 2023 Jun. . The EGU Biodiversity Task Force, European Geosciences Union. 听
Chloe Hill, Akinyemi FO, Viktor Bruckman, Rita Carrasco, Bikem Ekberzade, Adam Izdebski, Annegret Larsen, Maria Polo, Adriano Sofo 2023. .听
Ifejika Speranza C,听Akinyemi FO, Baratoux D, Benveniste J, Ceperley N, Driouech F, Helmschrot J. 2023. Enhancing the uptake of earth observation products and services in Africa through a multi-level transdisciplinary approach. Survey in Geophysics 44, 7鈥41. 听
Akinyemi FO, Ifejika Speranza C. 2022. Agricultural landscape change impact on the quality of land: An African continent-wide assessment in gained and displaced agricultural lands. International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation 106:102644. 听
NASA Earth Observatory featured study: Crop Expansion Accelerates in Africa (March 28, 2022)
Wingate VR, Akinyemi FO, Iheaturu C, Ifejika Speranza C. 2022. A Remote Sensing-Based Inventory of West Africa Tropical Forest Patches: A Basis for Enhancing Their Conservation and Sustainable Use. Remote Sensing 14, 6251.
Osemwegie I, da Cruz Delgado K, Arimiyaw AW, Kanneh AB, Todota CT, Faye A, Akinyemi FO. 2022. Diagnostic Analysis of the Canary Current System of West Africa: The need for a paradigm shift to proactive natural resource management. Ocean Coast. Res. 69. 听
Verburg, P.H., Metternicht, G., Aynekulu, E., Deng, X., Herrmann, S., Schulze, K.,听Akinyemi FO, Barger, N., Boerger, V., Dosdogru, F., Gichenje, H., Kapovi膰-Solomun, M., Karim, Z., Lal, R., Luise, A., Masuku, B.S., Nairesiae, E., Oettl茅, N., Pilon, A., Raja, O., Ravindranath, N.H., Risti膰, R., von Maltitz, G. 2022. A report of the Science-Policy Interface. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Bonn, Germany.听
Chloe Hill, Akinyemi FO, Viktor Bruckman, Rita Carrasco, Bikem Ekberzade, Adam Izdebski, Annegret Larsen, Maria Polo, Adriano Sofo 2022.听. The EGU Biodiversity Task Force.听
Akinyemi FO, Ghazaryan G, Dubovyk O. 2021. Assessing UN indicators of Land Degradation Neutrality and proportion of degraded land over Botswana using Remote Sensing based national level metrics. Land Degradation and Development 32(1), 158-172.
Akinyemi FO, Tlhalerwa LT, Eze PN. 2021. Land degradation assessment in an African dryland context based on the Composite Land Degradation Index and Mapping method. Geocarto International 36(16): 1838-1854.
Akinyemi FO. 2021. Vegetation trends, drought severity and land use-land cover change during the growing season in semi-arid contexts. Remote Sensing 13: 836. 听
Akinyemi FO, Ikanyeng M, Muro J. 2020. Land cover change effects on land surface temperature trends in an African urbanizing dryland region. City and Environment Interactions. 听
Mhete M, Eze PN, Rahube TO, Akinyemi FO. 2020. Soil properties influence bacterial abundance and diversity under different land-use regimes in semi-arid environments. Scientific African 7, e00246. 听
Akinyemi FO, Kgomo MO. 2019. Vegetation dynamics in African drylands: An assessment based on the Vegetation Degradation Index in an agro-pastoral region of Botswana. Regional Environmental Change 19(7), 2027-2039. 听
Akinyemi FO, Abiodun BJ. 2019. Potential impacts of global warming levels 1.5oC and above on climate extremes in Botswana. Climatic Change 154:387-400. 听
Akinyemi FO, Mashame G. 2018. Analysis of land change in the dryland agricultural landscapes of eastern Botswana. Land Use Policy 76:798-811. 听
Akinyemi FO 2018. Incorporating Geographic Information Science in the BSc Environmental Science program in Botswana. Proceedings, International Cartographic Association, vol.1,3. 听
Akinyemi FO 2017. Land change in the central Albertine Rift: Insight from analysis and mapping of land use-cover change in north-western Rwanda. Appl Geogr 87:127-138. 听
Akinyemi FO, Pontius, Jr RG, Braimoh AK 2017. Land change dynamics: Insights from Intensity Analysis applied to an African emerging city. J. Spat Sci 62(1):69-83. 听
Akinyemi FO 2017. Climate change and variability in semi-arid Palapye, Eastern Botswana: An assessment from smallholder farmers鈥 perspective. Weather Clim. Soc 9:349-65.
Kebonye N, Eze P, Akinyemi FO. 2017. Long-term treated wastewater impacts and source identification of heavy metal in semi-arid soil of Central Botswana. Geoderma Reg 10:200-214. 听
Mashame G, Akinyemi FO. 2016. Towards a Remote Sensing based assessment of land susceptibility to degradation: Examining seasonal variation in land use-cover for modelling land degradation in a semi-arid context. Annals Photogram RS Spat Infor Sci 3(8):137-144.听
Akinyemi FO 2016. Technology use in Rwandan secondary schools: An assessment of teachers鈥 attitudes towards GIS. InternationalJournal of Research in Geography Env. Education 25(1):1-16.
Akinyemi FO 2015. An assessment of GIS use for teaching in Rwandan secondary schools. The Geography Teacher. 12(1): 27-40.
Ilius J, Akinyemi FO, Schweikart J 2014. Community-based tourism als Instrument zur Armutsbek盲mpfung am Beispiel von Fallstudien in Rwanda Rwanda (Translation: Community-based tourism as a tool for poverty alleviation: case studies in Rwanda). Zeitschrift f眉r Tourismuswissenschaft 6(2): 255-272.
Khan S, Akinyemi FO, Schweikart J 2014. Ausgew盲hlte Aspekte 枚ffentlicher Gesundheit in einer innerst盲dtischen informellen Siedlung. Das Beispiel Sangwa in Kigali (Translation: Selected aspects of public health in an urban informal settlement. Example of Sangwa in Kigali). Urbanes Leben, Forum Geo-Bau 4:33-40.
Akinyemi FO 2013. An assessment of land use change in the cocoa belt of south west Nigeria. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 34(8): 2858-2875. 听
Akinyemi FO, Kibora PM, Aborishade P 2013. Layout and legend design of topographic maps. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 48(1): 1鈥12.
Akinyemi FO 2012. Towards a Rwandan NSDI: An update. International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research 3(1):31-40.
Akinyemi FO, Sester M, Balogun OY 2012. Communicating information for development: A cartographic approach. Electronic J. of Information Systems in Developing Countries 53:1-20.
Akinyemi FO, Bigirimana F 2012. A spatial analysis of poverty in Kigali, Rwanda using indicators of household living standard. Rwanda Journal 26(1) Series B: 3-22.
Akinyemi FO, Rugege D 2012. A spatial-statistical analysis of urban deprivation in Durban, South Africa. Annals of Humanities and Development Studies, 3(2), 86-103. 听
Akinyemi FO, Uwayezu E 2011. An assessment of the current state of spatial data sharing in Rwanda. EC-JRC International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research 6: 365-387.
Akinyemi FO 2010. A conceptual poverty mapping data model. Transactions in GIS 14(S1):85-100.
Akinyemi FO, Kagoyire C 2010. The Rwanda metadata portal: A web catalogue service. EC-JRC International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research 5: 1-20. 听