EDUCATION

• Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Geography, March 2017.

  • Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sweden.

    • Dissertation: Primary Production in African Drylands: Quantifying Supply and Demand Using Earth Observation and Socio-ecological Data. Supervisor: Prof. Jonas Ardö.

• Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies, March 2010.

  • Joint Degree: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal | Universität Münster, Germany | Universitat Jaume I, Spain.

    • Thesis: Investigating Habitat Association of Breeding Birds Using Public Domain Satellite Imagery and Land Cover Data. Supervisor: Prof. Edzer Pebesma

• Bachelor of Science in Geoscience, August 2007.

  • Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, United States. Undergraduate Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Matthew L. Gorring

Current POsition

Research Scientist: Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Sweden. 01/2022 – Present.

Professional EXPERIENCE

• Postdoctoral Researcher: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sweden. 08/2018 – 06/2019. Supervisor: Prof. Lars Eklundh.

• Project Assistant: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. 01/2018 – 08/2018. Supervisor: Prof. Jonas Ardö.

• PhD Candidate: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. 12/2012 – 03/2017. Supervisor: Prof. Jonas Ardö.

• Geographic Information Specialist: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 08/2010 – 10/2012. Supervisor: Prof. Robin E. Bell.

• Project Geoscientist: Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Unit, Science Applications International Corporation, Hackensack, NJ, USA. 05/2007 – 08/2008. Supervisor: Mark Hasting.

• Geotechnician: Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Unit, Science Applications International Corporation, Hackensack, NJ, USA. 04/2005 – 05/2007. Supervisor: Jillian M. Loughlin.

• Intern: Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Unit, Science Applications International Corporation, Hackensack, NJ, USA. 08/2004 – 04/2005. Supervisor: Yvonne Ciccone.

• Ecology Technician: Terrestrial Environmental Research Center, Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, Abu Dhabi, UAE. 08/1999 – 08/2001. Supervisor: Dr. Christopher R. Drew.

• Volunteer: Terrestrial Environmental Research Center, Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, Abu Dhabi, UAE. 05/1999 – 08/1999. Supervisor: Dr. Amrita de Soyza.

RESEARCH STAYS

• Postdoctoral Fellow: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 07/2019 – 12/2021 (2.5 years). Host: Prof. Rasmus Fensholt.

• Visiting PhD Student: Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, USA. 08/2015 – 12/2015 (5 months). Host: Prof. Ranga Myneni.

• Research Internship: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Institution, USA. 04/2010 – 08/2010 (4 months). Host: Dr. Peter Leimgruber.

Leave of Absence

• Parental Leave (100%): 02/2020 – 07/2020 (6 months)

• Parental Leave (100%): 07/2017 – 12/2017 (6 months)

Publications

• See Publications

Teaching and Supervision

• See Teaching and Supervision

RESEARCH GRANTS

Bold indicates currency of disbursement.

• Swedish National Space Agency (Rymdstyrelsen): Career Research Grant, November 2021. (SEK 5.304.000 / € 516.000 / US$ 581,109) | Principal Investigator.

• Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies: Research Initiation Grant, August 2021. (SEK 100.000 / € 9.693 / US$ 10,941) | Co-Investigator.

• Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet): Development Research, November 2018. (SEK 6.974.220 / € 672.603 / US$ 761,346) | Collaborator.

• Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet): International Postdoctoral Mobility Grant, June 2018. ( SEK 3.150.000 / € 306.310 / US$ 360,460) | Principal Investigator.

• Lund University Centre for Studies of Carbon Cycle and Climate Interactions: Project Seed Grant, July 2015 (SEK 30.000 / € 3.100 / US$ 3,400) | Co-Investigator.

OTHER Funds and fellowships

• Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, Fieldwork Grant, March 2022. (SEK 43.000 / € 3860 / US$ 4180)

• Faculty of Science, Lund University, Travel Grant, April 2018. (SEK 7.000 / € 690 / US$ 820)

• Japan Geoscience Union / American Geophysical Union: PhD Travel Grant attend the JpGU/AGU Joint Meeting in Chiba, Japan, April 2017. (US$ 1,000/ € 900 /SEK 8.900)

• NordForsk/Atmosphere-Biosphere Studies: Summer School Fellowship on Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Ecosystems and Societies in Nuuk, Greenland, July 2016. (€ 3.000 / SEK 29.000 / US$ 3,275)

• Royal Physiographic Society of Lund: PhD Travel Grant to visit Boston University, USA, September 2015 (SEK 13.500 / € 1.400 / US$ 1,500)

• Faculty of Science, Lund University: Travel Grant to attend Doctoral Summer School on “Climate Change – Uncertainties, Thresholds and Coping Strategies” in Graz, Austria, June 2014. (SEK 9.300 / € 970 / US$ 1,050)

• Royal Swedish Academy of Science: Margit Althin Grant to present at the 4th iLEAPS Science Conference on "Terrestrial ecosystems, atmosphere, and people in the Earth system" in Nanjing, China, May 2014. (SEK 14.500 / € 1.500 / US$ 1,640)

• National Science Foundation of the United States / American Association of Geographers: Junior Scholar Travel Grant to attend the International Geographical Congress in Cologne, Germany, August 2012. (US$ 1,250 / € 1.150 / SEK 11,000)

• National Science Foundation of the United States / American Association of Geographers: Junior Scholar Travel Grant to attend the International Geographical Union Regional Conference in Santiago, Chile, November 2011. (US$ 1,100 / € 1.000 / SEK 9.750)

• Association of Geographic Information Laboratories for Europe: Student Travel Grant to attend the 12th International Conference on Geographic Information Science in Hannover, Germany, June 2009. (€ 500 / SEK 4.800 / US$ 545)

• European Commission Full Graduate Fellowship: MSc in Geospatial Technologies, 09/2008 – 03/2010. (€ 25.600 / SEK 247.000 / US$ 27,900)

Awards and Distinctions

• World Wildlife Fund Sweden (WWF - Sweden) - Nominated as Environment Hero, October 2021.

• Torsten Hägerstrands Foundation - Annual Prize for the Promotion of Geographical Research, May 2017.

Press / Media / Outreach

• See Press / Outreach

SCIENCE SERVICE

Associate Editor: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, published by the Zoological Society of London. 12/2017 – Present.

Member of the Topical Advisory Board: Remote Sensing, 08/2021 - Present.

Research Proposal Reviewer: German Research Foundation (DFG), Slovak Academic and Scientific Programme (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Sêr Cymru (Welsh Government).

Journal reviewer for:

• AMBIO

• Biogeosciences

• Physical Geography

• Global Change Biology

• Remote Sensing of Environment

• Global Ecology and Biogeography

• Land Degradation and Development

• Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation

• Environment, Development and Sustainability

Organized Activities

• Co-organized - International Workshop on Remote Sensing and Landscape Ecology - Lund University, 5 - 6 March 2019.

• Organized - Symposium on Microwave Remote Sensing - Lund University, 19 April, 2018.

• Co-organized - International Workshop on GIS and Remote Sensing for Conservationists - Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 7 - 11 June 2010.

Invited Talks

1. Science communication in the age of social media. (2021). BECC Annual Meeting. Varberg, Sweden.

2. Satellites for Everyone. (2021). Next Generation Water Action - DTU Skylab. Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.

3. Satellites for Everyone. (2021) TEDx Technical University of Denmark. Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. (Online Recording)

4. Mapping the supply and demand of primary production in African drylands. (2020) McGill University - The Bennett Lab. Montreal, Canada.

5. The golden age of Earth observation. (2020) Astronomins dag och natt 2020: Jorden 2.0. Swedish Astronomical Society, Sweden (Online Recording).

6. Somali diaspora involvement in complex crises: The Abaaraha Crisis Mapping Tool. (2018) Danish Institute for International Studies. Copenhagen, Denmark.

7. How the Emirates Natural History Group put me on the road to science. (2017) Emirates Natural History Group 40th Anniversary. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

8. The delicate balance between supply and demand of primary production in Sahelian drylands. (2017) University of Richmond. Richmond, VA, United States.

9. On the causes of drought and famine in Somalia. (2017) Drought Emergency Meeting, Diaspora Emergency Action and Coordination / Danish Refugee Council. Stockholm, Sweden.

10. Processing primary production data for Africa. (2017) Big Data for a Small Planet. Lund, Sweden.

11. Supply and demand of net primary production in the Sahel. (2015) Less for More or More for Less? Adaptation to decreasing resource availability in the Sahel. Lund, Sweden.

12. Supply and demand of the products of photosynthesis in the Sahel. (2014) Information for Meeting Africa’s Agricultural Transformation and Food Security Goals (IMAAFS) Conference. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• Abdulhakim Abdi (2017). Impact of the El Niño – La Niña cycle on African drylands. Japan Geoscience Union – American Geophysical Union Joint Meeting, Chiba, Japan.

• Abdulhakim Abdi, Anton Vrieling, Genesis T Yengoh, Assaf Anyamba, Jonathan Seaquist, Caroline C Ummenhofer, Jonas Ardö (2015).Climatic and Socioeconomic Determinants of the Supply and Demand of Net Primary Production in sub-Saharan Drylands. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, USA.

• Abdulhakim Abdi, Jonas Ardö, Jonathan Seaquist, Lars Eklundh, David Tenenbaum. (2014). Preliminary Analysis of the Supply and Demand of Aboveground Net Primary Production in the Semiarid Sahel. Presented at the 2nd Global Land Project Open Science Meeting, Berlin, Germany.

• Abdulhakim Abdi, Michael Wolovick, Kirsty Tinto, Indrani Das, Timothy Creyts, Robin E. Bell. (2011). Mapping the Spatial Extent of Basal Frozen-on Ice in Northern Greenland. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, USA.

UNIVERSITY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lund University (Sweden): Chairperson of the Physical Geography Doctoral Student Council, Chair (Spring 2014 – Spring 2015).

• Lund University (Sweden): Science Doctoral Student Union Working Group, Member (Fall 2014, Spring 2015).

• Lund University (Sweden): Doctoral Student Union Executive Board, Member (Spring 2015).

• University of Muenster (Germany): Erasmus Mundus Association Course Representative (Fall 2009).

• Montclair State University (USA): International Student Organization, President (Fall 2004 – Spring 2006).

• Montclair State University (USA): Student Government, Director of Multicultural Affairs (Spring 2003, Fall 2003).

• Montclair State University (USA): Student Government, International Student Representative (Fall 2002).

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

• Pedagogical course on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education - Theory and Practice, Lund University, Spring 2022.

• Atmosphere-Biosphere Studies Summer School: Climate Change Effects on Arctic Ecosystems and Societies in Greenland and Iceland, July 2016.

• Barents Summer School: Climate Change Effects on Arctic Landscapes, Abisko Research Station, Abisko, Sweden, June 2015.

• Doctoral Summer School: Climate Change - Uncertainties, Thresholds and Coping Strategies, Graz, Austria, September 2014.

• Scientific Discovery Using Computers (COMPUTE) Graduate Research School, Lund University, Sweden, 2014 – 2016.

• Climate, Biodiversity and Ecosystems (ClimBEco) Graduate Research School, Lund University, Sweden, 2013 – 2015.

• European Space Agency 4th Advanced Training Course in Land Remote Sensing, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece, July 2014.

• Graduate Course on Earth Observation for Climate Change Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, October 2012.

[Last updated: January, 2023]