Ehsan Khalefa

I am a Research Fellow at the School of Environment and Life Sciences, having joined the University of Portsmouth  in January 2023. My current research project, funded by the NERC, explores the use of satellite remote sensing to map and monitor the impacts of climate and land use changes on surface water availability across the slopes of Mount Kiliminjrow.

Prior to my current role, I worked at the University of Leicester, where I was involved in research on crop monitoring using EO data, alongside academic teaching responsibilities. I contributed to the Geographic Analysis for Ecosystem Services module on the MRes Geography course, and served as a GIS Demonstrator for the undergraduate module Exploring Our Digital Planet during my PhD studies.

Following my time at University of Leicester, I joined the Earthwatch Institute as a Remote Sensing Research Consultant, where I contributed to international projects based in the Sultanate of Oman.

I hold an MSc in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources from the University of Leicester, where my dissertation focused on “An Object-Oriented Classification of Green Space Using High-Resolution Digital Aerial Imagery”. I subsequently completed a PhD with a research project titled “Remote Sensing of Savannah Vegetation Structure Using the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) and L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)“.

My research is cantered on the application of Earth observation data, with a particular focus on vegetation changes. Broader research interests include:

• Climate change
• Urban planning and monitoring
• Deforestation and forest degradation assessment
• Environmental monitoring, land use/ land cover analysis