Jesica López

About me

I am a PhD student in Sustainable Land Use at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, CEC. I’m originally from Colombia, but I moved to Denmark in 2009, and recently moved to Sweden. I have a BA in environmental biology at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá (Colombia) and a MSc in forest and nature management at the University of Copenhagen. After my studies I’ve gained experience at the private and public sector in Denmark as an ecosystem services consultant at consultancy firm COWI A/S Denmark, as well as an ecosystem service specialist at Climate-KIC Nordic, and finally as research coordinator at the Food and Resource economic department of the University of Copenhagen.

From being involved in a number of projects, I learned (and still learning) the significant importance at intersecting the systems needs behind land use changes such as agriculture and forestry with indispensable mechanisms and measures to support key decision-policy makers. I firmly believe our knowledge, capacity and innovative cross disciplinary collaborations are key to accelerate the shift towards achievement of the sustainable development goals framework. 

About my research project

We are now at a fundamental “tipping point” to support a wider array of social, environmental, and economic benefits from managing land-based natural capital. Therefore, the main focus of my research project is the study of conflicts and synergies between societal demands of the increased agricultural expansion of cattle production in the northwest of the Amazon region of Colombia together with GIS tools to enforce policy schemes that ensure pathways to reduce the alarming deforestation and loss of biodiversity in this part of the Amazon region.

My research interests within the SGDs are focused on Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production, Goal 13 on climate action, Goal 15 on life on land and Goal 17 on partnerships for the goals.

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