Expert in Land Systems Science and Landscape Ecology
Associated with :
ETH ZurichSimona R. Gradinaru is a Land System Scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), where she studies urban and peri-urban landscapes as socio-ecological systems. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest in 2015, where she later led two postdoctoral projects focused on integrating food provision in urban policies. Her research journey includes a Fulbright Scholarship at Michigan State University in 2018, studying the impact of policies on urbanization patterns. As Secretary General of the European chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology and Editorial Board member for prestigious journals, she actively shapes the field of landscape ecology. Her work combines landscape ecological concepts with planning and policy applications, contributing to the understanding of landscape transformation processes. Gradinaru's research focuses on providing new insights into ways landscape ecological concepts and knowledge can support planning and policy, particularly in urban and peri-urban contexts. Her contributions have been recognized through various awards, including the Excellence Award for Young Researchers in Planning from the Romanian Association of Planners.