Bio
Dr. Md. Habibur Rahman, affiliated with Kyoto University, Japan, completed his JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship (2024) and PhD (2021) there. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Forestry and a master’s in Climate Change and Development from Bangladesh. With over a decade of research and consulting experience in Japan and Bangladesh, he has published 50+ journal articles, books, and book chapters and has participated in conferences in Bangladesh, Japan, England, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, and China. His research focuses on coupled human–environment system dynamics, particularly balancing ecosystem conservation and resource utilization, cooking energy transitions, REDD+ and zero-deforestation strategies, community and stakeholder engagement in resource management, protected area management, landscape restoration, climate change, and sustainability. In 2013, he received the “Youth Research Award 2012” from GIZ-Bangladesh on the 1st International Day of Forests 2013.

Research Keywords
ecosystem services and management; Environmental Management; Climate Change Adaptation

Bio
Brian is a remote sensing advisor for SharedGeo, a group of geospatial experts dedicated to creating open-source maps for complex challenges, such as the first daily COVID-19 map by county in the U.S. in 2020. He also serves as the President of the Minnesota Forestry Association (MFA), bringing decades of expertise in forestry, remote sensing, and geospatial resource inventory systems. With both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in forestry from the University of Minnesota, Brian has spent his career advancing digital mapping and geospatial technologies. His journey in forestry began with hands-on experience, including fighting forest fires, urban forestry work, and tree measurements in Germany’s Black Forest. Over the years, he has worked with the Minnesota DNR, U.S. Geological Survey, USDA Forest Service, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, specializing in aerial photography, GIS, remote sensing, and precision agriculture. His work has contributed to high-resolution forest and vegetation canopy maps across the Great Lakes Basin, leveraging cutting-edge satellite imagery and supercomputing resources. Currently, Brian is helping MFA develop TimberView, a new woodland mapping system in collaboration with SharedGeo and the MN DNR, aimed at providing better geospatial tools for forest management. His work underscores the importance of forests in carbon storage and environmental sustainability. On a lighter note, his home is guarded by a rescued German Shepherd, fittingly named Pixel. MFA, one of the oldest associations in Minnesota, will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2026.

Research Keywords
wetlands; remote sensing; classification; review; optical; radar; lidar; sar; surface water extent; land cover; change detection