I am a land system scientist working on understanding the processes, mechanisms, and consequences of Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC). My research interest is driven by witnessing the rapid changes in land-use and land-cover in my home country, Singapore and in the wider region of Southeast Asia. Land is not just a biophysical property of the earth system but interconnected with peoples’ livelihoods, values, cultures, and belief systems. As such, it is crucial to adopt a land system science approach which is inherently multi- and inter-disciplinary and draws on the strengths of the natural and social sciences. My research interests include the sustainability of forest-risk commodity production, evidence-based approaches for ecosystem restoration, the socio-ecological drivers and consequences of LULCC, and mapping changes in land systems.
I have 15 years of experience working in Southeast Asia and started on the conversion of forests to agriculture for commodity crops for my PhD. My initial work on the palm oil industry in Southeast Asia began with the smallholder industry (Lee et al., 2014a, 2014b, 2013, 2011; Rist et al., 2009), followed by measuring and modelling its expansion in tropical regions (Abood et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2016; Sarzynski et al., 2020; Srinivasan et al., 2021; Wich et al., 2014), and evaluating the industry’s efforts towards sustainable production (Lee et al., 2020; Meijaard et al., 2020).
Over the last 8 years, I have worked with collaborators from anthropology, business studies, science technology studies, sociology, ecology, risk analysis, hydrology, and architecture and urban planning to investigate the processes, mechanisms, and consequences of LULCC.
The approach taken in my research is to map and quantify LULCC using remotely sensed products and investigate the mechanism and consequence of these changes by collecting socio-ecological data in the field. I combine both remotely sensed and field data to develop models for understanding and predicting LULCC processes.
My research interests include the following:
I have 15 years of experience working in Southeast Asia and started on the conversion of forests to agriculture for commodity crops for my PhD. My initial work on the palm oil industry in Southeast Asia began with the smallholder industry (Lee et al., 2014a, 2014b, 2013, 2011; Rist et al., 2009), followed by measuring and modelling its expansion in tropical regions (Abood et al., 2015; Lee et al., 2016; Sarzynski et al., 2020; Srinivasan et al., 2021; Wich et al., 2014), and evaluating the industry’s efforts towards sustainable production (Lee et al., 2020; Meijaard et al., 2020).
Over the last 8 years, I have worked with collaborators from anthropology, business studies, science technology studies, sociology, ecology, risk analysis, hydrology, and architecture and urban planning to investigate the processes, mechanisms, and consequences of LULCC.
The approach taken in my research is to map and quantify LULCC using remotely sensed products and investigate the mechanism and consequence of these changes by collecting socio-ecological data in the field. I combine both remotely sensed and field data to develop models for understanding and predicting LULCC processes.
My research interests include the following:
1) Sustainability of forest-risk commodity production
Tropical deforestation is largely driven by commodity crop production, especially in the region of Southeast Asia. Commodity crops that pose a risk to tropical forests are labelled forest-risk commodities. Some forest-risk commodities have received significant research attention (such as palm oil and cattle) due to the rapid and large-scale conversion of tropical forests at a global scale. Other forest-risk commodities are understudied as they are emerging crops that play an important role in deforestation at local scales. Global demand for many of these commodities will remain high, hence investigating the pathways for sustainable production of these commodities is an area of active research, which my lab is focused on.
In recent years, I have worked on assessing different pathways of sustainable palm oil production, by studying voluntary sustainability standards (e.g., the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO) (Lee et al., 2020), the use of grievance procedures in regulating third-party suppliers in corporations, as well as the role independent palm oil associations play in scaling up sustainable smallholder palm oil production. I've also worked with Dr. Anushka Rege (a former PhD student) on a less studied forest-risk commodity - cashew. We evaluated the effects of cashew cultivation on forests, biodiversity, and people across the world (Rege & Lee 2023), and developed adopted a case study in north-eastern Western Ghats of India, which is a major cashew producing region (Rege & Lee 2022).
Fig. 1 (a) RSPO certification significantly reduced incidence of land pollution and increased the number of private educational facilities in villages in Kalimantan but not in Sumatra. Modified from Lee et al. (2020) (b) A timeline of agricultural subsidies and land-use policies in India which increased the planting of cashew tree-crops. Modified from Rege and Lee (2022).
Tropical deforestation is largely driven by commodity crop production, especially in the region of Southeast Asia. Commodity crops that pose a risk to tropical forests are labelled forest-risk commodities. Some forest-risk commodities have received significant research attention (such as palm oil and cattle) due to the rapid and large-scale conversion of tropical forests at a global scale. Other forest-risk commodities are understudied as they are emerging crops that play an important role in deforestation at local scales. Global demand for many of these commodities will remain high, hence investigating the pathways for sustainable production of these commodities is an area of active research, which my lab is focused on.
In recent years, I have worked on assessing different pathways of sustainable palm oil production, by studying voluntary sustainability standards (e.g., the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO) (Lee et al., 2020), the use of grievance procedures in regulating third-party suppliers in corporations, as well as the role independent palm oil associations play in scaling up sustainable smallholder palm oil production. I've also worked with Dr. Anushka Rege (a former PhD student) on a less studied forest-risk commodity - cashew. We evaluated the effects of cashew cultivation on forests, biodiversity, and people across the world (Rege & Lee 2023), and developed adopted a case study in north-eastern Western Ghats of India, which is a major cashew producing region (Rege & Lee 2022).
Fig. 1 (a) RSPO certification significantly reduced incidence of land pollution and increased the number of private educational facilities in villages in Kalimantan but not in Sumatra. Modified from Lee et al. (2020) (b) A timeline of agricultural subsidies and land-use policies in India which increased the planting of cashew tree-crops. Modified from Rege and Lee (2022).
2) Evidence-based restoration for tropical ecosystems
Restoration of tropical ecosystems is complex, and there is a need to pay attention to both the social and ecological processes of ecosystem restoration. There has been significant research attention on restoring tropical peatlands following the devastating fires and haze in 2015. My research team led the development of several topical and innovative studies that contribute towards evidence-based approaches for restoring tropical peatlands (Fatimah et al., 2023; Rahman et al., 2023; Smith et al., 2022).
An overview of our research outputs can be viewed here:
Poster on Socio-ecological restoration of South East Asian Peatlands (EN | BAHASA)
Talk at the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS (link)
I am expanding on this work in the Climate Transformation Programme, led by the Earth Observatory of Singapore. We plan to address challenges related to the permanence and quantification of land-based climate mitigation strategies, including but not exclusive to tropical peatland reforestation.
Restoration of tropical ecosystems is complex, and there is a need to pay attention to both the social and ecological processes of ecosystem restoration. There has been significant research attention on restoring tropical peatlands following the devastating fires and haze in 2015. My research team led the development of several topical and innovative studies that contribute towards evidence-based approaches for restoring tropical peatlands (Fatimah et al., 2023; Rahman et al., 2023; Smith et al., 2022).
An overview of our research outputs can be viewed here:
Poster on Socio-ecological restoration of South East Asian Peatlands (EN | BAHASA)
Talk at the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS (link)
I am expanding on this work in the Climate Transformation Programme, led by the Earth Observatory of Singapore. We plan to address challenges related to the permanence and quantification of land-based climate mitigation strategies, including but not exclusive to tropical peatland reforestation.
3) Socio-ecological drivers and consequences of LULCC
Deforestation threatens wildlife populations by removing their habitats, reducing their range sizes and food sources, and increasing the occurrence of human-wildlife conflict and poaching activity. To protect wildlife, we need to demonstrate how forests are important reservoirs of biodiversity and how they provide ecosystem services to human communities. To do so, long-term datasets are required but are scarce, especially in Southeast Asia. My research group collaborated with the Wildlife Conservation Society (Indonesia) to analyse long-term datasets on deforestation and mammal population, and we generated our own datasets by applying web scraping techniques to collate online data (Lubis et al., 2023; 2024; Neo et al., 2023).
Fire is an important LULCC process in Southeast Asia as it contributes to economic activities yet causes severe damage to ecosystems, biodiversity, livelihoods, and human health. My research group works towards understanding the drivers of fire activity which entails the use of both social and ecological datasets to encompass the coupled human-natural system of anthropogenic fires. We used a socioeconomic dataset and publicly available environmental datasets to evaluate what social and environmental factors were associated with fires in eastern Sumatra during one of the worst drought periods in 2015 (Sze et al., 2019). At a global scale, Dr. Maple Sifeng Wu (a former PhD student) led a study on assessing the geophysical and anthropogenic drivers of global fire emission trends from 2001-2019 (Wu et al., 2022).
Deforestation threatens wildlife populations by removing their habitats, reducing their range sizes and food sources, and increasing the occurrence of human-wildlife conflict and poaching activity. To protect wildlife, we need to demonstrate how forests are important reservoirs of biodiversity and how they provide ecosystem services to human communities. To do so, long-term datasets are required but are scarce, especially in Southeast Asia. My research group collaborated with the Wildlife Conservation Society (Indonesia) to analyse long-term datasets on deforestation and mammal population, and we generated our own datasets by applying web scraping techniques to collate online data (Lubis et al., 2023; 2024; Neo et al., 2023).
Fire is an important LULCC process in Southeast Asia as it contributes to economic activities yet causes severe damage to ecosystems, biodiversity, livelihoods, and human health. My research group works towards understanding the drivers of fire activity which entails the use of both social and ecological datasets to encompass the coupled human-natural system of anthropogenic fires. We used a socioeconomic dataset and publicly available environmental datasets to evaluate what social and environmental factors were associated with fires in eastern Sumatra during one of the worst drought periods in 2015 (Sze et al., 2019). At a global scale, Dr. Maple Sifeng Wu (a former PhD student) led a study on assessing the geophysical and anthropogenic drivers of global fire emission trends from 2001-2019 (Wu et al., 2022).
4) Mapping changes in land systems
Observations of LULCC processes are constantly made using sensors in the sky. Google Earth Engine is a cloud-based remote sensing user platform that combines multi-petabyte catalogue of satellite imagery and geospatial datasets with planetary-scale analysis capabilities. I first used Google Earth Engine in 2013 when the platform was still developing. I used Google Earth Engine to detect the presence of industrial palm oil plantations in a peat swamp landscape in southwest Aceh (Lee et al., 2016). Following this work, my Masters student used publicly available satellite imagery in Google Earth Engine to map oil palm plantations on the eastern coast of Sumatra (Sarzynski et al., 2020) and my PhD student used Google Earth Engine to map cashew tree crops in the Western Ghats, India (Rege et al., 2022). I have been supporting the use of Google Earth Engine and been involved in organizing in-person and online workshops to come together, network and share opportunities for research using Google Earth Engine. Our online workshop during COVID-19 was very successful and was part of the Singapore Geospatial Festival organised by the Singapore Land Authority. We reached out to over a hundred participants based mostly in the Asia-Pacific region (see our videos and presentations hosted under the International Student Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Student Consortium). Our in-person workshop in Singapore attracted researchers from different universities in Singapore and provided a platform for networking and interaction (Youtube link).
Observations of LULCC processes are constantly made using sensors in the sky. Google Earth Engine is a cloud-based remote sensing user platform that combines multi-petabyte catalogue of satellite imagery and geospatial datasets with planetary-scale analysis capabilities. I first used Google Earth Engine in 2013 when the platform was still developing. I used Google Earth Engine to detect the presence of industrial palm oil plantations in a peat swamp landscape in southwest Aceh (Lee et al., 2016). Following this work, my Masters student used publicly available satellite imagery in Google Earth Engine to map oil palm plantations on the eastern coast of Sumatra (Sarzynski et al., 2020) and my PhD student used Google Earth Engine to map cashew tree crops in the Western Ghats, India (Rege et al., 2022). I have been supporting the use of Google Earth Engine and been involved in organizing in-person and online workshops to come together, network and share opportunities for research using Google Earth Engine. Our online workshop during COVID-19 was very successful and was part of the Singapore Geospatial Festival organised by the Singapore Land Authority. We reached out to over a hundred participants based mostly in the Asia-Pacific region (see our videos and presentations hosted under the International Student Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Student Consortium). Our in-person workshop in Singapore attracted researchers from different universities in Singapore and provided a platform for networking and interaction (Youtube link).
CURRENT RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
Land use change in Singapore: linking housing policies to changes in urban green spaces
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from NTU's School of Social Sciences and the Asian School of the Environment.
Using Black Soldier Flies in Food Waste Management and Sustainable Food Production in Urban Systems
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from NUS, SEC and NTU. Asst. Prof. Nalini Puniamoorthy from NUS leads this NRF-INTRACREATE Grant. More details on this project can be found here.
Agropolitan territories of Monsoon Asia
This work is done in collaboration with the Future Cities Laboratory which is a research collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Singapore universities, including NTU. It is supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore. See here for more details.
Land-use transitions in Indonesian peatlands
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and IPB-University (Zhao et al., 2023, 2022). It is supported by NASA LCLUC program. See here for more details.
Riparian buffers in oil palm plantations: biodiversity refuge or pest source?
This work is done in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Eleanor Slade who heads the Tropical Ecology and Entomology Lab at NTU Singapore.
Jurisdictional approaches for HCV areas in Central Kalimantan
This work is done in collaboration with Kaleka, a non-profit organization that protects farmer livelihoods and forests (Padmanaba et al., 2023).
Carbon governance in Southeast Asia
I am a collaborator on work packages I (Terrestrial Forests) and III (Peatlands and Agricultural Soils) under the Climate Governance of nature-based carbon sinks in Southeast Asia (CGSEA) project, funded by MOE Social Science Research Thematic Grant. This is led by NUS Department of Geography.
Nature-based Climate Solutions in Southeast Asia
I am an affiliate researcher at the NUS Center for Nature-based Climate Solutions. I produced papers related to the constraints on reforestation in Southeast Asia (Zeng et al., 2020) as well as the ban on wildlife trade and consumption in China (Koh et al., 2021).
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from NTU's School of Social Sciences and the Asian School of the Environment.
Using Black Soldier Flies in Food Waste Management and Sustainable Food Production in Urban Systems
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from NUS, SEC and NTU. Asst. Prof. Nalini Puniamoorthy from NUS leads this NRF-INTRACREATE Grant. More details on this project can be found here.
Agropolitan territories of Monsoon Asia
This work is done in collaboration with the Future Cities Laboratory which is a research collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Singapore universities, including NTU. It is supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore. See here for more details.
Land-use transitions in Indonesian peatlands
This work is done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and IPB-University (Zhao et al., 2023, 2022). It is supported by NASA LCLUC program. See here for more details.
Riparian buffers in oil palm plantations: biodiversity refuge or pest source?
This work is done in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Eleanor Slade who heads the Tropical Ecology and Entomology Lab at NTU Singapore.
Jurisdictional approaches for HCV areas in Central Kalimantan
This work is done in collaboration with Kaleka, a non-profit organization that protects farmer livelihoods and forests (Padmanaba et al., 2023).
Carbon governance in Southeast Asia
I am a collaborator on work packages I (Terrestrial Forests) and III (Peatlands and Agricultural Soils) under the Climate Governance of nature-based carbon sinks in Southeast Asia (CGSEA) project, funded by MOE Social Science Research Thematic Grant. This is led by NUS Department of Geography.
Nature-based Climate Solutions in Southeast Asia
I am an affiliate researcher at the NUS Center for Nature-based Climate Solutions. I produced papers related to the constraints on reforestation in Southeast Asia (Zeng et al., 2020) as well as the ban on wildlife trade and consumption in China (Koh et al., 2021).
PAST RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
GreenPeat: Examing Peatland Fire Dynamics with AI and Earth Observation
This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Minerva Singh and Prof. Guillermo Rein from Imperial College and supported by a seed grant through the NTU-Imperial Collaboration Fund.
Dam construction in Indonesia
This work was done in collaboration with Kai Wan Yuen, Prof. Edgardo Latrubesse, Asst. Prof. Edward Park from NTU and Prof. Muh Taufik, Prof. I. Putu Santikayasa, and Melda Hazrina from IPB-University (Yuen et al., 2023).
Wildlife trade and consumption: Behavioural interventions for saiga horn consumption
This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Hunter Doughty and Prof. EJ Milner-Gulland from the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford (Doughty et al., 2021a, 2021b, 2019).
Rice agricultural systems and tropical cyclones
This work was done in collaboration with Kai Wan Yuen, Prof. Adam Switzer, and Prof. Paul Teng from NTU (Yuen et al., 2024, 2022).
This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Minerva Singh and Prof. Guillermo Rein from Imperial College and supported by a seed grant through the NTU-Imperial Collaboration Fund.
Dam construction in Indonesia
This work was done in collaboration with Kai Wan Yuen, Prof. Edgardo Latrubesse, Asst. Prof. Edward Park from NTU and Prof. Muh Taufik, Prof. I. Putu Santikayasa, and Melda Hazrina from IPB-University (Yuen et al., 2023).
Wildlife trade and consumption: Behavioural interventions for saiga horn consumption
This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Hunter Doughty and Prof. EJ Milner-Gulland from the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford (Doughty et al., 2021a, 2021b, 2019).
Rice agricultural systems and tropical cyclones
This work was done in collaboration with Kai Wan Yuen, Prof. Adam Switzer, and Prof. Paul Teng from NTU (Yuen et al., 2024, 2022).
