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Michael Obersteiner

Profile

Michael Obersteiner is the Director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.

His research experience stretches from biophysical modelling in the areas of ecosystems, forestry and agriculture to economics, finance and integrated assessment, and he works across ECI's research themes.

Professor Obersteiner joins the institute from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), where he was the Director of the Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program. He joined the IIASA Forestry Program in 1993 and has been leading and developing the ESM Program, which is currently the largest research program at IIASA, since 2011. He is currently part of the Management Group of Oxford’s Agile Initiative which pioneers rapid interdisciplinary research for environmental solutions.

Professor Obersteiner's background includes the fields of global terrestrial ecosystems and economics, having completed graduate studies both in Austria (BOKU University and Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna) and abroad (Columbia University, New York and Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk).

Under his leadership several national and international organizations, including inter alia the European Commission, WWF, OECD, and other national and international institutions have received science-based policy advice using quantitative modelling techniques. He is author of over 250 scientific papers and is a highly-cited researcher - ranking in the top 1% of citations in the Web of Science according to Clarivate research.

Publications

Fuss, S. et al. (2009) “Valuing climate change uncertainty reductions for robust energy portfolios”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 749–752.
Khabarov, N., Bun, A. and Obersteiner, M. (2009) “The value of observations for reduction of earthquake-induced loss of life on a global scale”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1173–1176.
Szolgayova, J., Obersteiner, M. and Fuss, S. (2009) “Optimal forest management with stochastic prices & endogenous fire risk”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1203–1206.
Khabarov, N., Moltchanova, E. and Obersteiner, M. (2009) “Value of weather observations for reduction of forest fire impact on population”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1210–1213.
Rydzak, F. and Obersteiner, M. (2009) “System dynamics model for analyzing and measuring the benefits of Global Earth Observation”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1177–1180.
Smirnov, A. and Obersteiner, M. (2009) “Will GEO work? - An economist view”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1207–1209.
Heumesser, C. and Obersteiner, M. (2009) “International cooperation on Earth observation in the course of GEOSS An evaluation based on game theoretic and economic concepts”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1214–1217.
Fritz, S. et al. (2009) “Uncertainties in global land cover data and its implications for climate change mitigation policies assessment”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1187–1190.
Petit, C. et al. (2009) “Reinforcing Europe’s contribution to GEO - Poster Session”, in Proceedings, 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2009, pp. 1397–1400.
Leduc, S. et al. (2009) “Optimizing biodiesel production in India”, Applied Energy, 86, pp. s125 - s131.