EO4HumEn

Stefan Lang, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics (Z_GIS) at the University of Salzburg in Austria, is Geographer, GIS and Remote Sensing specialist by training. He is heading the Z_GIS Division Integrated Spatial Analysis (ISA). Active in the fields of advanced geo-spatial image analysis, EO-based monitoring and spatial indicator integration, he works on cutting-edge research fields on both conceptual and applied level. Stefan coordinates the EO4HumEn+ project.

Barbara Riedler, MSc, is biologist with expertise in the field of environmental monitoring, and GIS expert. Within the EO4HumEn+ project Barbara is supporting the project management, coordinating the work related to population estimation and is involved in vulnerability assessments. She also coordinates the operational requests from MSF regarding EO-based information products of refugee and IDP camps.

Lorenz Wendt, PhD, is geologist and remote sensing specialist. His research interests are the application and development of remote sensing to address geological and environmental topics. He works at University of Salzburg's Department of Geoinformatics (Z_GIS). In EO4HumEn+ he coordinates the monitoring of environmental resources.

Dirk Tiede, PhD, is geographer, specialized in GIS and remote sensing. As an assistant professor at the Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), University of Salzburg, Austria he is coordinating the working group OBIA. He is specialized in image analysis using EO data and OBIA, GIS application development and GIS modelling. Within the EO4HumEn+ project Dirk is supporting the methodological developments of EO data pre-processing and object-based feature extraction.

Petra Füreder has been providing EO-based information products of refugee and IDP camps to MSF since 2011 and is responsible for coordinating the operational requests from MSF.

She is holding a Master’s degree in Applied Geoinformatics and is working as researcher at the Department of Geoinformatics - Z_GIS, Salzburg University since 2008. She has been involved in a range of national and EU funded research projects in the field of humanitarian operations, environmental monitoring and emergency response. Her research interests include development of automated image classification methods using object-based image analysis (OBIA), cartography and visualization.

Edith Rogenhofer started to work in the humanitarian field in 1991 and is working since 1998 with MSF. She has mainly worked in projects in Africa, with a few stints in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The majority of the projects have been projects in complex emergencies, focusing on water supply and sanitation in camp settings and rural areas. She is holding an MSc in Water management as well as diploma in drilling. Within the EO4HumEn+ project Edith coordinates the information and mapping requests from the international MSF movement.

Andreas Braun is a PhD student at the Department for Geography at University of Tübingen, Germany. He studied Geoinformatics and Landscape System Sciences (M.Sc.) and participated in various international research projects on Global Change, ecosystems and natural resources. Within the EO4HumEn+ project Andreas uses SAR data of TerraSAR-X, ALOS PALSAR and Sentinel-1 to support environmental impact assessments and groundwater exploration and management.

Volker Hochschild is Professor of Geoinformatics at the Geographical Institute of Tuebingen University since 2004. His major research subjects are multisensoral remote sensing, web-based spatial data bases, qualitative compilation of environmental risks and vulnerabilities using integrative assessment methods and indices as well as GIS-based management recommendations for natural resources. 

Richard Schörghofer, GIS specialist, studied Geoinformation (BSc) at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS) and was involved in several international and national projects. At Spacial Services GmbH, Richard deals with the blue-printing of software and hardware and the setup and maintainance of servers and the handling spatial databases to create metadata portals and web enabled GIS applications. Within EO4HumEn+ project Richard sets up a metadata sharing portal and maintains the SDI.

Hubert Schöndorfer studied Geography degree with a focus on geoinformatics at the University of Salzburg. 1997 he founded the company GEOID - geographical information and data management and was CEO until 2006. From 2000 to 2004 he was Director of the GISCluster Salzburg and from 1999 to 2004 he was Managing Director of the company NextGIS - 3D laser scanning and modeling. Since 2006 until 2015 he was the owner of the GEOVIZ – Geographic Visualization. Since 2014 he manages the project GeoSPS – geo enabled smart processes and services - at the University of Salzburg - Z_GIS. 2015 he works as the CEO of the Spin-off Spatial Services GmbH. In EO4HumEn+ he coordinates the project for Spatial Services GmbH.

Elisabeth Schoepfer, PhD, is geographer, specialized in GIS and remote sensing. She is leading a research team on ‘Humanitarian relief and crisis indicators’ at the Earth Observation Center of DLR. Her research interests include, from a technical point of view, object-based image analysis (OBIA), change detection and spatial analysis focusing on exploring human-environment interactions, specifically in disasters or crisis situations. Elisabeth coordinates the EO4HumEn+ project for DLR.

Alexander is a water and sanitation engineer with more than 10 years professional experience in water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion in East Africa and South Asia. Through his background in the humanitarian sector, wide network and knowledge in disaster response, he will specifically contribute to the scenario development of the EO4HumEn+ project and coordinate the humanitarian sector users.

Elmar has extensive professional experience in rural water projects in long-term development as well as humanitarian setting. His engineering background and long-standing involvement in the Red Cross movement will be crucial for the validation of the generated data in the EO4HumEn+ project, especially in remote locations.

Bassam is studying Geographic Information Science and Systems (MSc GISs) at the University of Salzburg. He has started working in the humanitarian field in 2012 as a GIS Head of Unit with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Since mid-2016 he is supporting the WASH team of the Austrian Red Cross, especially in his role as a GIS specialist for the EO4HumEn+ project.

As an environmental engineer Magdalena brings along six years of work experience in water and sanitation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Magdalena recently joined the Austrian Red Cross and is supporting the EO4HumEn+ project in her role as WASH Advisor.