^{Tamar Haspel is a James Beard Award-winning Washington Post columnist, covering how our diet affects us and our planet. She’s also written for The Atlantic, Discover, Vox, Slate, Fortune, Eater, and Edible Cape Cod. Her book, TO BOLDLY GROW, is about food, adventure, and the secret to successful self-improvement. "Hilarious" and "delightful," the reviewers say, and if it doesn't make you laugh out loud at least once she will buy you a beer.}

Keynote: Ecosystem restoration will increase the demand for land: Concerns and opportunities for sustainability

^{Pedro is an agronomist and restoration ecologist, specializing in developing cost-effective solutions to conserve and restore tropical forests. Over the past 20 years, he has dedicated his career to understanding the ecological mechanisms and socio-economic factors that drive successful restoration and developing collaborative solutions with various stakeholders to make ecological restoration a competitive land use option. Although most of his projects are in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, he has also conducted research in the Cerrado and Amazon regions and performed global analyses on various restoration topics. Pedro began his career focusing on land use planning and restoring environmentally sensitive areas to help agricultural and forestry companies comply with environmental laws. Later, he collaborated with governments, NGOs, and coalitions to develop restoration programs for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provisioning. Recently, he has concentrated on enabling forest restoration for carbon credits generation. On weekends, Pedro manages his own restoration areas on his farm. While primarily a plant ecologist, Pedro has bridged knowledge gaps in restoration science and practice across genetics, governance, remote sensing, and economics, making him a well-rounded generalist. In recent years, he has expanded his focus from traditional scientific projects to include research, development, and innovation initiatives, aiming to accelerate the transformative changes needed to scale up restoration and deliver benefits for nature and people.}

Keynote: A Cross-roads for just land systems: food production jobs, value-chains, and the transformation of rural-urban landscapes.

^{Over three decades, Eduardo has developed a research program in environmental anthropology that is collaborative and international, interdisciplinary, and problem-oriented, and, particularly dedicated to understanding rural and urban populations and landscapes, and the transformation of the Amazon. For most of his career, Eduardo has studied small farmers and rural households in Eastern Amazonia as they have interacted with commodity markets and value-chains, development programs and policies, social movements, and environmental-climate change. For the past two decade, his research has extended to the analysis of rural-urban household networks, urbanization and urban problems, and the governance of indigenous areas and conservation units in the region. As a microcosm of global predicaments and diversity, marked by development contradictions, social inequalities, and accelerated environmental change, the Amazon has provided Eduardo an entry point to engage on collaborative research focusing on regional and global change and sustainability. He has strived to maintain a field-based, comparative, and longitudinal research program that combines ethnography, survey, institutional analysis, geospatial methods, ecological assessments, and historical investigation, grounded in a belief that problem-oriented empirical analysis, theory, and methodological development are inter-dependent. Brought together, Eduardo sees his research as contributing to a ‘ethnographically grounded complex systems perspective’ to examining connections between local, regional, and global changes and their implications for rural, indigenous, and urban communities. Eduardo is elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the United States National Academy of Sciences, and international member of the French Academy of Agriculture. He was awarded the 2023 Volvo Environmental Prize.}

Keynote: Global Environmental Change and Sustainable Food Systems

^{Meha Jain is an Associate Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Her research examines the impacts of environmental change on agricultural production, and how farmers may adapt to reduce negative impacts. She also examines ways that we can sustainably enhance agricultural production in the face of environmental change. To do this work, she combines remote sensing and geospatial analyses with household-level and census datasets to examine farmer decision-making and agricultural production across large spatial and temporal scales. She has a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia University, and postdoctoral experience in the Department of Earth System Science from Stanford University.}

^{Dr. Ruth DeFries is a professor of ecology and sustainable development at Columbia University in New York. She uses images from satellites and field surveys to examine how the world’s demands for food and other resources are changing land use throughout the tropics. Her research quantifies how these land use changes affect climate, biodiversity and other ecosystem services, as well as human development. She has also developed innovate education programs in sustainable development. DeFries was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, one of the country’s highest scientific honors, received a MacArthur “genius” award, and is the recipient of many other honors for her scientific research. In addition to over 100 scientific papers, she is committed to communicating the nuances and complexities of sustainable development to popular audiences, most recently through her book “The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis.” and has a book in press titled "What Would Nature Do?: A Guide for Our Uncertain World". DeFries is also committed to linking science with policy.}

^{Sophia Murphy joined the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) as executive director in October 2020. She is a food systems and international economy expert with 30 years of professional experience, including as a board chair, program director, policy analyst and published writer. A policy expert and advocate who has focused on resilient food systems, agriculture and international trade, Sophia has worked primarily with civil society organizations, as well as with government, intergovernmental organizations and universities.}

^{Sophia originally came to IATP in 1997 as a senior associate to work on trade. She directed IATP’s trade and global governance program from 2000 to 2006, and later served as a senior advisor until 2018. She joined IATP from Geneva, where she had worked for two years with the United Nations Nongovernmental Liaison Service. For over a decade, she operated a successful independent consultancy business. Most recently, she served as research director and advisor on agriculture, trade and investment within the Economic Law and Policy Program at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). She was part of a three-year project called Ceres2030 that assessed the evidence on effective interventions to end hunger, double the incomes of small-scale producers and reduce food systems’ environmental footprint, and developed an economic cost model to look at the public investment needed for those interventions. She served two consecutive terms as a member of the steering committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts to the United Nations Committee on World Food Security. Sophia has a Ph.D. in Resource Management and Environmental Science from the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia.}

^{Chris Justice received his Ph.D. from the University of Reading, UK in 1977. In 2001 he became a Professor and served as Research Director and Chair of the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland. Chris is the Chief Scientist for NASA HARVEST and Co-chair of the  international GEOGLAM Initiative. He is the project scientist for NASA's Land Cover Land Use Change (LCLUC) Program and the Chair of the international GOFC /GOLD Program. He serves as Land Discipline Co-Leader for the NASA Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Soumi-NPP VIIRS Land Science Team. Currently, Chris’ research is focused on global agricultural monitoring, its associated information technology and decision support systems, land cover, land use change and land observations, and data products.}

^{Dr. Nicholas Magliocca is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Alabama. His work focuses on how people make land-use decisions, how those decisions modify the functioning of natural systems, and how those modifications feed back on human well-being, livelihoods, and subsequent land-use decisions. His current research investigates the intersections of security, equity, and sustainability in the contexts of illicit economies and their social and environmental impacts, and climate change adaptation pathways in developing- and developed-world agricultural systems. His research is motivated by the need to take action toward climate change adaptation while still producing sufficient food, conserving biodiversity, and improving human security. Dr. Magliocca has three active research projects funded by NSF and NASA, and he is Director of the Laboratory for Human-Environment Interactions Modeling and Analysis (HEIMA) at UA. In addition to over 60 scientific publications, Dr. Magliocca has worked to advance synthesis and team science approaches in land systems science through his experience with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland. He is committed to informing policy guiding sustainable development and climate change adaptation, such as contributing to the United Nations 2022 World Drug Report section on Drugs and the Environment.}

Thematic Keynote 1: Earth Science in Real Time

^{Joe is a space ecologist, working from field ecology to remote sensing all the way to low earth orbit. As Sr. Global Director, Science at Planet—a public benefit corporation that operates the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites—Joe worked with scientists, universities and a global team of Planet colleagues to utilize Planet’s unprecedented imaging resources to enhance primary research and education, improve forest monitoring and conservation, expand food security, and promote ecological resilience for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Joe secured Planet’s largest science partnerships, including with NASA, Arizona State University, Stanford University and numerous other science organizations. Joe designed academic products and go-to-market strategy, developed and directed a science communication and engagement strategy, and worked to build Planet as a rigorous and reliable source of science-grade data.}

^{Joe explores ecological and technological evolution in the Anthropocene, working at the intersection of pure research into global environmental change, and efforts to develop new Earth monitoring and climate mitigation strategies. Joe has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles exploring Anthropocene ecosystems through a combination of field work and advanced imaging technologies, as well as philosophical investigations into human relationships to ecological and technological change. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Aeon Magazine, The Breakthrough Journal, and numerous other publications.}

Thematic Keynote 1: Beyond prediction - modelling for middle-range theorizing complex processes of change in social-ecological systems

_{Maja Schlüter is Professor of Social-ecological Systems Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. She leads an interdisciplinary team that studies processes of adaptive and transformative change in social-ecological systems (SES) from a complexity perspective. She is particularly interested in the social-ecological processes and causal mechanisms that give rise to phenomena such as fisheries collapse, agricultural innovation, food system resilience or governance transitions. To explore and explain the complex dynamics of SES and build theory, she combines in-depth empirical research with dynamic modelling. She is also interested in the philosophical and methodological foundations of SES research, particularly the potential of process-relational perspectives and collaborative multi-methods methodologies, for dealing with complex causality and social-ecological interdependencies. The aim of her theoretical work is to advance understanding and theorizing that moves beyond the dichotomy of humans and nature, builds on a plurality of understandings and accounts for the contextual and dynamic nature of SES. Her work and the work of her group has been supported by several large grants from the European Research Council (ERC), the Swedish Research Council and other EU programmes.}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Preety Sharma is a mixed-race individual with roots in the indigenous Lotha tribe of Nagaland, India. Over the past decade, she has dedicated herself to community development and sustainability efforts focused on biodiversity and livelihoods. Her work has encompassed various initiatives, such as supporting the development and expansion of wet waste management solutions, utilising pottery products from local potter villages in India. Additionally, Preety has developed Snow Leopard conservation enterprises with tribal women from the trans-Himalayan region and designed solutions for the community members of the Soliga tribe aimed at eradicating Lantana Camara from their forests. She has also collaborated with corporate groups and government bodies, addressing socio-economic issues related to education and skill development. Based in Nagaland, Preety is currently building a grassroots conservation movement within indigenous territories, involving community youth, indigenous knowledge, and local systems.}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Rosendo Pérez Antonio is an environmental scientist. He graduated from the University of Sierra Juarez (UNSIJ) in 2014 and started performing biological monitoring activities with the Community of San Juan Lachao, focusing on felines and white tail deer. In late 2014 he was trained for Forest Carbon Inventories by the Climate Action Reserve team, as part of San Juan Lachao’s pilot project for carbon offsets. From 2016 to 2020, Rosendo oversaw the development of carbon offset projects in different communities across México, including the States of Puebla, State of Mexico, Hidalgo and the Yucatan Peninsula. By 2021 he had developed 35+ projects for ICICO (Integrator of Campesino and Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca), a local NGO focused on the environmental, social, and economic development of its member communities. Rosendo is now co-directing the organization, overseeing 20+ projects in the State of Oaxaca and trying to expand the focus of these projects beyond carbon offsets to include water capture and monitoring, biological corridors, forest health and social safeguards in both practical and research-based activities. He is collaborating with the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, North Carolina State University, Mexico National Autonomous University, and University of Quebec in the “Researching Oaxaca’s Socio-Ecological Systems” hub.}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Sandy Nofyanza is a PhD student at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. His research interests include ecological economics, the political economy of the environment, REDD+, and the impact evaluation of forestry and climate policies. He holds a master’s degree in Environmental Management and Development (Advanced) from the Australian National University, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Development Studies from Universitas Padjadjaran. His PhD research focuses on the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of social forestry and protected areas (both marine and terrestrial) on mangrove ecosystems. Sandy is a researcher at the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), a position he has held since 2020. He has also worked as a research assistant at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University (2018), and at the Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia (2015-2017). Additionally, he served as a junior expert staff member at the Executive Office of the President of Indonesia (2016-2017).}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Jonas Ø. Nielsen is a Professor of Integrative Geography and Chair of the Humboldt-Universität´s Department of Geography. His research is concerned with human dimensions of global change and in particular climate change and land-use change. A central theme in this work is local-global relations and how to explore and understand the impact of global drivers on locally lived lives and vice-versa. Prof. Nielsen studied social anthropology at Auckland University, New Zealand and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and obtained his doctorate in Human Geography in 2010 at University of Copenhagen. From 2010 to 2013, he worked as a Post-Doctoral fellow at the Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. Jonas has been a Professor at Humboldt University since November 2013.}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Sharachchandra (Sharad) Lele is the Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Policy & Governance at ATREE. He is also Adjunct Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune and Honorary Professor at Shiv Nadar University Delhi. Sharad is.an interdisciplinary environmental researcher, bridging the natural sciences, economics, and political science to understand the concepts of and pathways to environmentally sustainable and socially just development. He works on sustainable forest management and democratizing forest governance, forest hydrology and farmer linkages, landuse change, watershed development, water governance, urban water management, and pollution regulation. He has published in many interdisciplinary environmental journals, and co-edited several books. He is actively involved in environmental policy outreach to state and central governments in India and equally in collaborative action-research with indigenous communities in central India.}

Thematic Keynote 2: Future Land Systems and Land System Science: An explorative discussion

^{Professor Pham Thu Thuy is a political and social scientist and professor in public policy at Flinders University, Australia. Her research focuses on the political economy of climate change policies, carbon market, biodiversity conservation, just transition, and social inclusion. She has supported more than 20 developing countries, global financial institutions, multinational companies, and indigenous communities in designing and implementing effective, efficient, and equitable climate change policies and projects. Her work also targets the poor, ethnic minorities, and women and youth in capacity development, ensuring they are able to raise their voices and draw benefits from climate change policies and projects. She has published more than 200 scientific publications, many of which are available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesia Bahasa, and Vietnamese. She has also provided a large number of trainings on climate change policies for policy makers, private sector, civil society organisations, academia, journalists, and local communities across the world.}

^{Unai Pascual is the Ikerbasque Research Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Bilbao, Spain, where he leads the Climate and Natural Environment Research line. Previously he was a Senior Lecturer in environmental economics and policy at the University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy. He also lectured on environmental economics at the University of Manchester. Dr. Pascual carries out research on the interactions between climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem services from an interdisciplinary perspective. He has conducted research in Europe, as well as in developing countries, including Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and India. Dr. Pascual’s scientific output appears in international high impact journals such as: Science, PNAS, Bioscience, Global Change Biology, Conservation Biology, Ecological Indicators, Global Environmental Change, Conservation Letters, Environment and Resource Economics, Ecological Economics, Environmental Science and Policy, Land Economics, World Development, etc. He has also published books and has given numerous talks about the links between land use change and human well-being. Dr. Pascual’s has an active role in international policy bodies. He is a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He is also member of the scientific committee of the Future Earth - EcoSERVICES programme, the Scientific Commission of the Great Ape Survival Partnership GRASP (led by UNESCO & UNEP) and of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (UNSDSN) on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. He serves as advisor to research councils in Europe (EU Commission, Spain, France, UK, Sweden, Portugal) and international programmes such as the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Institute for Environment and Development, UK (IIED), Mexican Government’s Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), and the Consultative Group on (CGIAR).}

Thematic Keynote 3: From unruly carbon to the environmentalism of the paid: a personal journey through incentive-based forest conservation in
the tropics

^{Esteve Corbera (PhD Development Studies, 2006, U. of East Anglia) is ICREA Research Professor and Deputy Director at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), Spain. His research focuses on human-nature relationships and the impact of social, policy and environmental change on resource governance. Specifically, he has conducted research on how international policies for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation have affected the land-use systems, institutions, and livelihoods of rural peoples in the global South. His work in these fields has drawn on data from multiple levels, from multi-actor views gathered ethnographically to secondary information collected for quantitative assessments. Esteve serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Ecology & Society, and as international board member of the Journal of Peasant Studies.}

Thematic Keynote 3: From facts and theories to theories of change about land systems and sustainability

^{Patrick Meyfroidt holds a PhD in geography (2009) and a degree in sociology from Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. He has been a Research Associate at the F.R.S-FNRS (the Belgian Research Funds) and Professor at UCLouvain since 2016. His research focuses on how land use and more broadly land systems can contribute to sustainability. His main research interests are land use transitions, i.e. non-linear land use dynamics at broad scale such as forest transitions and emergence of land use frontiers; linkages between globalization and land use including supply chain interventions to halt deforestation; theories of land system change; and social-ecological feedbacks.}