B. Sc. in Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering (University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal, 2007)
M. Sc. in Environmental Science (University of Nova Gorica, 2011)
Ph. D. in Environmental Protection (University of Ljubljana, 2017)
Fieldwork and research interests:
I conducted my first field research in the Ljubljana area during a nine-month internship at the Institute for Anthropological and Spatial Studies ZRC SAZU between 2007 and 2008. My research focused on the spread of invasive species Fallopia japonica. In 2009, as part of my Master’s degree, I conducted field research in Prekmurje, where I mapped the distribution patterns of the invasive plant species Robinia pseudoacacia and investigated the reasons for its spread. In spring 2011, together with colleagues from Jovan Hadži Biological Institute ZRC SAZU, I mapped the habitat types of Bela krajina in the Karst, this fieldwork lasted several months. As a result of this fieldwork experience, my research interest shifted from individual species to the landscape level, which I began to understand as an integrated concept. My PhD focused on the influence of landscape features on land use and regional development of karst areas. Between 2012 and 2016 I was often in the field, mapping land use cover and interviewing residents of Bela krajina. The relationship between environmental protection and social (human) activity was the main priority in my research. My research interests include land use change, ecosystem services, cultural landscapes, environmental protection, protected areas, sustainable land management, sustainable landscapes, and the relationship between humans and nature.
Main visiting appointments:
Research Student, Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies ZRC SAZU (2007-2008);
Visiting Researcher, Eötvös Loránd University (2009);
Visiting Researcher, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (2010).
Other
Member of the Organizing committee of the biannual symposium Geographical Information Systems in Slovenia;
Member of the International Association for Landscape Ecology;
Member of the Ecosystem Services Partnership;
Member of the Eastern Alpine and Dinaric Society for Vegetation Ecology;
Member of the Interdisciplinary group on Ecosystem Services ZRC SAZU;
Member of the Order of Engineers (regulatory and licensing body for the engineer profession in Portugal);
Member of the Steering Committee of theIGU Commission on Land Use and Land Cover Change;
Assistant professor at the University of Novo mesto, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences.
Selected publications:
Ribeiro, D., Zorn, M. 2021. Sustainability and Slovenian Karst Landscapes: Evaluation of a Low Karst Plain. Sustainability 13-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041655
Ribeiro, D., Razpotnik Visković, N., Čarni, A. 2020. Landscape dynamics at borderlands: analysing land use changes from Southern Slovenia. Open geosciences 12-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2020-0212
Ribeiro, D. 2020. Bela krajina – sustainability in a karst landscape. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/9789610504627
Smrekar, A., Polajnar Horvat, K., Ribeiro, D. 2020. Stakeholder analysis for (Mediterranean) wetland governance: the case of Ljubljansko Barje Nature Park, Slovenia. Participatory research and planning in practice. The Urban Book Series. Cham: Springer Nature. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28014-7_11
Gabrovec, M., Kumer, P., Ribeiro, D., Šmid Hribar, M. 2020. Land use in Slovenia. The Geography of Slovenia: Small but Diverse. World Regional Geography Book Series. Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14066-3_18
Smrekar, A., Polajnar Horvat, K., Ribeiro, D. 2020. Slovenia’s protected areas. The Geography of Slovenia: Small but Diverse. World Regional Geography Book Series. Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14066-3_21
Polajnar Horvat, K., Ribeiro, D. 2019. Izzivi v turističnem sektorju: kako se evropske turistične destinacije soočajo s preturizmom. Geografski vestnik 91(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/GV91104
Ribeiro, D., Šmid Hribar, M. 2019. Assessment of land-use changes and their impacts on ecosystem services in two Slovenian rural landscapes. Acta Geographica Slovenica 59-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.6636
Breg Valjavec, M., Zorn, M., Ribeiro, D. 2018. Mapping war geoheritage: recognising geomorphological traces of war. Open geosciences 10-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2018-0030
Breg Valjavec, M., Ciglič, R., Oštir, K., Ribeiro, D. 2018. Modelling habitats in karst landscape by integrating remote sensing and topography data. Open Geosciences 10-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2018-0011
Breg Valjavec, M., Ribeiro, D., Čarni, A. 2017. Vegetation as the bioindicator of human-induced degradation in karst landscape: case study of waste-filled dolines. Acta carsologica 46-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/ac.v46i1.4712
Ribeiro, D., Somodi, I., Čarni, A. 2016. Transferability of a predictive Robinia pseudacacia distribution model in northeast Slovenia. Acta geographica Slovenica 56-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.772
Ribeiro, D., Burnet, J. E., Torkar, G. 2013. Four windows on borderlands: dimensions of place defined by land cover change data from historical maps. Acta geographica Slovenica 53-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS53204
Somodi, I., Čarni, A., Ribeiro, D., Podobnikar, T. 2012. Recognition of the invasive species Robinia pseudacacia from combined remote sensing and GIS sources. Biological Conservation 150-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.02.014
Sc. in Sociology of culture and Philosphy (University of Ljubljana, 2000)
M.Sc. in Protection of natural heritage (University of Ljubljana, 2008)
Ph.D. in Geography (University of Primorska, 2015)
Fieldwork and research interests:
The focus of my research are cultural landscapes and human-nature interactions. I am interested in the governing of common-pool resources and commons, and their multiple roles in the provision of various ecosystem services and increasing community resilience to environmental changes. These areas are further developed in my basic and applied research. I constantly seek to strengthen this knowledge through active participation in national and international networks and with study visits abroad.
Main visiting appointments:
Visting Scholar, Center for Behavior, Institutions and the Environment, at the Arizona State University (2015);
Visiting Scholar, University of Florida (2017, 2019);
Visiting Scholar, Institute for Advanced Studies in Sustainability at the United Nations University (2018)
Other:
member of the editorial board of the international journal Acta Geographica Slovenica;
board member of the international network EUCALAND – European Cultural and Agricultural Landscapes;
member of the Partnership for Ecosystem Services and a team leader of the Slovenia ESP national network;
member of the IASC – International Association for the Study of the Commons;
member of the Partnership for the Preservation and Popularization of Karst Dry Stone Walls;
member of the editorial board of the book series Geography of Slovenia and Georitem;
constituting member of the SOES – Group for Ecosystem services in Slovenia;
constituting member of the INTERECOS – Interdisciplinary Group for Ecosystem services at the ZRC SAZU.
Selected publications:
Urbanc M., Šmid Hribar M. 2021. Livek: A Mountainous Border Area’s Transformation from a Ski Paradise to a Resilient Community. In: Culture and climate resilience: perspectives from Europe.
Rodela R., Tucker C.M., Šmid Hribar M., Sigura M., Bogataj N., Urbanc M., Gunya A. 2019. Intersections of ecosystem services and common-pool resources literature: An interdisciplinary encounter. Environmental Science and Policy 94, 72–81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.12.021
Ribeiro D., Šmid Hribar M. 2019. Assessment of land-use changes and their impacts on ecosystem services in two Slovenian rural landscapes. Acta Geographica Slovenica 59-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.6636
Šmid Hribar M., Kozina J., Bole D., Urbanc M. 2018. Public goods, common-pool resources, and the commons: The influence of historical legacy on modern perceptions in Slovenia as a transitional society. Urbani izziv, 29(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5379/urbani-izziv-2018-29-01-004
BSc in Geography (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, 2004)
PhD in Remote Sensing (Faculty of civil and geodetic engineering, University of Ljubljana, 2010)
Research interests
He is primarily involved in environmental studies using optical satellite imagery processing and airborne lidar processing, internet cartography, spatial analyses and natural processes modelling, especially from the viewpoint of how different human activities influence the environment, both in history and at present. His special interest is in the protection of the natural and cultural heritage.
Main visiting appointments
Visiting Research student, University of Birmingham (2006)
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Birmingham (2008)
Visiting Researcher, Icelandic Institute of Archaeology (Fornleifastofnun Íslands, 2010)
He obtained the Zois scholarship for gifted students and his graduate thesis was given the Prešeren Award. During his doctoral studies he had a position of a Young Researcher and was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency. He was awarded the ZRC Gold Award for exceptional achievements in science (2018).
Head of the Remote Sensing Department.
40 invited lectures at conferences, symposia, workshops, and foreign universities.
Six of the high school research theses he mentored won a national golden medal at the Slovenian young researchers meeting. One was also awarded a first price at the Slovenia from Space competition, and two at the international completion of research projects organized by the MEF Educational Institutions from Istanbul, Turkey.
He is a co-organiser of the international TRAIL meetings (Training and Research on the Archaeological Interpretation of Lidar, France 2011, 2014, 2016, Slovenia 2018), that he helped to conceive into a conceptually new and innovative scheme of a modern workshop.
Selected publications
Šprajc, Ivan, Dunning, Nicholas P., Štajdohar, Jasmina, Hernández Gómez, Quintin, Chato López, Israel, Marsetič, Aleš, Ball, Joseph W., Dzul Góngora, Sara, Esparza Olguín, Octavio, Flores Esquivel, Atasta, Kokalj, Žiga. 2021. Ancient Maya water management, agriculture, and society in the area of Chactún, Campeche, Mexico. Journal of anthropological archaeology, 61, 101261: 1-21.
Stančič, Liza, Oštir, Krištof, Kokalj, Žiga. 2020. Fluvial gravel bar mapping with spectral signal mixture analysis. European journal of remote sensing: 1-16 .
Nuninger, Laure, Opitz, Rachel, Verhagen, Philip, Libourel, Thérèse, Laplaige, Clement, Leturcq, Samuel, Le Voguer, Nathanael, Fruchart, Catherine, Kokalj, Žiga, Rodier, Xavier. 2020. Developing FAIR ontological pathways : linking evidence of movement in Lidar to models of human behaviour. Journal of computer applications in archaeology, 3, 1: 63-75.
Smerdu, Ana, Kanjir, Urška, Kokalj, Žiga. 2020. Automatic detection of Japanese knotweed in urban areas from aerial and satellite data. Management of Biological Invasions, 11, 4: 661-676.
Somrak, Maja, Džeroski, Sašo, Kokalj, Žiga. 2020. Learning to classify structures in ALS-derived visualizations of ancient Maya settlements with CNN. Remote sensing, 12, 14: 1-20.
Kokalj, Žiga, Somrak, Maja. 2019. Why not a single image? : combining visualizations to facilitate fieldwork and on-screen mapping. Remote sensing, 11, 7, 747: 1-26.
Kokalj, Žiga, Hesse, Ralf, Mulahusić, Admir. 2018. Vizuelizacija rasterskih podataka laserskog skeniranja iz zraka, (Prostor, kraj, čas, 16). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. 168 p.
Pipan, Primož, Kokalj, Žiga. Transformation of the Jeruzalem hills cultural landscape with modern vineyard terraces. Acta geographica Slovenica. 2017, 57, 2: 149-162.
Kokalj, Žiga, Hesse, Ralf. 2017. Airborne laser scanning raster data visualization : a guide to good practice, (Prostor, kraj, čas, 14). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. 88 p.
Popit, Tomislav, Rožič, Boštjan, Šmuc, Andrej, Kokalj, Žiga, Verbovšek, Timotej, KošiR, Adrijan. 2014. LIDAR, GIS and basic spatial statistic application for the study of ravine and palaeo-ravine evolution in the upper Vipava valley, SW Slovenia. Geomorphology : an international journal of pure and applied geomorphology 204: 638-645.
Kokalj, Žiga, Oštir, Krištof. 2013. Vrednotenje pokrajinskoekoloških tipov Slovenije v luči pokrovnosti, izdelane s klasifikacijo satelitskih posnetkov Landsat, (Prostor, kraj, čas, 1). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. 141 p.
Kokalj, Žiga, Zakšek, Klemen, Oštir, Krištof. 2013. Visualizations of lidar derived relief models. In: Opitz, Rachel (ed.), Cowley, David (ed.). Interpreting archaeological topography : airborne laser scanning, 3D data and ground observation. Oxford; Oakville: Oxbow Books., 100-112.
Kokalj, Žiga, Pehani, Peter, Goodchild, Helen, Gaffney, Vincent L., Oštir, Krištof. 2013. Crossing borders : a multi-layer GIS mapping framework for the cultural management of the Mundo Maya Region. In: CH’NG, Eugene (ed.), Gaffney, Vincent L. (ed.), Chapman, Henry (ed.). Visual heritage in the digital age, (Springer series on cultural computing). London: Springer. 169-182.
Štular, Benjamin, Kokalj, Žiga, Oštir, Krištof, Nuninger, Laure. 2012. Visualization of lidar-derived relief models for detection of archaeological features. Journal of archaeological science 39, 11: 3354-3360.
Zakšek, Klemen, Oštir, Krištof, Kokalj, Žiga. 2011. Sky-view factor as a relief visualization technique. Remote sensing 3, 2: 398-415.
Kokalj, Žiga, Zakšek, Klemen, Oštir, Krištof. 2011. Application of sky-view factor for the visualisation of historic landscape features in lidar-derived relief models. Antiquity, 85: 263-273.
Challis, Keith, Kokalj, Žiga, et al. 2008. Airborne lidar and historic environment records. Antiquity 318, 82: 1055-1064.
Kokalj, Žiga, Oštir, Krištof. 2007. Land cover mapping using Landsat satellite image classification in the Classical Karst – Kras region = Ugotavljanje pokrovnosti krasa s klasifikacijo satelitskih posnetkov Landsat. Acta carsologica, 36, 3: 433-440.
