The focus of the AFE Group is to generate knowledge and develop state-of-the-art modeling tools to advance the scientific community and support policies that enable better understanding and management of global and regional agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems.
The basis for improved assessment and management of natural resources is a deep understanding of complex and interacting biophysical processes within terrestrial ecosystems. The AFE Group aims to achieve a leading position in addressing research questions requiring integrated analyses of agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems at global and regional levels.
The group’s strategic ambition of biophysical tool integration for, among others, the assessment of nature-based/climate solutions, landscape restoration options, agro-forestry, or future cropland management, is at the core of the IIASA research domain on biodiversity and ecosystem services. With sustainability and biodiversity aspects as cross-cutting environmental safeguards, the group is closely aligned with the strategic direction of its host program on Biodiversity and Natural Resources. This structural and strategic setup will ensure that AFE becomes a valuable research pillar and contributor to the overarching IIASA strategy.
The Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) at IIASA offers an exceptional opportunity for PhD students to engage in collaborative research with IIASA's interdisciplinary teams.
Models, tools, datasets
Wildfire climate impacts and adaptation model (FLAM)
The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate-based global gridded crop model (EPIC-IIASA)
Global Forest Model (G4M)
BeWhere Model: A Spatially Explicit System Optimization Tool
Projects
Land Management for Sustainability (LAMASUS)
Integrated Future Wildfire Hot Spot Mapping for Austria (Austria Fire Futures )
The Human-Tech Nexus - Building a Safe Haven to Cope with Climate Extremes (HuT)
Evolving Participatory Information System for Nature-based Climate Solutions (Epistem)
Staff
Dmitry Shchepashchenko
Principal Research Scholar (NODES, AFE)
Leila Mohaghegh Zahed
Guest Research Scholar (AFE)
Maria Adelia Widijanto
Researcher (AFE)
Eunbeen Park
Research Scholar (AFE)
News
01 October 2026
Fire&Ice brings the boreal fire community together at IBFRA 2026 Conference in Canada
Where, under future climate, will fire put people's health at risk? And what can we do?
These are the questions we asked in the Fire&Ice workshop that we held on 24 August 2026, at the International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) Conference in Québec City with around 28 participating boreal specialists, from students and researchers to practitioners and decisionmakers from leading institutions and organizations.
23 September 2026
Alpine Resilience Web Atlas: New open-source platform features maps of forest disturbance, field stories, living labs and future hotspots
A web atlas at alpineresilience.org gathers the data, models and field experience behind Europe's protective mountain forests – and invites anyone, from a researcher to a regional forester or even a curious hiker, to use it and contribute.
17 July 2026
Connecting the dots behind Southeast Asia's catastrophic fires
How do wildfires grow into catastrophic events? By tracing the earliest detectable origins of the devastating 2015 equatorial Southeast Asian fires, researchers found that most large fires had multiple origin points and identified the ecological, climatic, and human factors associated with where fires begin. These findings provide new insights that could help improve fire prevention and understanding of fire risks under climate change across tropical landscapes.
Events
Prague, Czech Republic
IIASA at the Concluding Meeting of the 32nd OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum
Focus
Annual Report 2025
Annual Report 2025: Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program Highlights
Balancing the needs of people and nature is one of the defining challenges of our time. Throughout 2025, the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program advanced research on how societies can pursue climate, biodiversity, and development goals while managing growing pressures on land, water, energy, and ecosystems.
16 May 2025
The looming shadow of nuclear winter
A team of scientists led by IIASA researcher Christian Folberth is contributing to international nuclear winter research through the ANFOS project, which aims to provide a comprehensive picture of how a nuclear conflict could alter crop growth, cause supply chain disruptions, and consequently affect global food security.