Dilek Fraisl
Senior Research Scholar
Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group
Advancing Systems Analysis Program
Biography
Dilek Fraisl is a senior research scholar in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program. She also serves as the managing director of the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), a global network of networks dedicated to advancing citizen science data and practice for sustainable development.Her research examines citizen science, artificial intelligence, earth observation, and data innovation as tools for enhancing official statistics and advancing evidence-based policymaking to improve the monitoring and achievement of sustainable development. She specializes in data governance and management, including research on citizen science data quality.
Fraisl serves as principal investigator and contributor to numerous projects focused on citizen science, marine litter, land use and land cover, as well as a range of environmental, socioeconomic, and governance issues, funded by the European Commission, United Nations agencies, and various international donors.
In addition to publishing in high-impact scientific journals, she has contributed to several key international reports, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Monitoring Assessment, and major publications from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD).
Fraisl also serves on several boards and expert groups across scientific communities, the UN system, and other global initiatives. These include the UN Statistics Division Collaborative on Citizen Data, UN-Habitat Quality of Life Programme, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Resilience Frontiers, and the UNEP Science-Policy-Business Forum, among others.
She is actively involved in the organizing committees and scientific advisory boards of major European and global conferences, including the UN World Data Forum. With many years of experience, Fraisl has collaborated extensively with international organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO) and various government agencies, ministries, and national statistical offices (NSOs) in advisory, consultancy, and expert roles.
Fraisl holds a PhD in Sustainability Transitions from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Austria. She also has a master’s degree in sustainable development jointly from the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, the University of Padua in Italy, and Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne in France.
Last update: 05 NOV 2025
Publications
Soacha Godoy, K., Fraisl, D. , Piera, J., Sanz, F., Wu, K.T., Serrano, F., & Stressmann, F. (2025). Shaping Tomorrow's Citizen Science Research Infrastructure: A Co-Design Experience – CAPS 2025 Symposium Report. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.15771727. In: CAPS Conference 2025, 28 May 2025, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
Fraisl, D. , See, L. , Bowers, R., Seidu, O., Fredua, K.B., Bowser, A., Meloche, M., Weller, S., Amaglo-Kobla, T., Ghafari, D., Laso Bayas, J.C. , Campbell, J., Cameron, G., Fritz, S. , & McCallum, I. (2025). Citizen science data, marine plastics, and SDG monitoring: How to build trust in citizen science data and methodologies among diverse actors with varying needs and motivations? DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-4527. In: EGU General Assembly 2025, 27 April-02 May 2025, Vienna.
Fraisl, D. , Neves, M., Seidu, O., Darpoh, C.K., Basnyat, A., Usheva, F., Tungbani, B., Ankamah, D., See, L. , & Gadgil, A. (2025). Leveraging Citizen Data to Improve Public Services and Measure Progress Toward Sustainable Development Goal 16. Sustainable Development 33 (4) 5968-5982. 10.1002/sd.3441.
See, L. , Chen, Q., Crooks, A., Laso Bayas, J.C. , Fraisl, D. , Fritz, S. , Georgieva, I. , Hager, G. , Hofer, M. , Lesiv, M. , Malek, Z. , Milenkovic, M., Moorthy, I. , Orduña-Cabrera, F. , Pérez Guzmán, K. , Shchepashchenko, D. , Shchepashchenko, M. , Steinhauser, J. , & McCallum, I. (2025). New Directions in Mapping the Earth’s Surface with Citizen Science and Generative AI. iScience e111919. 10.1016/j.isci.2025.111919.
Fraisl, D. , See, L. , Fritz, S. , Haklay, M., & McCallum, I. (2025). Leveraging the collaborative power of AI and citizen science for sustainable development. In: Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Transforming Citizen Science: Privacy, Data Sharing, and Open Science, 19 February 2025.