Myroslava Lesiv profile picture

Myroslava Lesiv

Senior Research Scholar

Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group

Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Biography

Myroslava Lesiv is a Senior Research Scholar in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability (NODES) Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program. Her primary scientific interests include high-performance information technologies for ecology and environmental protection, crowdsourcing, validation of remote sensing products, synergy methods for land cover mapping, approaches to the creation of geoinformation systems for GHG spatial inventories at a regional level and analyzing GHG inventory uncertainties.

She leads NODES research activities related to the validation of land cover and land use data derived from remote sensing, as well as the development of new methods to obtain data to be used as input for AI techniques. Through many years of experience with in-situ data collection and validation, and comparison of existing land cover maps, Lesiv has gained excellent knowledge in developing quality requirements, assessing quality of citizen science data and addressing data interoperability. She has been leading several Geo-Wiki crowdsourcing campaigns (e.g., field size and forest management) and a large number of internal expert data collections for various projects (e.g., validation of RapidAI4EO results, validation of WorldCereal products, validation of Natural Ecosystems map by the World Resources Institute (WRI), etc.)

Lesiv graduated from the faculty of Applied Mathematics at Lviv Polytechnic National University (Ukraine) in 2008, where she obtained her MSc degree in applied mathematics. She also participated in the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) in 2009. In 2011, she received a PhD degree in technical sciences at Lviv Polytechnic National University. The title of her thesis was "Mathematical modeling and spatial analysis of greenhouse gas emission/absorption processes in regions bordering Ukraine".

Following this, she worked as assistant professor at the same institution. She taught graduate students in "Mathematical background for spatial modeling" and "Mathematical modeling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the energy sector". From 2013-2014, she worked as a Postdoc researcher at the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.

She re-joined IIASA in September 2014, as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow. She was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship to carry out research focused on the development of a spatially integrated forest observation system, from 2014 to 2016.



Last update: 04 MAY 2026

Publications

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Lesiv, M. , See, L. , Mora, B., Pietsch, S. , Fritz, S. , Bun, H., Sendabo, S., Kibuchi, S., Okemwa, J., Derrik, O., Oima, G., Mgoe, A., Omondi, E., Ongo, D., Abdel-Rahmon, E., Musiln, Z., Dgole, P., Wangai, J., Dariu, D., Marina, K., Muni, M., Ligino, L., Kingua, N., Njogu, A., Musili, F., Karanja, O., Oima, G., Kobotta, P., Gachoki, S., Malot, W.R., Asige, I., Nasomtai, G., Odera, L., Dominic, M., Ntie, S., Ekome, S.E., Ndongo, A., Celestin, H., Georges, K.Y., Armand, K., Eugene, K.K., Fulgence, N., Moussa, K., Daouda, S., Paul, D., Yaya, B., Leocadie, A., Maurel, K.G., Alain, A.D.S., Joseph, A.A., Chiabeu Carene, A.H.B., Issouf, B., Franck, B.N., Nassiratou, B., Kouakou Kouman, E., N'Goran, G.V., Aymar, K.K., Francois, K.K.A., Olivier, K.K.G., Olivier, K.K., Konan, K.J., Sylvie, K.N., Lazare, K.E., Raphael, K.K., Pascale, K.R., Charles, K., Guy-Alex, K.H., Ramata, M.S., Abdoulaye, M., Baikoro, M., Charlene, N.A., Madeleine, N.I.S., Nalourougo, S., Amos, T.K.J., Therese, T., Diabate, W., Flroa, Y.A., Carlos, Y.J., Joel, S.G., Serge, Y.J., Philippe, O.A., Valery, S.K., & Gatien, Y.K. (2019). Accuracy Assessment of the ESA CCI 20M Land Cover Map: Kenya, Gabon, Ivory Coast and South Africa. IIASA Working Paper. Laxenburg, Austria: WP-19-009

Oda, T., Bun, R., Kinakh, V., Topylko, P., Halushchak, M., Marland, G., Lauvaux, T., Jonas, M. , Maksyutov, S., Nahorski, Z., Lesiv, M. , Danylo, O., & Horabik-Pyzel, J. (2019). Errors and uncertainties in a gridded carbon dioxide emissions inventory. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 24 1007-1050. 10.1007/s11027-019-09877-2.

Schepaschenko, D. , See, L. , Lesiv, M. , Bastin, J.-F., Mollicone, D., Tsendbazar, N.-E., Bastin, L., McCallum, I. , Laso Bayas, J.C. , Baklanov, A. , Perger, Ch., Dürauer, M., & Fritz, S. (2019). Recent Advances in Forest Observation with Visual Interpretation of Very High-Resolution Imagery. Surveys in Geophysics 40 (4) 839-862. 10.1007/s10712-019-09533-z.

Fonte, C. C., See, L. , Lesiv, M. , & Fritz, S. (2019). A PRELIMINARY QUALITY ANALYSIS OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE LAND COVER PRODUCTS FOR CONTINENTAL PORTUGAL. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives. pp. 1213-1220 Netherlands: ISPRS. 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W13-1213-2019.

Waldner, F., Schucknecht, A., Lesiv, M. , Gallego, J., See, L. , Pérez-Hoyos, A., d'Andrimont, R., de Maet, T., Laso Bayas, J.C. , Fritz, S. , Leo, O., Kerdiles, H., Díez, M., Van Tricht, K., Gilliams, S., Shelestov, A., Lavreniuk, M., Simões, M., Ferraz, R., Bellón, B., Bégué, A., Hazeu, G., Stonacek, V., Kolomaznik, J., Misurec, J., Verón, S.R., de Abelleyra, D., Plotnikov, D., Mingyong, L., Singha, M., Patil, P., Zhang, M., & Defourny, P. (2019). Conflation of expert and crowd reference data to validate global binary thematic maps. Remote Sensing of Environment 221 235-246. 10.1016/j.rse.2018.10.039.