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Hongmi Koo

Profile Picture: Hongmi Koo HK

Dr. Hongmi Koo Fellow

Senior Researcher Sustainable Landscape Development

Mail: hongmi.koo@geo.uni-halle.de Tel: +49/(0)34555 – 26066 Room: H4 1.23 Consultation hours: by appointment

Focus Areas:

Spatial analysis, ecosystem services, modelling

Biography

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • Since November 2024: Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography in the project Mobile-S (Mobility of elderly people in urban districts)
  • May 2022 – July 2022: Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography in the project RENATUR (Improving regional policies to better protect the natural heritage of peri-urban open spaces)
  • Ocotber 2022 – September 2024: Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography in the project HUMANECO
  • December 2019 – December 2021: Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography in the project Ecu-MAES (A National Ecosystem Services Assessment and Mapping for the status and future development of ecosystem services and biodiversity – a fast track study in Ecuador)
  • December 2018 – April 2022: Researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography in the project R4SES (Research, innovation and graduation for socio-ecological systems in motion)
  • August 2016 – March 2017: Researcher in WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Campus Alpin – Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research Unit (IMK-IFU), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
  • August 2011 – July 2012: Research Assistant at Seoul National University Asia Center, Seoul, South Korea Project: Development of mechanisms for implementing initiatives to combat Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD)
  • April 2009 – June 2011: Research Assistant at the Urban Regeneration Research Centre of Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Sejong-si, South Korea

EDUCATION

  • June 2017 – 2022: Doctoral student at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Geosciences and Geography, Department of Sustainable Landscape Development, Title: “Agricultural land use planning for enhancing ecosystem services using scenario-based assessment: Cases of Bolgatanga and Bongo districts in the Upper East Region, Ghana”
  • April 2013 – 2022: Doctoral student at the Centre for Development Research (ZEF), Ecology and Natural Resource Management, University of Bonn, Project: WASCAL (West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use)
  • March 2007 – February 2009: M.A. in Geography at Seoul National University, Department of Geography, Seoul, South Crea. Title: “The spatial variation of environmental amenity: A case study for a housing development site”. Project: Development of technical methods to assess ecological values for the future eco-friendly construction, Korea Institute of Construction and Transportation Technology. Scholarship from “The Korea Scholarship Foundation For the Future Leaders” (2007-2008)
  • March 2002 – February 2007: B.A. in Geography at Seoul National University, Department of Geography, Seoul, South Korea. Title: “Reclaimed land of Cheonsu bay and sustainable development: Is it possible that development and conservation can be achieved in parallel?” Excellent records scholarship (2006)

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications

Kankam, S. , Koo, H., Inkoom, J.N., Fürst, C. (2025): Modeling coastal land use scenario impacts on ecosystem services restoration in Southwest Ghana, West Africa. npj Ocean Sustain 4, 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00105-w

Koo, H., Kleemann, J., Cuenca, P., Noh, J.K., Fürst, C. (2024): Implications of landscape changes for ecosystem services and biodiversity: A national assessment in Ecuador. Ecosystem Services, 69, p.101652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101652

Asante-Yeboah, E., Koo, H., Sieber, S., Fürst, C. (2024): Designing mosaic landscapes for sustainable outcome: Evaluating land-use options on ecosystem service provisioning in southwestern Ghana. Journal of Environmental Management, 353, 120127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120127

Kleemann, J., Zamora, C., Villacis-Chiluisa, A.B., Cuenca, P., Koo, H., Noh, J.K., Fürst, C., Thiel., M. (2022): Deforestation in Continental Ecuador with a Focus on Protected Areas. Land 2022, 11(2), 268.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020268

Kleemann, J., Koo, H., Hensen, I., Mendieta-Leiva, G., Kahnt, B., Kurze, C., Inclan, D.J., Cuenca, P., Noh, J.K., Hoffmann, M.H., Factos, A., Lehnert, M., Lozano, P., Fürst (2022) Priorities of action and research for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services in Ecuador.
Biological Conservation 265, 109404.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109404

Noh, J.K., Echeverria, C., Gaona, G., Kleemann, J., Koo, H., Fürst, C., Cuenca, P. (2022) Forest Ecosystem Fragmentation in Ecuador: Challenges for Sustainable Land Use in the Tropical Andean. Land 11, 287.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020287

Noh, J.K., Echeverria, C., Kleemann, J., Koo, H., Fürst, C., Cuenca, P.  (2020): Warning about conservation status of forest ecosystems in  tropical Andes: National assessment based on IUCN criteria. PLoS ONE,  15(8), e0237877. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237877

Koo, H., Kleemann, J., Fürst, C. (2020): Integrating Ecosystem Services into Land-Use Modeling to Assess the Effects of Future Land-Use Strategies in Northern Ghana. Land, 9, 379. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9100379

Koo, H., Kleemann, J., Fürst, C. (2019): Impact assessment of land use changes using local knowledge for the provision of ecosystem services in northern Ghana, West Africa. Ecological Indicators 103, 156-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.04.002

Koo, H., Kleemann, J., Fürst, C. (2018): Land use  scenario modeling based on local knowledge for the provision of  ecosystem services in northern Ghana. Land 7, 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/land7020059

Spyra, M., Kleemann, J., Cetin, N. I., Navarrete, C. J. V., Albert, C., Palacios-Agundez, I., Amezaga-Arregi, I., Rozas-Vasquez, D., Esmail, B.A., Picchi, P., Geneletti, D., König, H.J., Koo, H., Kooperionen, L., Fürst, C. (2018): The ecosystem services concept: a new Esperanto to facilitate participatory planning processes? Landscape Ecology, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0745-6

Park, S.J., Lim, J.H., Lee, D.W., Choi, J.M., Koo, H., Jeong, J.S. Ahn, Y.S. (2013): Implementing issues of the UNCCD, and the roles of Korea. Journal of Korea Association of International Development and Cooperation 5(1), 35-74.

Koo, H. (2009): The residential environment assessment for deriving the spatial variation of environmental amenity. The institute for Korean regional studies: Journal of Geography 53, 1-33.

Other publications

Lee, W.G., Koo, H. (2011): Getting to smart growth Ι (Korean edition). Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.

Lee, W.G., Koo, H. (2010): This is smart growth (Korean edition). Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.