Prof. Dr. Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Centre for Earth Observation Sciences, University of Alberta

Biography:

Dr. Sanchez-Azofeifa (P.Eng. SM IEEE) serves as a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. He also holds the position of Director at the Alberta Center for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS). Additionally, Dr. Sanchez-Azofeifa is a Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, and functions as a Docent at the Faculty of Science at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His research focuses on the intersection of remote sensing, ground-based wireless sensor networks, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for environmental monitoring and climate change assessment in tropical dry forests. Throughout his career, Dr. Sanchez-Azofeifa has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a U.S.A. Fulbright Fellowship, the Aldo Leopold Leadership Award from the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, the Canadian Forest Service Merit Award, and the prestigious Sir McMaster Fellowship by Australia’s Commonwealth Science and Research Organization (CSIRO). At the University of Alberta, he has received the Faculty of Sciences Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research, the McCalla Research Professorship, and the Faculty of Science Research Fellowship. In 2008, he ranked among the top 1% of citations worldwide in Environment & Ecology according to Thomson Reuters’ Essential Science Indicators. He was honored with the 2015 Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Foundation Award for Outstanding Environmental Technology and Innovation. In 2022, he was awarded the Canada-Costa Rica Commemorative Medal in celebration of 100 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Dr. Sanchez-Azofeifa has authored over 250 scientific publications in leading peer-reviewed journals and has published three books.