Kira Pfoch (she/her) is a doctoral student in forestry in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology (FWE). In her research, she focuses on monitoring land use changes, expanding settlements, and increasing wildfire activity in global Mediterranean ecosystems that can be found in California, Chile, North Africa, South Africa, Australia, southern Europe, and the Middle East. These regions are particularly significant for their rich biodiversity and vulnerable to both climate change, wildfires, and rapid urbanization.
A particular focus is on the wildland-urban interface, where housing developments encroach on natural landscapes, and intersection of environmental degradation, socio-economic disparities, increased human-wildlife conflict, and elevated risks of wildfires, where marginalized communities are disproportionately impact and have fewer resources for both prevention and recovery.
She earned her BS in geography and MS in global change geography from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in Germany. During her studies, she focused on environmental monitoring of grasslands and mapping wildfire severity using satellite data. She is particularly interested in applying remote sensing science to monitor, understand, and manage environmental change.