Biodata

  • Name: Thomas Gumbricht
  • Address: Birger Jarlsgatan 102b, 3tr Postal address: 11420 Stockholm, Sweden
  • Tel: +46(0)8-166002
  • Mobile: +46(0)763057701
  • Email: thomas.gumbricht@gmail.com
  • Date of birth: 22 January 1961

Résumé

I am a scientist at present working partly from a private base and partly for the Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University. My focus is primarily on developing novel methods for mapping and monitoring natural resources using remote sensing in combination with other spatial data. I combine the data by either using machine learning or expert systems with knowledge inferred rules. I believe that the later allows me to develop better hypothesis and also creates more transparent models compared to solely relying on machine learning and remote sensing data. But for some tasks machine learning is superior, as long as you do not get seduced by it.

The map inventories and detected changes and dynamics are interesting in themselves, but using the results for modelling and managing natural resources has become a prerequisite for sustainable use of the Earth´s limited resources. I have hence chosen to devote many years to teaching and disseminating both research methods and research results. As a university lecturer and as a researcher within the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

I have lived 10 years in Africa, working as a scientist in South Africa (Johannesburg), Uganda (Entebbe) and Kenya (Nairobi). In 1999 I visited Africa for the first time, and fell for the Okavango Delta in Botswana (a huge inlands wetland and one of the most wild and pristine areas in Africa). This led me to quit my career as a lecturer/scientist in Sweden and take up a post-doc position at University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg). The research was great, and the field trips to Okavango even better. I also worked with the tourist industry, training the guides and creating information platforms. I then got a position with ICRAF (World Agroforestry Centre) and moved to Uganda in 2002. I set up a new office in Entebbe, focusing on research and development related to Lake Victoria and the Nile Basin.

For famiiy reasons I moved back to Sweden in 2005 but continued working for ICRAF as a consulting scientist for ICRAF while also taing up a half time position as senior lecturer at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. But Africa pulled us back, in 2009 the family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, and I started working for ICRAF full time again. The first year I worked mainly on development projects relating to climate and land degradation, and then set up and headed the Geoinformatics unit at ICRAF.

In early 2012 we moved back to Sweden, mainly for reasons of education for my family members. I am still mostly working as a consulting scientist for ICRAF and other international research organizations, but also pursuing my own research, including hardware and software development. Since July 2018 I also work part time for Stockholm University developing multi-source mapping methods for Arctic wetlands and peatlands.

Throughout my career my research has centered around applied geoinformatics, thematically ranging from hydrological modeling, mapping and monitoring of soil, water and vegetation, and ecosystem patterns and process.

I have 15 years of teaching experience from Swedish Universities, in natural resource management and geoinformatics. I have developed several dissemination programs for introducing spatial data access and analysis in Africa, Asia and South America.

I have deep knowledge in geoinformatics, remote sensing, spatial data processing, web map building agroforestry, forestry, hydrology, wetlands and systems ecology.

I speak Swedish, English and German fluently, and can manage in French and Spanish (after a week or two). I am also fluent in several programming languages, especially related to spatial data processing. Over the past years I have mostly turned away from standard packages of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and instead relied on Python (programming language) and the Geographical Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). I can thus set up processes and processing chains that are practically impossible to create with commercial packages. This has allowed me to set up my own Big Spatal Data processing framework, available online through Karttur´s GEoImagine pages on GitHub

Degrees

Additionally completed university courses

Employment

  • Researcher, Geoinformatics, Stockholm University (part time, Juny 2018 - Present. Multi-source mapping of global Arctic wetlands.
  • Scientist, self employed (Karttur AB, part time) January 2012 – Present (7 years), Stockholm, Sweden. Development of remote sensing and geoinformatics algorithms for mapping and monitoring natural resources. Global mapping of wetlands, soils and vegetation. Development of open source web systems for geoinformatics data presentation and processing.
  • Senior Scientist, Geoinformatics, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), May 2009 – December 2011 (2 years 8 months), Nairobi, Kenya. Land health (soil, water, vegetation) mapping and monitoring (local to global scale). Development of automated processing chains (work flows) for spatial data processing. Development of novel approaches for mapping land health from remote sensing and other spatial data. Formed and launched the ICRAF geoinformatics unit.
  • Senior Lecturer, Geoinformatics , KTH, August 2005 – April 2009 (3 years 9 months), Stockholm, Sweden. Half time position (other half spent as research consultant). Spatial data visualization and geoinformatics, web server development. Lecturing and supervision at graduate and post-graduate levels. Research on spatial mapping and monitoring of environmental resources and urban areas.
  • Research consultant, personal company, Geofyskonsult, April 2005 – April 2009 (4 years 1 month). Stockholm, Sweden. Research consultant for the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Land health (soil, water, vegetation) mapping and monitoring (local to global scale). Field work in Africa and development of a soil information system.
  • Research Consultant World Agroforestry Centre, February 2004 – March 2005 (1 year 2 months), Entebbe, Uganda. Research consultant for the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Development of novel approaches for mapping land health from remote sensing and other spatial data.
  • Scientist, hydrologist, World Agroforestry Centre, September 2002 – January 2004 (1 year 5 months) Entebbe, Uganda. Research and capacity building, development of research proposals and fund raising. Focus on Nile Basin and Lake Victoria hydrology and ecology. Creating hydroinformatics databases. Mapping and modeling of tropical natural resources (vegetation, water, soil).
  • Postdoctoral Researcher University of the Witwatersrand October 1999 – August 2002 (2 years 11 months), Johannesburg, South Africa. Research on the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and other arid region wetlands in Southern Africa. Applied geoinformatics for mapping ecology, hydrology, sedimentology and geology (initial period overlapping with position held at Uppsala University).
  • Senior Lecturer, Geoinformatics, Uppsala University, September 1998 – March 2000 (1 year 7 months), Uppsala, Sweden. Unit head. Responsible for geoinformatics research, teaching and curricula development, Lecturing and supervision at graduate and post-graduate levels. Development of research proposals and fund raising, Research on spatial mapping of environmental resources (land, water, vegetation).
  • Research Fellow KTH, January 1997 – July 1998 (1 year 7 months), Stockholm, Sweden. Research in applied geoinformatics for hydrology, ecology and natural resource management. Lecturing at post-graduate level. Supervision at MSc and PhD level .
  • Doctoral Student / Junior Lecturer / Researcher KTH, February 1988 – December 1996 (8 years 11 months), Stockholm, Sweden. PhD research in systems ecology and landscape hydrology applying geoinformatics. Lecturing at graduate and post-graduate level. Supervision at MSc level.
  • Water and Natural Resources Consultant, K-Konsult, August 1984 – June 1988 (3 years 11 months), Kalmar, Sweden. Technical consultant, water and natural resources engineering Preparation of about 50 technical reports for private and public institutions.