Alexandra Konings

Alexandra Konings is an Associate Professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, and holds a courtesy appointment in Geophysics. She leads the Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group, which investigates interactions between global carbon/water cycles using satellite remote sensing (especially microwave data) and model development. Her research spans plant hydraulics, wildfire dynamics, tropical ecosystems, and vegetation water content analysis.

Education:
Ph.D. in Hydrology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015)
M.S. in Environmental Science, Duke University (2011)
S.B. in Environmental Engineering Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009)

Research Interests:
Her work integrates remote sensing with ecohydrology to study:

• Plant-water relationships and hydraulic traits at ecosystem scales
• Wildfire vulnerability linked to vegetation water stress
• Carbon-water feedbacks in tropical forests
• Microwave-derived vegetation water content for climate modeling
• Impacts of trait diversity on regional ecosystem behavior

Publication Trends (2017–2023):
Her recent articles focus on vegetation water content as a key indicator for drought impacts, wildfire risk, and ecosystem resilience. Dominant themes include microwave remote sensing validation, plant hydraulic trait mapping, tropical peatland hydrology, and machine learning applications for fuel moisture estimation.

Leadership:
She directs the Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group at Stanford, advancing methodologies for satellite-based environmental monitoring and mentoring researchers in ecosystem-climate interactions.