Britta Ricker

Britta Ricker serves as an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Sciences department at Utrecht University's Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. Her expertise spans Geographic Information Science, Remote Sensing, Cartography, and Open Science practices, with active leadership as the Netherlands representative to the International Cartographic Association where she chairs the Commission of Cartography and Sustainable Development.

Her research focuses on democratizing geospatial technologies through interactive visualization techniques and low-cost tools, specifically targeting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator data mapping. She co-authored the open-access textbook Mapping for a Sustainable World and utilizes Earth Observation satellite data for environmental monitoring across scales from small island states to global systems. Current projects emphasize accessible SDG data representation and innovative cartographic methods for sustainability challenges.

Dr. Ricker mentors students in applied geospatial projects including solar potential analysis in data-poor urban environments and citizen science biodiversity monitoring. She regularly lectures at international forums including United Nations agencies (UN-GGIM, ECLAC, UN Women), academic institutions like the University of Bayreuth, and industry conferences such as the Geospatial World Forum.