Jonas Geldmann

Jonas Geldmann is an Associate Professor at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, where he leads research in the Section for Biodiversity. His work focuses on understanding and assessing the impact of conservation interventions, particularly how resources, management, governance, and socio-economic context influence the effectiveness of protected areas.

Dr. Geldmann's research spans three main areas: global patterns of anthropogenic threats to biodiversity, understanding the impact of protected areas, and improving the effectiveness of protected areas. He utilizes large global datasets from conservation organizations, research institutions, and remote-sensing sources to develop correlative models of conservation success through quasi-experimental methods. His work on global threat patterns involves mapping the distribution of threats to biodiversity using IUCN Red List data for amphibians, birds, and mammals. He investigates how socio-economic, biological, and geological factors explain geographical threat patterns and how they relate to conservation interventions. In protected area research, he examines whether protected areas safeguard biodiversity and local livelihoods using data on management effectiveness and socio-economic context.

Dr. Geldmann contributes to global conservation efforts through his involvement with the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas' Management Effectiveness Specialist Group, working with managers worldwide to improve evidence-based conservation practices. He has published extensively in top journals including Nature, PNAS, and Conservation Biology, with his research receiving significant media attention and social media engagement.

• Current Research Group:
• Antonella Gorosabel (Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, 2023)
• Harith Farooq (postdoc, 2022)
• Helena Neri Alves Pinto (Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, 2023)
• Katherine Pulido Chadid (PhD student, 2022)

Dr. Geldmann organizes the MSc course 'International Nature Conservation' and contributes to summer courses 'Herpetology' and 'Area-based Management'. He has successfully supervised numerous MSc and BSc students, with research topics spanning protected area effectiveness, threat mitigation, and conservation planning across multiple continents, including work in Africa, South America, and Asia.