Doctor of Civil Engineering

ETH Zürich, chair of Planning of Landscape Urban Systems (PLUS)

Zürich, Switzerland

Oct. 2020 - Jun. 2025

Thesis: Identifying effective area-based conservation strategies under uncertainties

Awards: Nominated for the ETH medal for outstanding doctoral theses

MSc in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (MESPOM)

Central European University, University of Manchester, Lund University, University of the Aegean

Hungary, Greece, UK

Sep. 2018 - Jun. 2020

Thesis: Assessing the ecological effectiveness of protected areas in Cambodia: a quasi-experimental counterfactual estimation of avoided deforestation

Awards: Outstanding academic achievement (highest GPA in cohort: 4.00/4.00)

BSc with 1st Class Honours in Biological Sciences

Edinburgh Napier University

Edinburgh, Scotland

Sep. 2010 - Jun. 2014

Thesis: Simulating the future potential of degraded Mangrove plots using field data from Kenya

Awards: University medal (highest average mark on degree route); Lawrence Ho student prize; Dennis Aw award.

Freelance Research Consultant

Prognos AG

Zürich, Switzerland

May. 2025 - Jul. 2025

Performed Land Use and Land Cover change modelling of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways for Switzerland as part of project funded by the Swiss National Centre for Climate Services

Biodiversity and SMART Intern

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jul. 2019 - Aug. 2019

Developed a programmatic routine to expedite the collection of external data from the IUCN, EDGE ranking and CITES to produce protected area species inventories in line with Darwin Core standards. Assisted in the training of new community biodiversity rangers in the process of SMART data collection in the field.

Student Affairs Manager

The School for Field Studies Center for Conservation and Development Studies in the Lower Mekong

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Jan. 2018 - Aug. 2018

Coordinated safety and risk management as well as logistics for all centre activities including multi day field trips to remote locations. Served as the medical point person, facilitating first aid training for staff, while also supporting student well-being and cultural adaptation in a pastoral role.

Project Manager & Volunteer Co-ordinator

Elephant Livelihood Initiatives and Environment (E.L.I.E)

Mondulkiri, Cambodia

April. 2015 - June. 2017

Managed a diverse team (Bunong Indigenous minority, and Khmer) of 48 staff. Oversaw the operation of an ecotourism project receiving 4000+ visitors a year. Facilitated ongoing capacity building of staff and development of the volunteer program. Compiled budgets, managed cash flow, and created detailed financial and organizational reports.

Independent Consultant Srae Y Community ecotourism project

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Mondulkiri, Cambodia

Oct. 2015 - Dec. 2015

Undertook site visits to assess the status of the project and prepared a report, detailing strategies to make the project operational and sustainable. Planned and delivered a series of training sessions to project staff and stakeholders from other communities engaged in ecotourism.

Volunteer Development Officer & Conservation Support Assistant

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV)

Central Scotland

May 2013 - Apr. 2015

Planned, developed and delivered the Ochils Landscape Partnerships volunteering program and two TCV community health projects. Engaged with, and ensured the safety and wellbeing of a diverse cross section of volunteers, many with physical or mental disabilities as well as young adults/children.

Participatory Environmental Modelling: MSc course at ETH Zürich

Designed and taught an MSc-level course integrating students and practitioners to develop simulation models for real-world environmental decision-making.

Zürich, Switzerland

Feb. 2021 - Jul. 2024

Reproducible Research with R and Quarto: Workflows for data, projects and publications

Three hour workshop as part of Landscape 2024 conference

Berlin, Germany

Sep. 2024

Future development of biodiversity and ecosystem services as a basis for the revision of the sectoral plan for biodiversity

Canton of Bern Department of Agriculture and Nature

Bern, Switzerland

Dec. 2024

Project in collaboration with the Wyss Academy for Nature to generate policy-relevant evidence supporting the canton’s revision of the sectoral biodiversity plan.

NAture-positive SCenarios for ENvironmental Transitions: Peru (NASCENT-PERU)

Swiss Re Foundation

Zürich, Switzerland

Jun. 2023

Funded project under the SwissRE Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Scenarios Modelling Initiative

Identifying robust conservation stragies to secure ecosystem service provision under uncertainties

Black, B., Adde, A., Külling, N., Büth, C., Kurmann, M., Lehmann, A., Altermatt, F., Guisan, A., Gret-Regamey, A.

N/A

In Review

Global Environmental Change

Temporal Archetypes of Nature’s Contributions to People for Sustainable Landscape Development

Wicki, S., Black, B., Külling, N., Kurmann, M., Wang, J., Lehmann, A., Gret-Regamey, A.

N/A

In Review

Regional Environmental Change

Where will the change come from? Identifying decision-relevant factors in future Land Use and Cover Change ({LUCC}) scenarios to support planning under uncertainty

Roman, O., Adey, B., Black, B., Zeindl, E.

N/A

In Review

Futures

The PAVE pathway: how to talk about models with people who did(n’t) build them

Bell, A., Troost, C., Filatova, T., Vincenot, C., Qin, C., Fiedler, S., Lemmen, C., Lynch, I., Pierce, M., Edmonds ,B., McIntire, E., Wang, H., Koralewski, T., Grant, W., Wang, M., Black, B., Grimm, V.

N/A

In Review

Bioscience

Broadening the horizon in land use change modelling: Normative scenarios for nature positive futures in Switzerland

Black, B., Adde, A., Farinotti, D., Guisan, A., Külling, N., Kurmann, M., Martin, C., Mayer, P., Rabe, S, Streit, J., Zekollari, H., Grêt-Regamey, A.

N/A

2024

Regional Environmental Change

Archetypes of social-ecological-technological systems for managing ecological infrastructure

Wicki, S., Black, B., Kurmann, M., Grêt-Regamey, A.

N/A

2023

Environmental Research Letters

Re-considering the status quo: Improving calibration of land use change models through validation of transition potential predictions

Black, B., van Strien, M. J., Adde, A., Grêt-Regamey, A.

N/A

2023

Environmental Modelling & Software

Counterfactual assessment of protected area avoided deforestation in Cambodia: Trends in effectiveness, spillover effects and the influence of establishment date

Black, B., Anthony, B. P.

N/A

2022

Global Ecology and Conservation

A “Scope, Simulation and Story” approach to identify future spatial development scenarios

Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management Conference 2025

University College London

Jun. 2025

Negotiating scenarios of a desirable ecological infrastructure for Switzerland

4th Swiss Landscape Congress

Tramelan, Switzerland

Sep. 2024

Normative scenarios of landscape change for Nature-Positive futures in Peru

World Biodiversity Forum

Davos, Switzerland

Jun. 2024

Broadening the scope of future visions for nature positive futures in Peru

Swiss Re Institute Resilience Summit 2023

Zürich, Switzerland

Nov. 2023

Characterising non-stationarity in predictive models of land use in Swiss mountain parks to inform scenarios for deliberative transformation

International Mountain conference 2022

Innsbruck, Austria

Sep. 2022

ValPar.CH: Integrating land use change, Ecosystem Service and Biodiversity modelling to simulate pathways for a functioning Ecological Infrastructure for Switzerland

11th International Environmental Modelling and Software Society conference

Brussels, Belgium

Jul. 2022

Combining filter and embedded approaches to improve variable selection in land use change Cellular Automata models

11th International Environmental Modelling and Software Society conference

Brussels, Belgium

Jul. 2022

Ex-ante identification of policy interventions to secure a functioning ecological infrastructure: A participatory Bayesian Network approach in Switzerland

3rd Ecosystem Services Partnership Europe Regional conference

Tartu, Estonia

Jun. 2019