Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Eva Haslauer defended her PhD thesis successfully




Yesterday Eva Haslauer defended her PhD Thesis, entitled “GIS-based backcasting: An innovative method for parameterization of sustainable spatial planning and resource management”. Prof. Dr. Thomas Blaschke acted as the chair of the examination committee. The three discussants were: Dr. Gudrun Wallentin from the University of Salzburg, Dr. Peter Mandl  from University of Carinthia and Dr. Norbert Bartelme from the University of Graz.

During her PhD studies at the Department of Geoinformatics  at the University of Salzburg Eva was employed at the Research Studio iSpace. In her PhD work, Eva developed a GIS-based, spatially explicit backcasting model. This novel approach was implemented with the programming language Python and applied to a case study of urban sprawl in the province of Salzburg. The results of the model yield back-casting of land use classes from a future state back to the present, in 8 year time steps. This can be utilized to counteract urban sprawl and its negative consequences by supporting spatial planners to derive long-term strategies for sustainable spatial developments in the case study area.

We wish Eva all the best for her future career!

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