Biography
Tom Wanger is an interdisciplinary scientist, working broadly on sustainable natural resource use and land-use change at multiple spatial scales. Tom is a graduate from the University of Adelaide, Australia jointly with the National University of Singapore, Singapore (PhD, Environmental Sciences) and former Postdoc at Stanford University, US and SLU, Sweden. In the past, he received multiple awards for example for his work on land-use change impacts on biodiversity in Indonesia. He is a ‘Researcher’ in the Agroecology Group at the University of Göttingen, Germany and is the ‘Director of Research’ of AMAP, Germany & Brazil. Besides his career in research, he held senior management positions in international organizations and a technology start-up. Tom joined Westlake University in December 2019 as an Associate Professor and PI of the “Sustainability, Agriculture, and Technology” lab.
History
2021
Honorary Full Professor ,Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Brazil
2019
Associate Professor, Westlake University, China
2016
PostDoctoral Researcher, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
2013
Researcher, Center for Sustainability Management, Lüneburg, Germany
2012
PostDoctoral Researcher, Stanford University, US
2011
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Adelaide, Australia
2007
Bachelor & Master of Science, University of Tübingen, Germany
Research
The United Nation Sustainable Development Goals are the roadmap of how to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and agricultural land use change. These challenges are all intertwined and solutions require a holistic, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary approach.
Take agricultural land use change for example. The growing demands on agricultural yields to secure the required food, fibre, and bioenergy leads not only to benefits for governments, corporations, and farmers, but also to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. These trade-offs between economic, social, and ecological factors are modified by climate change and are critical determinants of crop production strategies and the required area. For example, the choice of chemical inputs (i.e., fertilizers and pesticides) determines the amount of pests in a system, resulting crop yields, income structures of farmers, but also agricultural impacts on ecosystem services such as pollination.
The ‘Sustainability, Agriculture, and Technology’ lab is an international team striving for excellence. Our work is global, we embrace new technologies and methods, and we collaborate openly based on innovative thinking. Specifically, we will focus on:
i) Ecological, social, and economic trade-offs in different agricultural production systems. We are working on project sites in Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia, and China to assess landscape-level effects of cocoa and rice production systems on the environment and people. Besides ecological monitoring and socioeconomic surveys, we are interested in understanding human health effects of different agricultural production systems. To work on different agricultural systems, we are building on our existing and new collaborations in China and internationally.
ii) Opportunities in novel agricultural production systems. What is the potential for future agricultural production systems in the oceans, space, deserts, or in cities? Which challenges do we need to overcome and where does it make sense to start production systems considering our ecological, social, and economic trade-off approach? Westlake University and in particular our affiliation with the School of Engineering makes this an extremely exciting endeavor.
iii) Developing technology to address the above questions. We are also interested in new technology that lets us achieve these former two points. How can we automate pollinator detection in Brazil? Can we extrapolate our findings from rice production systems in China to other parts of the world? These questions require close collaborations with technology experts, ideally within the lab.
We are also excited about pursuing high potential side projects, sometimes unrelated to our three focal areas.
Representative Publications
1. L Kehoe, et al. Wanger TC, .et al. Make EU trade with Brazil sustainable. Science 364, 341, 2019.
2. TC Wanger, Traill L, Cooney R, Rhodes JR, Tscharntke T. Trophy hunting certification. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 1, 1791-1793, 2017
3. TC Wanger, Tscharntke T, Schroth G, Klein A. Cocoa shortfall: Pollination curbs climate risk to cocoa. Nature 511, 155, 2014
4. TC Wanger, Darras K, Bumrungsri S, Klein A, Tscharntke T. Bat pest control contributes to food security in Thailand. Biological Conservation 171, 220-223, 2014
5. LA Garibaldi, et al. Wanger TC, Westphal C, Williams N, Klein A. Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops worldwide regardless of honey bee abundance. Science. 339, 1608-1611, 2013
6. T Tscharntke, Clough C, Jackson L, Motzke I, Perfecto I, Vandermeer J, Wanger TC, Whitbread A. Global food security, biodiversity conservation and the future of agricultural intensification. Invited MS for Special Issue in Biological Conservation 151, 53-59, 2012
7. J Fischer, et al., Wanger TC, Wehrden H. Conservation: limits of land sparing. Science 334, 593, 2011
8. Y Clough, Barkmann J, Juhrbandt J, Kessler M, Wanger TC, et al. Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science – USA 108, 8311-8316, 2011
9. T Tscharntke, et al., Wanger TC. Multifunctional shade-tree management in tropical agroforestry landscapes – a review. Journal of Applied Ecology 48, 619-629, 2011
10. TC Wanger. The Lithium future – resources, recycling, and the environment. Conservation Letters 4, 202-206, 2011
For further information please see Tom’s Google Scholar profile.
Contact Us
If you are interested in becoming a student in our lab or if you want to discuss research opportunities as a PostDoc or (Senior) Researcher, it would be great to hear from you! Please send a cover letter (including your experience, motivation to join the lab, and an idea you want to pursue), and an updated CV in a single pdf file to Tom Wanger (tomcwanger@westlake.edu.cn).
Please visit THE LAB | SASE Lab @WestlakeU (tomcwanger.com) for more information.