Founder and principal ecologist
Bjarke Madsen
PhD in ecology and biodiversity · Vegetation ecologist and monitoring specialist
As an ecologist and consultant, Bjarke has many years of experience in vegetation ecology, biodiversity research and long-term monitoring. A continuing interest runs through this work: how ecological change can be observed and understood, from the plants in a vegetation plot to patterns unfolding across a landscape. FutureGrounds grew out of the work of connecting that understanding with the questions and decisions facing nature projects.
Starting with vegetation
Vegetation ecology offers a close view of the relationships between species, their growing conditions and ecological processes. Through research on plant communities and repeated vegetation surveys, Bjarke has followed how grazing, disturbance and environmental variation relate to change over time. This provides a foundation for looking beyond individual records and asking what is beginning to develop.
Connecting field observations and remote sensing
Work with drone-based LiDAR, spectral data and GIS has broadened the perspective from vegetation plots to landscape structure. Alongside the coordination of field programmes spanning vegetation, soils, sensors and other data sources, it has sharpened an awareness of what each method reveals and what it misses. Data integration means connecting observations with different scales and uncertainties so they can be interpreted ecologically.
Bringing research into nature projects
FutureGrounds brings these experiences together in a practice that designs monitoring around concrete ecological questions. This involves fieldwork and analysis, as well as planning coherent programmes, making assumptions explicit and explaining how findings can be used. The interest in futures-thinking extends that work: how can we follow nature's actual development while keeping several possible futures in view?
His background includes a PhD in ecology and biodiversity from Aarhus University, project management training, and research and coordination work in LandCRAFT and SustainScapes, among other collaborations.
Explore the research themes