Prof. Dr. Denise Margaret S. Matias

Denise Margaret S. Matias is a professor in ecosystem-based transformation management in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development in Germany. Her current research projects are ZooMap (“Zoonosis and Cultural Evolution: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Wildlife Consumption and Trading in Mongolia and the Philippines), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation; PaCE (“Peace and Conservation of Ecology at Disputed Seas”), funded by the German Research Foundation under the Biodiversa+ consortium; and BÖLT Meer (“Biodiversity, Economy, Livelihoods and Traditions in the South China Sea: Towards a Transdisciplinary Research Strategy”), funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. She was recognized by the Alliance of World Scientists as a 2024 Planet Earth Awardee for her work with Indigenous communities in the Philippines. She is also a selection committee member of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the International Climate Protection Fellowship (Germany), a scientific advisory panel member of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (Philippines), and a fellow of the Samdhana Institute (Indonesia and the Philippines).

Selected Publications:

• with Aida Mammadova, Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful, Racheal Fosu Donkoh, Seira Harada, and Saku Monden. “Empowering Student-Led Exchanges in Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks: A Policy Framework for Sustainable Education in Multiple UNESCO Designated Areas.” Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 11 (January 2026): 100332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2025.100332.
• with Bryan Joel S. Mariano, Emerson Y. Sy, Lemuel A. Pabico, Neliza Bacani-Tabi, and Chiara Graziella Loor. “Examining the Social-Ecological Dimensions of Philippine Pangolin (Manis Culionensis) Conservation.” Discover Conservation 2, no. 1 (2025): 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44353-025-00069-5.
• with Mukona Kone, Paulina G. Karim, Diana San Jose, Bryan Joel Mariano, Andrea Monica Ortiz, Pradeep K. Dubey, et al. “The Need for Transnational Networks and Transdisciplinary Education for Sustainable Development in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the Global South.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 75 (August 2025): 101553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101553.
• with Philip J. Landrigan, Sarah Dunlop, Marina Treskova, Hervé Raps, Christos Symeonides, Jane Muncke, et al. “The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics.” The Lancet 406, no. 10507 (2025): 1044–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01447-3.
•  “Transdisciplinarity, Tempocoupling, and the Role of Culture in Zoonosis Research.” Global Sustainability 7 (January 2024): e10. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2024.7.
• with Sophie Peter, Sarah Niess, Batbuyan Batjav, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Lukas Drees, Yun Jäschke, et al. “The Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Given the Transformation of Pastoralism in Central and Eastern Mongolia.” Ambio 53 (2024): 1813–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02057-w.

Photo credits: © Florian Reischhauer. All rights reserved.