Abstract. A social-ecological system (SES) is a complex adaptive system that integrates people and nature into a single system. Feedbacks between people and ecosystems underpin SESs, but are poorly understood. Ostrom’s SES framework (SESF) provides a structured approach to SES feedbacks, but it is not inherently spatial. My project will focus on understanding the spatial influences of spatial heterogeneity, connectivity and scale on social-ecological interactions and to improve our ability to model them. I will use spatially explicit simulation models, based on the SESF, to model the ecosystem service choices of people in a peri-urban areas of Bangalore – a fast growing city in southern India. The modelling exercise will both test existing theory and develop new theory to understand feedbacks in dynamic SESs, contributing to a more general, quantitative theory of social-ecological resilience.

Biography. Sivee completed her graduation in Computer Science Engineering from IP University, New Delhi (India). Thereafter, she worked with IBM for a year and a half before pursuing her Masters in Geoinformation Sciences and Earth Observation. It was a Joint Education Program between Twente University, Netherlands and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India. She has always perceived computer science as a tool to solve multi-disciplinary issues related to environment. The topic of her master’s thesis was to “Develop a sub pixel classification algorithm for multispectral remote sensing images by exploiting spatial and spectral information, using Markov Random Fields and Possibilistic c-means”. Following which, she worked in India as a modelling engineer for a year. Before coming to Australia for her PhD, she worked as a researcher at Flemish Institute of Technological research (VITO) in Belgium for four years. Where, she used remote sensing images and geostatistical analysis to estimate surface water quality. She is pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Graeme Cumming and Dr. Tiffany Morrison.