About

I am a trained geographer working at the interface of remote sensing and biodiversity science. My research focuses on how spatial data can be used to monitor species composition, biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services. I apply these approaches across natural, semi-natural, and urban environments, enabling their use in a variety of ecological contexts.

I have contributed to several international projects, including the CABO project in Canada, where I evaluated plant diversity models, and the SensGrün project in Germany, where I worked on modelling grassland composition and diversity with hyperspectral sensors across gradients of land use and grassland types.

Currently, I am an interim professor at the Geoinformation in Environmental Planning Lab at TU Berlin. My ongoing research includes projects on post-disturbance forest succession and remote sensing-based conservation monitoring to support environmental planning. Explore our current projects here: https://www.tu.berlin/en/geoinformation/research/projects/ongoing-projects

Download my resumé.

Interests
  • Remote sensing from air and space
  • Spatial analyses of biodiversity and ecosystem functions
  • Spectral and structural variation
  • Biogeography
  • Environmental justice
  • R programming
Education

  • PhD in Physical Geography, 2018

    University of Marburg, Germany

  • Master in Physical Geography, 2014

    University of Berlin, Germany

  • BSc in Physical Geography, 2011

    University of Marburg, Germany

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Interim professor
Technische Universität Berlin, Geoinformation in Evironmental planning
February 2025 – Present Germany, Berlin
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral fellow
Technische Universität Berlin, Geoinformation in Evironmental planning
September 2023 – January 2025 Germany, Berlin

Project:

  • Evaluation of recent remote sensing-based sensors and methods for the quality analysis of NATURA 2000 grassland habitat types (SensGrün)
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral fellow
University of Sherbrooke, Biology
August 2020 – August 2023 Canada, Sherbrooke

Project:

  • Canadian Airborne Biodiversity Observatory (CABO)
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral fellow
University of Marburg, LCRS
April 2020 – May 2020 Germany

Project:

  • Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs (RESPECT, Ecuador 2.0)
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral fellow
University of Marburg, LCRS
November 2018 – November 2019 Germany

Project:

  • Bridging postdoc scholarship
 
 
 
 
 
PhD student
University of Marburg, LCRS
January 2014 – August 2018 Germany

Project:

  • Remote sensing as surrogate for phylodiversity and functional processes along land use and elevation gradients (Ecuador 1.0)

Recent Posts

“Moving with a family for Academia”
I found a postdoc position in remote sensing in Canada - that was more than 2 years ago now - before the pandemic started. I had only a very rough idea of Canada at that time.
“Moving with a family for Academia”
Mentoring
There is a lot of evidence that women in science in long-term faculty or leadership positions are underrepresented (not speaking of other minorities in science…). This may be due to learned behaviors, missing networks, or less self-promotion (reasons are manifold), but I really faced that challenge after becoming a mom.
Mentoring
An homage to field work in Ecuador
Do you know the Estación Científica San Francisco in Ecuador? If not, here are some impressions!
Jan 13, 2017

Projects

Dec 31, 2021
CABO

Plant spectral diversity as an integrator and predictor of community-level taxonomic and functional diversity (Canadian Airborne Biodiversity Observatory, CABO)

Oct 31, 2021
Ecuador 2.0

Freelancer for ‘Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs (RESPECT)’

Dec 1, 2018
Ecuador 1.0

Remote sensing as surrogate for phylodiversity and functional processes along land use and elevation gradients

Recent Publications

Guillaume Tougas, Christine Wallis, Etienne Laliberte, Mark Vellend (2025). Hyperspectral imaging has a limited ability to remotely sense the onset of beech bark disease. Remote sensing in ecology and conservation.

Project DOI

Christine Wallis, Shan Kothari, Johanna R. Jantzen, Anna L. Crofts, Sabine St-Jean, Deep Inamdar, Juan Pablo Arroyo-Mora, Margaret Kalacksa, Anne Bruneau, Nicholas C. Coops, Etienne Laliberte, Mark Vellend (2024). Exploring the spectral variation hypothesis for α- and β-diversity: a comparison of open vegetation and forests. Environmental Research Letters, 19.

Project DOI

Anna L. Crofts, Christine Wallis, Sabine St-Jean, Sabrina Demers-Thibeault, Deep Inamdar, Juan Pablo Arroyo-Mora, Margaret Kalacksa, Etienne Laliberte, Mark Vellend (2024). Linking aerial hyperspectral data to canopy tree biodiversity: An examination of the spectral variation hypothesis. Ecological Monographs, 94.

Project DOI

Thomas Miraglio, Nicholas C. Coops, Christine Wallis, Anna L. Crofts, Margaret Kalacksa, Mark Vellend, Shawn P. Serbin, Juan Pablo Arroyo-Mora, Etienne Laliberte (2023). Mapping canopy traits over Québec using airborne and spaceborne imaging spectroscopy. Scientific Reports, 13.

Project DOI

Christine Wallis, Anna Crofts, Deep Inamdar, Pablo Arroya-Mora, Margaret Kalacksa, Etienne Laliberte, Mark Vellend (2023). Remotely sensed carbon content - The role of tree composition and tree diversity. Remote Sensing of Environment, 284.

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Christine Wallis, Yvonne Tiede, Erwin Beck, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Roland Brandl, David A. Donoso, Carlos I. Espinosa, Andreas Fries, Jürgen Homeier, Diego Inclan, Christoph Leuschner, Mark Maraun, Katrin Mikolajewski, Eike Lena Neuschulz, Stefan Scheu, Matthias Schleuning, Juan P. Suárez, Boris A. Tinoco, Nina Farwig, Jörg Bendix (2021). Biodiversity and ecosystem functions depend on environmental conditions and resources rather than the geodiversity of a tropical biodiversity hotspot. Scientific reports, 11.

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Christine Wallis, Jürgen Homeier, Jaime Peña, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig, Jörg Bendix (2019). Modeling tropical montane forest biomass, productivity and canopy traits with multispectral remote sensing data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 225.

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Yvonne Tiede, Jan Schlautmann, David A.Donoso, Christine Wallis, Jörg Bendix, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig (2017). Ants as indicators of environmental change and ecosystem processes. Ecological Indicators, 83.

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Christine Wallis, Gunnar Brehm, David A.Donoso, Konrad Fiedler, Jürgen Homeier, Detlev Paulsch, Dirk Süßenbach, Yvonne Tiede, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig, Jörg Bendix (2017). Remote sensing improves prediction of tropical montane species diversity but performance differs among taxa. Ecological Indicators.

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Christine Wallis, Konrad Fiedler, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig, Jörg Bendix (2017). A spatially explicit indicator for species diversity derived from remote sensing in the mountain rainforest of southern Ecuador.

DOI

Yvonne Tiede, Christine Wallis, Jörg Bendix, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig (2017). Ants and artificial caterpillars as indicators of environmental change and ecosystem processes.

DOI

Yvonne Tiede, Christine Wallis, Jörg Bendix, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig (2016). Benefits of Remote Sensing Data for Biodiversity Monitoring Birds, Ants and their Role as Predators.

DOI

Christine Wallis, Detlev Paulsch, Jörg Zeilinger, Brenner Silva, Giulia F.Curatola Fernández, Roland Brandl, Nina Farwig, Jörg Bendix (2016). Contrasting performance of Lidar and optical texture models in predicting avian diversity in a tropical mountain forest. Remote Sensing of Environment, 174.

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Popular Topics

Aboveground forest carbon Academic life Ants Artificial caterpillars Biodiversity Birds Canopy traits Ecosystem functions Ecuador Hyperspectral Hyperspectral imaging Hypothesis testing Imaging Spectroscopy Landsat Moths Path model PLSR Remote sensing Spectral variation Texture

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