Aster Gebrekirstos

Global Scientist, World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Dr. Aster Gebrekirstos is a scientist at World Agroforestry (ICRAF), where she leads the Dendrochronology Laboratory. She has over twenty years of experience in research, tertiary level teaching and consulting. She also lectures at universities in Germany and at the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change (WASCAL) PhD programme in Cote d’Ivoire.

Her areas of specialization include reforestation and dry land restoration, dendrochronology (tree ring analysis, stable isotopes and plant-climate interactions), plant ecophysiology (plant water relations, application of stable isotopes to the study of plant eco-physiological processes and global climate changes), tropical forest ecology and management (effects and consequences of global climate change on biodiversity and livelihoods), watershed management, agroforestry.

Aster Gebrekirstos (PhD, Gottingen University, Germany, 2005) is global scientist and head of the dendrochronology lab, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya, and affiliated with Erlangen University, Germany. Her research is in the area of forest ecology, dendroclimatology, climate change, applications of stable isotopes, land restoration. She led and participated in research projects across Africa and Asia. She set up dendrochronology labs in Ethiopia (2009) and in Nairobi (2013). She taught at Alemaya and Wondo Genet University, Ethiopia; as visiting professor at WASCAL, and Dresden University in Germany. She trained 20+ PhD students, published 80+ journal articles and book chapters. Her awards include: African Climate Award for excellence in climate change research (2014), Special Award for Groundbreaking Science (2009). Fellow of African Academy of Science (AAS), International Academy of Wood Science, conferred Eleonore Trefftz Visiting Professorship Dresden University. She is a vice-president of International Union of Agroforestry, chair of Environment Committee at AAS, member of science leadership at Past Global Changes (PAGES) and Mountain Research Institute (MRI).