My area of interest is pretty wide and covers e.g.: remote sensing, GIS, landscape pattern analysis, landscape connectivity, modelling of animals movement and disease transmission.

I graduated from MSc in Environmental Biology and MSc in Remote Sensing and GIS at Jagiellonian University in Poland and I’m very interested in bringing remote sensing and GIS tools to answer wildlife conservation problems.

My DPhil thesis carried at Université Libre in Brussels focused on using fine-scale satellite imagery to deliver data on vegetation quality and quantity in order to model foot-and mouth disease transmission between cattle and African buffalo in South Africa.

Further on, in collaboration with University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), I also studied temporal variations in African elephant movement in Kruger National Park (South Africa). Within the project I analysed temporal differences in elephants’ path selection and variables limiting this selection across the year and across various spatial scales.

At WildCRU I am a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in landscape ecology mainly involved in range-wide programme of research on clouded leopard (amongst several other felids) across South East Asia. The ultimate goal of this study is to use connectivity modelling to contribute to clouded leopard conservation plans under a range of planning scenarios. This will be achieved by developing a species conservation planning tool (GIS-toolkit) for national and trans-boundary regions across the range of both the Sunda and mainland clouded leopard.

Selected Publications

Kaszta Ż., Cushman S.A., Sillero-Zubiri C., Wolff E., Marino J. (in press) Where buffalo and cattle meet: Modelling interspecific contact using cumulative resistant kernels. Ecography.

Kaszta, Ż., Marino, J., Wolff, E. (2017) Fine-scale spatial and seasonal rangeland use by cattle in a foot-and-mouth disease control zones. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 239, 161–172.

Madonsela, S., Azong, M., Mathieu, R., Mutanga, O., Ramoelo, A., Kerchove, R. Van De, Wolff, E., (2017). International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation Multi-phenology WorldView-2 imagery improves remote sensing of savannah tree species 58, 65–73.

Kaszta Ż., Van De Kerchove R., Ramoelo A., Cho M.A., Madonsela S., Mathieu R. and Wolff E. (2016) Seasonal Separation of African Savanna Components Using Worldview-2 Imagery: A Comparison of Pixel-and Object-Based Approaches and Selected Classification Algorithms. Remote Sensing, 8(9), p.763

Kaszta Ż, Marino J, Ramoelo A, Wolff E. (2016) Bulk feeder or selective grazer: African buffalo space use patterns based on fine-scale remotely sensed data on forage quality and quantity. Ecological Modelling. 323:115-22.

Ramoelo A., Cho M. A., Madonsela S., Van de Kerchove R., Kaszta Ż., Mathieu R., Wolf E. (2015) Monitoring plant nutrients and biomass as an indicator of rangeland quality and quantity using random forest and WorldView-2 data. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 43, pp.43-54

Ramoelo A., Cho M. A., Madonsela S., Mathieu R., Van de Kerchove R., Kaszta Ż., Wolf E. (2014) A potential to monitor nutrients as an indicator of rangeland quality using space borne remote sensing. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. Volume 18, Issue 1, article id. 012094.