RESEARCH

Climate Resilience · Carbon Markets · Environmental Governance · Sustainable Land Systems

My research examines how people, institutions, and landscapes respond to climate change and emerging environmental interventions. Combining field-based research with quantitative, qualitative, and geospatial methods, I investigate the connections among rural livelihoods, environmental governance, sustainable land use, and climate resilience, with particular attention to smallholder farmers and communities.

RESEARCH AREAS

Photo by Seongmin Shin

| Climate Resilience & Rural Livelihoods

I examine how farmers and rural communities respond to climate risks, market uncertainty, and changing livelihood conditions. This work investigates how agricultural practices, institutional support, and access to resources influence food security, adaptation decisions, and rural resilience.

Smallholders · Food Security · Climate Adaptation · Livelihood Strategies

| Carbon Markets & Environmental Governance

I investigate how carbon markets and other environmental interventions are governed and how their benefits, costs, and risks are distributed. My work examines smallholder access to carbon finance, institutional trust, market uncertainty, benefit-sharing arrangements, and emerging biochar carbon-removal pathways.

Climate Finance · Carbon Dioxide Removal · REDD+ · Benefit Sharing · Environmental Justice

Source: Shin et al., 2025

Source: Shin et al., 2020

| Agroforestry & Sustainable Land Systems

I study how agroforestry and other multifunctional land-use systems can support climate adaptation and mitigation, livelihood diversification, biodiversity, and ecosystem restoration. This research also examines the institutional and socioeconomic conditions that enable farmers and landowners to adopt and sustain these practices.

Ecosystem Services · Biodiversity · Forest Restoration · Sustainable Agriculture

| Geospatial Analytics & Decision Support

I integrate spatial analysis with field-based social research to assess land-use change, climate vulnerability, carbon stocks, biodiversity, and agricultural resilience. I also explore how geospatial technologies can reduce information and transaction barriers and support more accessible environmental decision-making.

GIS · Remote Sensing · LiDAR · Spatial Modeling

Photo by Seongmin Shin

Image source: Nicholas Cranmer

PROJECTS

| Current Projects

(PI) Using LiDAR to Support Conservation and Biodiversity Market.

Sustainable Biodiversity Fund (SBF). Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Total grant: $8,000

(PI) Digital Agriculture for Assessing Carbon Sequestration Potential in Northern Uganda.

Research Innovation Fund (RIF). Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture. Total grant: $10,832

(Collaborator) Assessing Potential of Circular Economy for Sustainable Production and Consumption in Emerging Rural Entrepreneurship

Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell

| Previous Projects

(2025-2026) Collaborator, Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell Assessing the Socio-Economic and Biodiversity Impacts of Integrating Carbon Offset in Agroforestry
(2025) Collaborator, Moonshot Seed Grant Program. Climate AI: forecasting tools or adaptation and mitigation science. Cornell CALS Research and Innovation Office (RIO)
(2024-2025) Collaborator, Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell Shea Value Chain and Carbon Credit Potential in Northern Uganda
(2023) Lead Researcher, Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) Baseline Study on National Capacity in Forestry in Asia
(2023) Research Assistant, Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) KAPEX Processing of agricultural products in Paraguay
(2021-2022) Forest restoration Officer, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Ethiopia Climate Resilient Forest and Landscape Rehabilitation Programme
(2021) PI, KF Public diplomacy projects - Korea-Laos Agricultural and Cultural Heritage Walk. Korea Foundation. Total grant: $10,000
(2021) PI, 2nd Inter-Korean Forest Cooperation Research Paper Contest. Korea Forest Service. Total grant: $4,000
(2020-2021) Research Consultant, Center for International Forestry Research Climate change, Energy and low-carbon Development/Bioenergy
(2020-2021) Performance Management Expert, Korea International Cooperation Agency Enhancing Competitiveness of Public-Private Partnership Ensuring Better Quality, Standards and Safe Food of Crop Commodities for Exporting
(2019-2021) Research Assistant, Seoul National University Agroforestry Model Development Study in DPRK
(2020) Researcher, Korea Forest Service SNU Carbon Sink Graduate Program
(2020) Research Assistant, National Institute of Environmental Research A study on development of a policy implementation system and evaluation methodology to achieve water circulation management goals
(2019-2020) Administrative Assistant, Seoul National University Effects of Supply-Demand of Chinese Agricultural Products on Global Food Value Chain
(2019) Research Assistant, Korea Legislation Research Institute Global discourse and national policies for conservation and sustainable use of biological resources
(2019) Research Assistant, Seoul National University Global Discourse Analysis of Forest Development
(2019) Researcher, Oversea Agri-Development Service Young Frontier to support overseas expansion of the agri-food industry

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