Grace Villamor

Grace Villamor is a socio-ecological systems scientist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, specialising in land manager decision-making and ecosystem services using participatory modelling tools. She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed papers on land-use change, market-based mechanisms, and climate change adaptation and mitigation, and has expertise in modelling tools, including agent-based models. With over 18 years of research experience, Grace has worked with international organisations including World Agroforestry, CIFOR, and WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use), translating research into development initiatives across multiple countries. Her current work focuses on managing risks and uncertainties associated with planted forests and on assessing the socio-economic impacts of biofuels in New Zealand. She is currently a lead author for Chapter 3 of the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report (AR7) and previously contributed to IPBES and the IPCC Special Report on Land Degradation. Grace also serves on the Marsden Fund Panel for Economics and Human Behaviour Sciences, appointed by the NZ Royal Society Te Apārangi.