Jonna Halonen

Interests and expertise

I am a fifth-year MSc student in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. I am currently writing my master thesis under the supervision of William Thompson (NbSI) and Ulla Mörtberg (KTH) within sustainable cocoa agroforestry in West Africa. The project aims to evaluate climate suitability for shade trees used in this region for future climate scenarios. Two months of the project will be spent in Oxford where I will conduct the modelling aspects, followed by a two-month field study in Ghana. My general research interest lies within environmental modelling, GIS, life cycle assessment (LCA) and large-scale system analysis, such as agricultural systems.

Background

During my combined BSc and MSc in Environmental Engineering at KTH, I have participated in many interesting projects and exchanges. My bachelor thesis was focused on hydro-climatic risk assessment and communication for smallholder farmers in Maharashtra, more specifically modelling how changes such as drought and a changing onset of the monsoon season affected crop yield and how to communicate risks from hydro-climatic events to farmers. I have also done an exchange semester at University of Ottawa and one at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, where I took courses in for example atmospheric modelling, oceanography, climate change and engineering etc. Outside of my studies I have done an internship in Brazil where I conducted a LCA comparing coffee varieties as well as an internship in agriculture and gardening in Germany.