Rodrigo Vieira Leite is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Maryland's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and NASA Goddard's Biospheric Sciences Laboratory. His research focuses on advancing remote sensing techniques to study the Earth's biosphere, with emphasis on forest dynamics, ecosystem functioning, and disturbance processes.
Rodrigo has a background in forest science and developed expertise in integrating field-based measurements, remote sensing data, and machine learning approaches to better understand forest structure, function, and response to disturbances. His work is particularly focused on LIDAR applications in tropical forests, where he investigates vegetation structure and its role in ecosystem dynamics.
His research also encompasses the role of vegetation in wildland fire risk across multiple ecosystems, with special focus on tropical savannas.
At NASA Goddard, Rodrigo works to develop innovative methods for forest characterization and to understand how forest growth and the provision of ecosystem services are being altered by anthropogenic activities, contributing to improved strategies for forest management and conservation at regional and global scales.