Woods Hole Research Center

Associate Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644

Phone:

508-444-1514

Fax:

508-444-1814

Email:

Education

Ph.D. - Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
1990, Tropical Ecology and Remote Sensing
Dissertation: Study of spatio-temporal evolution of tropical vegetation using NOAA-AVHRR imagery in West Africa. - (Etude de l'Evolution Spatio-temporelle de la Végétation Tropicale: Utilisation des données Satellitaires NOAA-AVHRR sur l'Afrique de l'Ouest).

M.Sc. - Université Paul Sabatier
1986, Advanced Studies Degree in Ecology
Thesis: Using SPOT simulation imagery for Land Cover mapping in Kenya-Baringo Lake. (Utilisation des simulations SPOT pour la cartographie de la végétation au Kenya-Lac Baringo.)

B.A. - Université Paul Sabatier
1984, Biology

Professional Experience

• 2006 - present: Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
• 2003 - 2006: Assistant Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
• 1996 - 2003: Research Scientist, Department of Geography, University of Maryland, MD
• 1994 - Present: Consultant in Remote Sensing and Land Cover / Land Use Change
  • Joint Research Centre, Tropical Ecosystem Environmental Observation by Satellite (TREES), Ispra, Italy
  • Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC
  • World Research Institute, Washington, DC
  • World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC
  • Wildlife Conservation Society, NY
  • Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
• 1991 - 1994: Post-Doctoral Researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Global Inventory Mapping and Monitoring (GIMMS) Project

Research Interests

Applications of satellite imagery to monitor and manage tropical forest ecosystems, including vegetation mapping, land-use change (logging, farming), and modeling of land use change impacts on biodiversity and the carbon cycle. Geographical focus: Central and Eastern Africa.

Selected publications

Bali Report COP13, Congo, in French

Atlas DRC Emissions Interactive Map

Houghton R.A., N. Greenglass, A. Baccini, A. Cattaneo, S. Goetz, J. Kellndorfer, N. Laporte, W. Walker. The role of science in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). Carbon Management, December 2010, Vol. 1, No. 2, Pages 253-259.

Laporte N, Baccini A., Goetz S., Mekui P. Bausch A., 2010. Une première estimation de la biomasse ligneuse aérienne d’Afrique sur la base d’images satellites et d’inventaires forestiers. Proceeding of the Conference on Carbon stock and Fluxes, COMIFAC, Brazzaville, March 2010.p: 58-65 http://www.observatoire-comifac.net/docs/confCOMIFACcarbon/Proceedings_COMIFAC_Conf%20web.pdf

Stabach, J., A. Rwetsiba, D. Deneau, G. Fiske, W. Walker, and N. Laporte. 2010. Monitoring the Albertine Rift in Africa. ArcNews Winter 2009-2010.

Stabach J, Laporte N., Olupot W., 2009, Modeling Habitat Suitability for Grey Crowned Cranes (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps) throughout Uganda. Biodiversity and Conservation pp. 177-186. Online Journal: http://www.academicjournals.org/IJBC/contents/2009cont/Sept.htm

Goetz, S.J., A. Baccini, N.T. Laporte, T. Johns, W. Walker, J. Kellndorfer, R.A. Houghton, and M. Sun. 2009. Mapping and monitoring carbon stocks with satellite observations: a comparison of methods. Carbon Balance and Management 4:2.

Johns, T., Merry, F., Nepstad, D., Laporte, N., & Goetz, S. (2008). “Coupling political and economic options to address the range of developing country circumstances on REDD”. International Forestry Review, 10, 458-464

Baccini, A., N. Laporte, S.J. Goetz, M. Sun, and H. Dong. 2008. A first map of tropical Africa’s above-ground biomass derived from satellite imagery. Environmental Research Letters (3)045011 doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/3/4/045011

Laporte N.T, Walker W., J. A. Stabach, Landsberg F., 2008. Monitoring Forest-Savanna Dynamics in Kibale National Park with Satellite Imagery (1989-2003): Implications for the Management of Wildlife Habitat, in “Science and conservation in African forests: how long-term research promotes habitat protection.” Edited by Richard Wrangham & Elizabeth Ross.Cambridge University Press.

Laporte, N.T., J.A. Stabach, R. Grosch, T.S. Lin, and S. J. Goetz. 2007. Expansion of Industrial Logging in Central Africa. Science 316:1451.

Laporte, N., F. Merry, A. Baccini, S. Goetz, J. Stabach, and M. Bowman. 2007. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD): Reducing CO 2 Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in the Democratic Republic of Congo - A First Look. A Report for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP), Thirteenth Session, 3-14 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia. Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA. French Version | English Version

DeFries, R., G. Asner, F. Achard, C. Justice, N. Laporte, K. Price, C. Small, and J. Townshend. 2005. Monitoring tropical deforestation for emerging carbon markets. In Reduction of Tropical Deforestation and Climate Change Mitigation, ed. P. Mountinho and S. Schwartzman.

Laporte, N.T, T.S. Lin, J. LeMoigne, D. Devers, and M. Honzak. 2004. Towards an operational forest monitoring system for Central Africa. In Land Change Science: Observation, Monitoring, and Understanding Trajectories of Change on the Earth’s Surface, ed. G. Gutman, et al., 97-110. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Chan, J.C-W., N. Laporte, and R. Defries. 2003. Texture classification of logging in tropical Africa using machine learning algorithms. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24(6):1401-1407.

Wilkie, D., and N. Laporte 2001. Forest area and deforestation in Central Africa: Current knowledge and future directions. In African Rainforest Ecology and Conservation, ed. W. Weber, A. Vedder, S. Morland, and L. White, 119-138, Yale University Press New Haven, CT.

Sunderlin, W., O. Ndoye, H. Bikié, N. Laporte, B. Mertens, and J. Pokam. 2000. Economic crisis, small-scale agriculture, and forest change in southern Cameroon. Environmental Conservation 27(3):284-290.

Plumptre, A.J., N. Laporte, and D. Devers. 2003. Threats to sites. In The Biodiversity of the Albertine Rift, ed. A.J. Plumptre, M. Behangana, T. Davenport, et al. Albertine Rift Technical Reports No. 3(9):77-82. New York: Wildlife Conservation Society.

Laporte, N.T., and T.S. Lin. 2003. Monitoring logging in the tropical forest of the Republic of Congo with Landsat imagery. Proceedings of the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), July 2003, Toulouse, France, Vol. IV:2565-2567.

Laporte, N., S.J. Goetz, , and C.O. Justice, and M. Heinicke. 1998. A new land cover map of central Africa derived from multi-resolution, multi-temporal AVHRR Data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 19(18):3537-3550.

Laporte, N., C. Justice, and J. Kendall. 1995. Mapping the dense humid forest of Cameroon and Zaire using AVHRR satellite data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 16 (6):1127-1145.

Achievements and Awards

Research Fellowship from the European Community at the Joint Research Centre, Italy from 1987-1990