Alex Lechner

Professor, Urban Design

E: alex.lechner@monash.edu

Dr Alex Lechner is a landscape ecologist and Professor, teaching on the Master of Urban Design. He has over a decade of international experience conducting research and teaching on the applications of interdisciplinary approaches to urban sustainability, environmental science and geospatial analyses. He has held a variety of roles in Australia at the University of Queensland and University of Tasmania, in Malaysia at the University of Nottingham Malaysia and most recently at the University of Lincoln, UK. Originally from Australia, Alex has a BSc in Ecology from the University of Queensland, and a MAppSci specialising in Geospatial Science and a PhD in Landscape Ecology from RMIT University.


Alex’s research at Monash University Indonesia addresses the fundamental challenge associated with transforming Southeast Asian urban ecological, technical, economic, and social systems, while still supporting sustainable development. He also serves as the head of Monash University Indonesia’s Research Committee.


He is also an adjunct fellow at the University of Queensland and an honorary Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia.

More information

Dr Alex Lechner has over 100 academic publications in top-tiered journals such as Conservation Biology, Remote Sensing of Environment, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Sustainability, and Landscape Ecology.

Check Dr Alex Lechner publication and research output in this link and Google Scholar in this links.

Selected publications:

  • Haenssgen, M. J., Lechner, A. M., Rakotonarivo, S., Leepreecha, P., Sakboon, M., Chu, T.-W., … Vlaev, I. (2022). Implementation of the COP26 declaration to halt forest loss must safeguard and include Indigenous people. Nature Ecology & Evolution, (September). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01650-6
  • Lechner, A. M., Ang, M. L. E., Ooi, J. Y., Azhar, B., Kanai, J. M., Hamel, P., & Sagala, S. (2021). Urban Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. https://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/7786
  • Lechner, A. M., Chan, F. K. S., & Campos-Arceiz, A. (2018). Biodiversity conservation should be a core value of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(3), 408–409. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0452-8
  • Lechner, A. M., Foody, G. M., & Boyd, D. S. (2020). Applications in Remote Sensing to Forest Ecology and Management. One Earth, 2(5), 405–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.001
  • Narain, D., Maron, M., Teo, H. C., Hussey, K., & Lechner, A. M. (2020). Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers. Nature Sustainability, 3(8), 650–657. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0528-3

Research Interests

Dr Alex Lechner research focuses on developing methods to support sustainable planning and participatory decision-making through the development of novel spatial approaches including ecosystem services modelling, wildlife connectivity analyses, remote sensing and participatory web-based GIS mapping.

He has undertaken research across the world from Oceania to Southeast Asia and Europe and has a successful track record of applying landscape ecology methods to a broad range of cross-cutting areas including:

  1. Threats to the environment from infrastructure development and resource extraction, in particularly urbanisation
  2. Impacts of landscape fragmentation on wildlife
  3. Supporting socio-environmental change with interdisciplinary approaches to modelling and collaborating across environmental domains and disciplines.

He has contributed to the equivalent of ~1 million AUD and 19 grants awarded including competitive university funding, international government grants and industry funding. This funding has supported a number of ongoing projects including:

  • Satellite-powered remote sensing approaches for more inclusive forest conservation policy
  • Application of Nature-based Solutions in urban environments Malaysia and Indonesia
  • Automating the mapping and analysis of land cover features on and near mining operations through remote sensing to support social risk assessment
  • Belt and Road Initiative transport infrastructure impacts on socio-environmental systems
  • Southeast Asia biodiversity conservation and sustainability

Teaching

Dr Alex Lechner has a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education and convene and teach on the following units in the Master in Urban Design:

  • UDI4201 City and Ecology 2
  • UDI4202 City and Ecology 2
  • UDI5201 Ecology and Health

He also makes contributions to multiple other units in the program.

Fellow of The Higher Education Academy UK PR186018 – 15/06/2020.

He has successfully graduated two PhDs, one MPhil and 5 MRes students and currently supervises four PhDs, 6 Masters by Research (MRes) and 2 MPhil students.

Media Exposure

Journal/special issue editor

  • Editorial Board member Land (ISSN 2073-445X) - www.mdpi.com/journal/land
  • Editorial Board member Remote Sensing (ISSN: 2072-4292) www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing
  • Journal Guest Editor Special Issues “Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Advances in W-E-F Nexus Approaches from the Global South: from Theory to Practice”. Frontiers in Water (ISSN 2624-9375)
  • Journal Guest Editor Special Issue "Remote Sensing of Opencast Mining Land Use and Land Cover for Planning, Rehabilitation and Closure". Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292)

Conferences organising committee

  • Local organising committee and scientific subcommittee of International Congress for Conservation Biology in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 21-25 July 2019.
  • Local organising committee 55th Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Southeast Asia. 1-5 July 2018.

Membership