Faisal Elias is a PhD student in Geography. He holds an MPhil in Integrated Water Management from Monash University, Australia, a BA in Geography and Rural Development from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and a Certificate in Ecosystem Management from Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. His interest cuts across environment-society geography, physical geography and GIScience. He’s particularly interested in environmental governance, landscape ecology and restoration and the application of tools and methods such as GIS, social network analysis, qualitative methods etc. in developing insights on issues. His research will focus on exploring the processes of polycentric governance system of forest landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to joining Penn State, He worked as the Development and Policy Manager at the Ghana Wildlife Society supporting research and conservation projects in landscape restoration, biodiversity corridor development, environmental governance and policy, conservation advocacy, and sustainable wildlife management.