Full name………….…Tegegne Molla Sitotaw (PhD)
Gender …………….…Male
Place of birth…………Woldia, North Wollo, Ethiopia
Marital status…………Married
Job......................... ……Lecturer and researcher
Address………………..Bahir Dar University, P.O.Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Tel. +251911550979
E-mail: tegegne.molla@bdu.edu.et, tegmolla@gmail.com

EDUCATION
1. December 2018 - December 2024: PhD in Geoinformation Science in Environmnetal Modelling (Spatial analysis of multiple ecosystem service flows) at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) of the University of Twente, The Netherlands. https://www.itc.nl
PhD thesis Title: Spatial analysis of multiple ecosystem service flows from natural and cultural landscapes in the Ethiopian highlands.
2. September 2007 to July 2009: Title of qualification awarded- Master of Science in Remote Sensing and GIS at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. www.aau.edu.et.
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Advanced Mathematics and Geostatistics for Geoinformation, Spatial Database Management and Programming for Geoinformation, Advanced Remote Sensing, Advanced GIS, System Analysis and Spatial Modelling, Advanced Hydrogeology.
Masters thesis: Estimation of Evapotranspiration for Irrigation Performance Assessment Using Satellite Remote Sensing at Kobo Valley Irrigation Project, Northern Ethiopia.
3. September 2003 to July 2006: Title of qualification awarded- Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management at Jimma University, Ethiopia. www.ju.edu.et
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Irrigation and Drainage, Hydrology, Forest Ecology, Natural Resource Planning and Analysis, Soil Genesis and Classification, Land Evaluation and Land Use Planning, Water Harvesting Technology, Biodiversity Conservation.

Senior Research project title: Estimation of aboveground tree biomass in Kefa biosphere reserve, Western Ethiopia.

4. September 2013 to June 2015: Completed 2nd year Computer Science department at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. www.bdu.edu.et
Principal subjects: Data Structure, Fundamentals of Programming I and II, Calculus, Linear Algebra, Logic Design, Digital Electronics, Object Oriented Programming

EMPLOYMENT RECORDS

Sept. 2013 to now: Bahir Dar University
1) Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.
2) From 2015 – 2018: Head of Geotech and Database Department at Geospatial Data and Technology Research Center (GDTC), Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.
3) From October 2025 – now: Course chair for Skill course at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.
Main activities and responsibilities:
• Teaching Advance Remote Sensing and GIS courses in both MSc programs of Geo-information Science at Bahir Dar University.
• Conducting geo-information-based researches
• Advising MSc students during their thesis work
• Providing community service and capacity building for stakeholders
• Geospatial data archiving, field data collection and analysis of research activities, and giving community services at GDTC
• Providing free geospatial data for researchers and other stakeholders
• Metadata preparation for existing geospatial datasets

Sept. 2006 to August 2013: Madawalabu University, www.mwu.edu.et
Lecturer and Community Service Coordinator.
Main activities and responsibilities:
• Preparing teaching aids and lesson plans
• Teaching principles of Remote Sensing and GIS courses for undergraduate programs in “Natural Resource Management” and “Ecotourism and Biodiversity” departments.
• Advising undergraduate students, evaluating and reporting to higher levels

PUBLICATIONS
1. Sitotaw, T.M., Willemen, L., Meshesha, D.T., & Nelson, A., 2024. Empirical assessments of small-scale ecosystem service flows in rural mosaic landscapes in the Ethiopian highlands. Ecosystem Services, 67, 101622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101622.

2. Sitotaw, T.M., Willemen, L., Meshesha, D.T., Nelson, A., 2022. Sacred church forests as sources of wild pollinators for the surrounding smallholder agricultural farms in Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia. Ecol. Indic. 137, 108739, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108739.

3. Sitotaw, T.M., Willemen, L., Meshesha, D.T., Woldemichael, M., Nelson, A., 2024. Modelling the impact of ecosystem fragmentation on ecosystem services in the degraded Ethiopian Highlands. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4858479. Accepted for publication in the Ecological Informatics.

4. Sitotaw, T.M., Willemen, L., Meshesha, D.T., Adane B.G., Nelson, A., 2025. Content analysis of the uptake of ecosystem services concept in environmental and agricultural policies in Ethiopia. Ready to be submitted soon to the journal Environmental Managment.

5. Molla, T. and Sisheber, B., 2017. Estimating soil erosion risk and evaluating erosion control measures for soil conservation planning at Koga watershed in the highlands of Ethiopia, Solid Earth, 8, 13–25, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-13-2017.

6. Haile, D., Azage, M., Molla, T., Rainey, R., 2016. Exploring spatial variations and factors associated with childhood stunting in Ethiopia: spatial and multilevel analysis. BMC Pediatr 16, 49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-016-0587-9.

7. Birhanu Gedif, Tegegne Molla, Solomon Addisu and Yibeltal Ayenew, 2016. Status of Agricultural Innovations, Innovation Platforms, and Innovations Investment. 2015 PARI project country report: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra Ghana. https://library.faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FDN-4-2016-Innovations-Innovation-Platforms-and-Innovation-Investmentsd-in-Ethiopia.pdf.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
1. Sacred church forests as sources of wild pollinators for the surrounding smallholder agricultural farms: a unique combination of religion and crop pollination in the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia. Third ESP Europe Conference: Ecosystem Services Science, Policy and Practice in the Face of Global Changes, Estonia, 7 – 10 June 2021. Book of poster abstracts, Page 5.  https://www.espconference.org/europe2020.

2. Poster: Assessing ecosystem services from changing natural and cultural landscapes in Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia. The Ecosystem Services Partnership European Conference 2018 in San Sebastian, Spain, 15-19 October. Book of poster abstracts. Page 65. https://www.espconference.org/eu2018/wiki/279425/poster-sessions.
3. ESRI educational site license service in Bahir Dar University, ESRI for Eastern Africa conferences, 23 – 24 September 2016, Africa Hall, United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

TRAININGS
1) Programming in R (26th – 29th of November, 2018) at Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
2) Trainer for “GIS for Decision Support Integrated Applied Master Courses of East Africa (GIS4EA)”. Universite Evangelique En Afrique, Bukavu, DR Congo, September 03–17, 2017.
3) Training for Trainers for “GIS for Decision Support Integrated Applied Master Courses of East Africa (GIS4EA)”. Beuth Hochschule Für Technik Berlin, Germany, March 28–April 13, 2017.
4) USAID Feed the Future Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation: Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS), SWAT Track. Norman E. Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture Texas A&M University System and Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, February 2–6, 2015.
5) 3D Analysis of Surfaces and Features Using ArcGIS, ESRI Sponsored Web Course, July 15, 2014.
6) Building Models for GIS Analysis Using ArcGIS, ESRI Sponsored Web Course, July 9, 2014.
7) Creating and Editing Geodatabase Features with ArcGIS Desktop (for ArcEditor and ArcInfo), ESRI Sponsored Web Course, November 19, 2014.
8) Creating and Editing Geodatabase Topology with ArcGIS Desktop, ESRI Sponsored Web Course, August 5, 2014.
9) Creating and Integrating Data for Natural Resource Applications, ESRI Sponsored Web Course, November 19, 2014.
10) Basics of Python (for ArcGIS 10), ESRI Sponsored Web Course, June 17, 2015.
11) Understanding Hazus-MH 2.0 Flood Model results, ESRI Sponsored Web Course, June 17, 2015.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Spatiotemporal statistical modeling of natural landscapes and urban land use systems in the context of global change using remote sensing images and open source software.
• Application of geo-information science and machine learning to monitor, predict, and simulate ecological dynamics and the ecosystem services (e.g., climate regulation, carbon sequestration, water purification, and biodiversity conservation) they provide and link with human well-being.
 

Best regards,
Tegegne Molla Sitotaw (PhD)
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
Email: tegegne.molla@bdu.edu.et