Janelle Sylvester

Janelle Sylvester is a Research Specialist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Her work focuses on land systems, forest and landscape restoration, biodiversity conservation, and low emission food systems in tropical agricultural landscapes. She brings more than ten years of academic, field, and applied research experience across the tropics, with a particular focus on Latin America.

Her research asks how land degradation and deforestation emerge from wider food system dynamics, agricultural expansion, and conflict, and what kinds of land management and restoration pathways can reduce these pressures while supporting rural livelihoods. This includes work on drivers of deforestation, restoration prioritization, soil recovery, biodiversity outcomes, environmental peacebuilding, and sustainable production systems such as agroforestry and silvopastoral systems.

Janelle brings strong skills in interdisciplinary research leadership, evidence synthesis, and science-policy communication. She works across CGIAR science programs to shape indicators, inform implementation, and support engagement under the Rio Conventions, strengthening CGIAR’s contributions to integrated land, climate, and biodiversity goals.

She received a PhD from the University of Copenhagen, where her research linked food systems, land use change, restoration, and soil carbon recovery across scales. She also holds an Erasmus Mundus MSc in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, with earlier research on tropical forest restoration in Costa Rica.