Oleksandr Soshenskyi

About:
Graduate of the Kremenets Forestry College (2009) and the Faculty of Forestry at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (2012). From 2013 to 2016, he was a full-time postgraduate student at NUBiP of Ukraine. Between 2015 and 2018, he worked as an Assistant at the Department of Forest Mensuration and Forest Management. From 2018 to 2020, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Silviculture, and since March 2020, he has held the position of Associate Professor at the same department. Since 2013, he has also been working as a researcher at the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC), which was established at NUBiP of Ukraine in 2013. Since 2024, he has been the Head of the International Projects Office at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine.

Areas of interest:
The primary areas of scientific interest include climate-adapted silviculture and close-to-nature silviculture, aimed at enhancing forest resilience to climate change, wildfires, and other stressors. His research also focuses on forest fire management and fire monitoring, including the development of methods for wildfire risk assessment and fire severity mapping, particularly in war-affected territories. Another key direction that unites and complements his main scientific interests is the application of digital tools in forestry for both educational and research purposes. This integrative approach includes the use of augmented reality (AR), GIS, remote sensing, and immersive 360-degree visualization technologies to support decision-making in forest ecosystems, enhance digital forest inventory methods, and modernize forestry education and training.He is also actively engaged in interdisciplinary cooperation and international collaboration to promote knowledge exchange and build capacity in sustainable forest management. His work bridges applied research, policy implementation, and academic development in response to contemporary ecological and societal challenges.

Teaching:
Forestry
Forest Pyrology
Fire Management
Non-timber Forest Resources
Recreational Forestry
Silviculture

Research projects:
Erasmus+ “ForestPost” (2024–2027). Modernizing master programs to support forest sector transformation towards Ukraine’s post‑war green rebuilding through digital innovation and AR in education. Official project page: NUBiP & ForestPost

COST Action CA23135 “Bringing Digital Data and Reality Together” (2023–2027). Advancing AR technologies and standards for digital forest visualization, supporting international interdisciplinary collaboration. Info: ARIF

FirEUrisk – Horizon 2020 (2021–2025). Developing a science-based, risk-oriented strategy for wildfire management across Europe, including Ukrainian implementation for wildfire risk assessment, fire severity mapping, and strategic planning for landscape fire prevention and response. Info: fireurisk

WWF‑Ukraine Project: Forest Management on Territories Contaminated with Unexploded Ordnance (2022). Developing sustainable forest management strategies for war‑contaminated areas, focusing on safety, ecological monitoring, and restoration practices. Info: WWF

RESILPINE (2020–2022). Transforming pine forests in Ukraine through close‑to‑nature silviculture to enhance resilience to climate change, pests, and wildfires. (Funded by German Federal Ministry)

GEF/UNEP Project (2017–2020) . Conservation and sustainable management of carbon stocks and biodiversity in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, including wildfire plan and decision-support system. (Referenced in internal documents; no standalone site found)

USAID “Economic Support to Eastern Ukraine” (2020–2021). Post-wildfire assessments and reforestation planning in Luhansk region after large-scale fires. (Information appears in NUBiP news and USAID project listings; no single public page directly)

Zoï Environment Network / OSCE Projects (2022–2024). Environmental monitoring of war-related ecological damage, focusing on carbon emissions from landscape fires and ecosystem degradation.

Ukrainian National Research Projects (funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine):
– Project No. 110/10-пр-2021: Information system for long-term and operational monitoring and suppression of landscape fires based on web technologies.
– Project No. 110/9-пр-2018: Development of a geoportal for assessing and preventing wildfires in the Polissia region.
– Project No. 110/62-ф (2014–2018): Sustainable use of forest resources under global climate change.

Selected publications:
Soshenskyi O., Myroniuk V., Zibtsev S., Gumeniuk V., de Miguel Díez F., Vasylyshyn R. (2024). Mapping Wildland-Urban Interfaces to Support Wildfire Management Over Fire-Prone Forest Outskirts of the Zhytomyr Region. Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science, 15(2), 23–40. https://doi.org/10.31548/forest/2.2024.23

Bogomolov V., Zibtsev S., Myroniuk V., Holiaka D., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2025). Performance of the Daily Fire Hazard Index Within Territories Contaminated by the Chornobyl Nuclear Disaster. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 116, 105159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.105159

Myroniuk V., Zibtsev S., Bogomolov V., Goldammer J.G., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2023). Combining Landsat Time Series and GEDI Data for Improved Characterization of Fuel Types and Canopy Metrics in Wildfire Simulation. Journal of Environmental Management, 345, 118736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118736

Zibtsev S., Pasternak V., Vasylyshyn R., Myroniuk V., Sydorenko S., Soshenskyi O. (2024). Assessment of Carbon Emissions Due to Landscape Fires in Ukraine During War in 2022. Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science, 15(1), 126–139. https://doi.org/10.31548/forest/1.2024.126

Waeber P.O., Melnykovych M., Riegel E., Chongong L.V., Zaheen M., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2023). Fostering Innovation and Transition in Forest Education Using Strategy Games. Forests, 14(1646). https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202305.1718.v1
Zibtsev S., Goldammer J.G., Myroniuk V., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2024). Report on the Large Wildfires of 2022 in Europe. Joint Research Centre, Publications Office of the European Union. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/19760

Soshenskyi O., Zibtsev S., Gumeniuk V., Goldammer J.G., Vasylyshyn R., Blyshchyk V. (2021). Current Landscape Fire Management in Ukraine and Strategy for Improvement. Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, 9(2), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2021-0009

Zibtsev S., Myroniuk V., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2023). Forest Management on Territories Contaminated with Unexploded Ordnance. WWF-Ukraine Report. https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.22495.12966

Soshenskyi O., Melnykovych M., Lobchenko G., Zibtsev S., Kalchuk Ye. (2023). Silvicultural Approaches to Increase Forest Resilience in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Forum Carpaticum 2023.

Zibtsev S., Myroniuk V., Lakyda P., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2020). Wildfires and Fire Management in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (1986–2020). Monograph, CP “COMPRINT”, 218 p.

Zibtsev S., Soshenskyi O., Melnykovych M., Blaser J., Waeber P., et al. (2023). Ukrainian Forests Amid Climate Crisis, War, and Fire Disasters. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 174(2), 115–117. https://doi.org/10.3188/szf.2023.0115

Soshenskyi O., Myroniuk V., Zibtsev S., Gumeniuk V., Lashchenko A. (2022). Evaluation of Field-Based Burn Indices for Assessing Fire Severity in Luhansk Region. Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science, 13(1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.31548/forest.13(1).2022.48-57

Zibtsev S., Georg Goldammer J., Soshenskyi O., Gumeniuk V. (2022). Close-to-Nature Forest Management in Ukraine: Nature-Based Silviculture and Fire Risk Reduction. EGU General Assembly, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-13361

De Klerk L., Shlapak M., Zibtsev S., Soshenskyi O., et al. (2024). Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine (24-Month Assessment). Initiative on GHG Accounting of War. Link

Zibtsev S., Soshenskyi O., Gumeniuk V., Bohomolov V. (2023). Integrated Landscape Fire Management Plan in the Luhansk Oblast. NULES Monograph, 257 p. https://nubip.edu.ua/sites/default/files/u184/zibtsev_et_al._monograf_2023.pdf

Research profiles:
Scopus: Scopus Profile
Google Scholar: Google Scholar
ORCID: ORCID Profile
CV: CV Profile