Let’s get to know the people behind FutureScapes better. This time, the five questions are answered by Jan Pisek, head of FutureScapes Landscape Remote Sensing Research Group.
Jan Pisek, head of FutureScapes Landscape Remote Sensing Research Group. Photo by Marja-Liisa Plats.
1. Describe in one sentence what your working group works on at FutureScapes.
Our Landscape Remote Sensing Group is primarily responsible for enhancing the understanding of biodiversity in Estonia using remote sensing data.
2. What do you think is currently the biggest challenge in land use in Estonia?
It may be the lack of land management planning tools and a lack of general discussion– if you have a plot of land, what might be the best strategy to utilize it, what to do with it? Hopefully, this is something our FutureScapes project could help with a bit – that using our results, we can develop tools for decision support for policymakers, landowners, and land users in land use planning.
3. Why is Estonia a good place to live?
Estonians are decent people, most minding their own business, the country is not crowded – this is from a perspective of someone who is not exactly an extrovert, though.
4. Millist raamatut soovitaksid kindlasti lugeda?
- “1984” by George Orwell.
- Anything by Dostoevsky – Albert Einstein said in one interview, “Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist, more than Gauss!”
- “The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes - a fictional biography about the agonizing compromises of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. What are you willing to do to protect your family, where is the line between cowardice and resilience?
5. Which place in Estonia would you definitely recommend visiting, and why?
I think Soomaa National Park is very beautiful and versatile place to visit, offering something for everyone. A plenty of trails with various access options, swimming in bogs, canoeing, hiking, animal life – it has it all. I haven’t tried ice skating through a frozen forest in winter yet – that could be memorable.