Benis Nchine Egoh
Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine
Biography
Benis Nchine Egoh, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. Egoh received a Ph.D. from Stellenbosch University in South Africa in 2009. Her research focuses on ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, with particular emphasis on understanding the relationships between land use change, ecosystem services, and human well-being in Africa and California.
Egoh has secured over $39 million in research funding as principal investigator or co-principal investigator, including a $26 million Wildlife trade hub project investigating the impact of wildlife and commodity trade on biodiversity and people, and a $7.5 million CLIMATE Justice project focused on environmental justice. She received a Sloan Fellowship in 2022 and a Hellman Fellowship in 2022/2023. Her work has contributed to the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity through her role as lead author on the IPBES African assessment and coordinating lead author on the IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment.
Egoh serves as coordinating lead author for the IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment and is a board member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. She has held editorial positions with Conservation Biology, Conservation Science and Practice, and People and Nature. Her research has generated over 16,000 citations with an h-index of 39, and she has supervised multiple doctoral students to completion at the University of California, Irvine and institutions in South Africa.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D., Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2009
- M.Sc. in Conservation Biology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Distinctions
- Coordinating lead author, IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment, 2023
- Lead Author, IPBES African Assessment and Summary for Policy Makers, 2015-2018
- Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity (IPBES: Lead author, African assessment, Coordinating Lead Author, IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment), 2022
- Board member, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST), 2024
- SLOAN Fellow, 2022
- HELLMAN Fellow, 2022
- Swedish film award: Winner, Best Short Documentary
- WILDsound Festival, Best long documentary
Areas of Expertise
- Conservation Biology and Ecosystem Services
- Spatial Biodiversity Assessment Mapping
- Ecosystem Service Valuation Methods
- Invasive Species Impact Analysis
- Climate Change Recreational Impacts
- Palm Oil Sustainability Tradeoffs
- Forest Restoration Carbon Sequestration
Recent Publications
- Ayompe L.M., Nkongho R.N., Acobta A.N., Manley K., Epie W.N., Crook E.D., Ojongakpa T.O., Baiye M.M., Masso C., Egoh B.N., “Does farming oil palm provide more benefits to local communities than preserving forests in Africa?: A case study in Cameroon” (opens in new tab), Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy, vol. 13, 2026.
- Lenhardt J., Crook E.D., Egoh B.N., “Spatiotemporal patterns of agricultural diversity and biodiversity on California farmland” (opens in new tab), Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, vol. 397, 2026.
- Ayompe, L.M., Nkongho, R.N., Acobta, A.N.B., Tambasi, E.E., Masso, C., Egoh, B.N., “Review of Conceptual Frameworks for Smallholder Farmers to Achieve Sustainable Palm Oil Production” (opens in new tab), Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 506, pp. 145525, 2025.
- Acobta A.N., Ayompe L.M., Crook E.D., Egoh B.N., “Mapping ecosystem services change under land use change for oil palm expansion” (opens in new tab), Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy, vol. 12, 2025.
- Chalmers C., Crook E.D., Acobta A.N., Manley K., Egoh B., “Using Sentinel-1 satellite imagery to quantify oil palm cultivation: A case study from Cameroon” (opens in new tab), Plos One, vol. 20, 2025.
- Manley K., Ayompe L.M., Egoh B.N., “Climate change impacts the non-market value of nature: A case study of birding cultural ecosystem services in South Africa” (opens in new tab), Plos Climate, vol. 4, 2025.
- Ayompe L.M., Padilla L., Eriksson M., Egoh B.N., Bales R.C., “Overcoming barriers and uncertainties to investing in forested watershed restoration in California” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, vol. 8, 2025.
- Ayompe L.M., Nkongho R.N., Acobta A.N., Masso C., Egoh B.N., “Transforming palm oil production: sustainable techniques and waste management strategies for Cameroon's smallholder farmers” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 9, 2025.
- Lenhardt, J., Egoh, B.N., “Land use change and ecosystem service tradeoffs on California agricultural land” (opens in new tab), Environmental Research: Food Systems, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 025006, 2024.
- Manley, K., Egoh, B.N., “Climate and biodiversity change constrain the flow of cultural ecosystem services to people: A case study modelling birding across Africa under future climate scenarios” (opens in new tab), Science of The Total Environment, vol. 919, pp. 170872, 2024.
- Nyelele, C., Keske, C., Chung, M.G., Guo, H., Egoh, B.N., “Using social media data and machine learning to map recreational ecosystem services” (opens in new tab), Ecological Indicators, vol. 154, pp. 110606, 2023.
- Nyelele, C., Keske, C., Chung, M.G., Guo, H., Egoh, B.N., “Using social media data to estimate recreational travel costs: A case study from California” (opens in new tab), Ecological Indicators, vol. 154, pp. 110638, 2023.
- Ayompe, L.M., Nkongho, R.N., Wandum, L.M., Orang, B.O., Fiaboe, K.K., Tambasi, E.E., Kettunen, M., Egoh, B.N., “Complexities of sustainable palm oil production by smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa” (opens in new tab), Sustainable Development, vol. 32, pp. 529-541, 2023.
- Acobta, A.N., Ayompe, L.M., Egoh, B.N., “Impacts of palm oil trade on ecosystem services: Cameroon as a case study” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 7, pp. 1289431, 2023.
- Acobta, A.N.B., Ayompe, L.M., Wandum, L.M., Tambasi, E.E., Muyuka, D.S., Egoh, B.N., “Greenhouse gas emissions along the value chain in palm oil producing systems: a case study of Cameroon” (opens in new tab), Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy, vol. 6, pp. 100057, 2023.
- Lenhardt, J., Egoh, B.N., “Opportunities and gaps in conservation incentive programs on California agricultural land” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 7, pp. 1239015, 2023.
- Mwampamba, T.H., Benis N. Egoh, Borokini, I.T., Njabo Kevin, “Perspectives from African conservation scientists in the diaspora: challenges encountered when doing research back home”, Conservation Science and practise, 2022.
- Manley, K., Egoh, B.N., “Mapping and modeling the impact of climate change on recreational ecosystem services using machine learning and big data” (opens in new tab), Environmental Research Letters, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 054025, 2022.
- Manley, K, Nyelele, C, Egoh, B.N., “A review of machine learning and big data applications in addressing ecosystem service research gaps” (opens in new tab), Ecosystem Services, vol. 57, pp. 101478, 2022.
- Eriksson, M., Safeeq, M., Pathak, T., Egoh, B., Bales, R., “Using stakeholder-based fuzzy cognitive mapping to assess benefits of restoration in wildfire-vulnerable forests” (opens in new tab), Restoration Ecology, vol. 31, pp. e13766, 2022.
Most Cited Publications
- Maes J., Egoh B, “Mapping ecosystem services for policy support and decision making in the European Union” (opens in new tab), Ecosystem Services, vol. 1, pp. 31-39, 2012.
- Elena M. Bennett, Wolfgang Cramer, Alpina Begossi, Georgina Cundill, Benis Egoh, “Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being: Three challenges for designing research for sustainability” (opens in new tab), Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, vol. 14, pp. 76-85, 2015.
- Harrison, P.A., Berry, P.M., Simpson, G., Haslett, J.R., Blicharska, M., Bucur, M., Dunford, R., Egoh, B., “Linkages between biodiversity attributes and ecosystem services: A systematic review” (opens in new tab), Ecosystem Services, vol. 9, pp. 191-203, 2014.
- Cowling RM, Egoh B, Knight AT, O'Farrell PJ, Reyers B, Rouget M, “An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementation” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 10, pp. 9483-9488, 2008.
- Liquete, C., Piroddi, C., Drakou, E.G., Gurney, L., Katsannevakis, S., Charef, A., Egoh, B., “Current status and future prospects for the assessment of marine and coastal ecosystem services: a systematic review” (opens in new tab), PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. e67737, 2013.
- Egoh B, Reyers B, Rouget M, Richardson DM, Le Maitre DC, van Jaarsveld AS, “Mapping ecosystem services for planning and management” (opens in new tab), Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, vol. 127, pp. 135-140, 2008.
- Maes, “An Indicators framework for assessing ecosystem services in support of EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020” (opens in new tab), Ecosystem Services, vol. 17, pp. 14-23, 2016.
- Egoh B, Rouget M, Reyers B, Knight AT, Cowling RM, van Jaarsveld AS, Welz A, “Integrating ecosystem services into conservation assessments: a review” (opens in new tab), Ecological Economics, vol. 63, pp. 714-721, 2007.
- Egoh B, Reyers B, Rouget M, Bode M, Richardson DM, “Spatial congruence between biodiversity and ecosystem services in South Africa” (opens in new tab), Biological Conservation, vol. 142, pp. 553-562, 2009.
- Armağan Karabulut, Benis N Egoh, “Mapping water provisioning services to support the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus in the Danube river basin” (opens in new tab), Ecosystem Services, vol. 17, pp. 278-292, 2016.
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Last updated on 4/24/2026.