Luis Andrés Guillén Alm

My outmost aspiration is to improve the management of forest resources for the provision of ecosystem servicers through research and teaching. Being open to collaborations and to learning new skills, have provided me with a broad scope of expertise and interests, from analysing hydrologic data in R to qualitative research. 

I hold a PhD in Natural Resources Science with a focus on Forest Resources Science from West Virginia University (WVU), USA. I have broad knowledge of forest systems and have conducted forestry research in Sweden, the USA, and Venezuela, using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including studies in forest hydrology, GIS, biodiversity, forest policy, and modeling forest–climate–water interactions.

My current research focuses overall on the Swedish Forest Advisory systems that collectively represent a key policy instrument for sustainable and multi-use forest management. Within SLU’s Future Forest research platform, I investigate the policy processes around forest related Green Infrastructure policies lead by the different Swedish regional authorities (Lännstyrelsen) and in cooperation with other forest actors.

I am part of WP2 in the project "Co-creating advisory services and planning for diversified management in Swedish family forestry, Co-Creator", funded by FORMAS. My work within the project focuses on investigating how the present service provision by the private and public actors can help to shape new forest management practices.

Within the Formas funded project "Blue Leads Green - Blue infrastructure to lead the way to a better forested green infrastructure". I will study forest actors views on alternative management practices within riparian buffers, with the ultimate aim of bridging the science -practice gap and improving the protection of waterways from forest operations.

In 2024, I led a BSc student on a pilot study on the challenges and potentials for more Active Management of Beech forests in Southern Sweden, with the aim of developing a more comprehensive study on the subject. This research was supported by the Stiftelsen Seydlitz MP bolagen.

Under Autum 2024 I carried out a short project on the science and knowledge created due to the devastating Gudrun Storm of 2005. 

I am the course leader of the Forest and Landscape Planning course (15 ECTS Credits) of the International Bachelor in Forest & Landscape Management (F&L). One of the goals within the course is to give students a comprehensive understanding of the planning processes at different time and spatial scales, with recognition of owners' goals and consequences to other interests. The course will center on practical skills through the development of a management plan based on fieldwork and other data sources. Please contact me if you are interest in more information or e.g. if you are a stakeholder involved in planning and would like to share your experience in our course.

I collaborate in the National and International Forest Policy Course (15 ECTS Credits) within the Euroforester Master Program. This course's goal is to improve student's understanding the complex and interesting intricacies of forest governance, with comparisons between different countries and systems in Europe. I assist with lectures on the Swedish forest governance and with pedagogic activities, such as roll play and reflective journals. 

PhD studenter Co-Supervisor:

- Keeli Curtis. Instrumentation of the Swedish Forest Policy with a focus on advisory services.

- Edzus Roman.

Master Studenter:

- Vera Janlert. 2025. Diversifying Swedish Forestry Through Advice: A study on how forest advisors perceive and work for variation in southern Sweden.

- Anna Karlsson. 2022. The Participatory Process behind the Green Infrastructure Plan in Scania, Sweden.

Bachelor Studenters:

- Olof Edström. 2025. Reducing equivocality in Continuous Cover Forestry: Communication practices among forest machine operators and forest managers in Southern Sweden.

- Agnes Andrée. 2024. Beech in Sweden: Challenges and Opportunities. An
interview study based on stakeholders’ perspectives in Scania, Sweden.

Guillén, L. A., & Felton, A. 2025. Twenty years after storm Gudrun: A lasting impact on forest science that highlights the critical role of forest monitoring. AMBIO:  A Journal of the Human Environment.

Karlsson, A., Guillén, L. A., & Brukas, V. (2024). Regional forest green infrastructure planning and collaborative governance: A case study from southern Sweden. Environmental Science & Policy, 160, 103840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103840

Curtis, K., Guillén, L. A., & Brukas, V. (2023). Creating the landscape, one stand at a time: The dual roles of timber buyers in the nested domains of Swedish forestry. Forest Policy and Economics, 147, 102884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2022.102884

Guillén, L. A., Brzostek, E., McNeil, B., Raczka, N., Casey, B., & Zegre, N. (2022). Sap flow velocities of Acer saccharum and Quercus velutina during drought: Insights and implications from a throughfall exclusion experiment in West Virginia, USA. Science of The Total Environment, 850, 158029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158029

Gallagher, M. R., Maxwell, A. E., Guillén, L. A., Everland, A., Loudermilk, E. L., & Skowronski, N. S. (2021). Estimation of Plot-Level Burn Severity Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning. Remote Sensing, 13(20), 4168. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13204168

Guillén, L. A., Fernández, R., Gaertner, B., & Zégre, N. P. (2021). Climate and Landscape Controls on the Water Balance in Temperate Forest Ecosystems: Testing Large Scale Controls on Undisturbed Catchments in the Central Appalachian Mountains of the US. Water Resources Research, 57(9), e2021WR029673. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR029673 

Maxwell, A. E., Warner, T. A., & Guillén, L. A. (2021). Accuracy Assessment in Convolutional Neural Network-Based Deep Learning Remote Sensing Studies—Part 1: Literature Review. Remote Sensing, 13(13), 2450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13132450

Maxwell, A. E., Warner, T. A., & Guillén, L. A. (2021). Accuracy Assessment in Convolutional Neural Network-Based Deep Learning Remote Sensing Studies—Part 2: Recommendations and Best Practices. Remote Sensing, 13(13), 2591. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13132591 

Guillén, L.A., Adams, M.B., Elliot, E., Hubbart, J., Kelly, C., McNeil, B., Peterjohn, W., Zegre, N.P. 2021. The Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia, USA: Insights, datasets, and opportunities.  Hydrological Processes. 35(4)  https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14106 

Maxwell, A. E., Bester, M. S., Guillén, L. A., Ramezan, C. A., Carpinello, D. J., Fan, Y., Hartley, F. M., Maynard, S. M., & Pyron, J. L. (2020). Semantic Segmentation Deep Learning for Extracting Surface Mine Extents from Historic Topographic Maps. Remote Sensing, 12(24), 4145. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12244145 

Guillén, L.A., Wallin, I. and Brukas, V. 2015. Social Capital in small-scale forestry: a local case study in Southern Sweden. Journal of Forest Policy and Economics (53), pp. 21-28 doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2014.12.006