Personal profile
Research interests
Pablo Tittonell is Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Landscapes at the University of Groningen, where he holds a WWF-endowed Chair on Resilient Landscapes for Nature and People at the Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences. He acts as Senior associate researcher at the French International Cooperation Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CIRAD) and has been nominated Member (Hon.) of Argentina’s National Council for Science and Technology (CONICET) since 2017, formerly with a seat at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria(INTA), in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
In Argentina, he acted as national coordinator of the Natural Resources and Environment Program of the Ministry of Agriculture until 2018, coordinating the work of more than 1500 researchers nation-wide. He was Chair Professor of the Farming Systems Ecology Group at Wageningen University, in The Netherlands. He acts as external Professor at the Ecole Doctorale GAïA of the University of Montpellier, France and at the National University of Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He is an agronomist by training and worked both in the private sector and in academic/research organisations. He holds a PhD in Production Ecology and Resource Conservation and his areas of expertise include agroecology, soil fertility, biodiversity and systems analysis. His recent areas of interest include human-nature interactions in multifunctional landscapes, and their adaptation to global change. He participated in a diversity of research, development and education projects around the world on design, resilience and adaptation of farming systems, with a focus on interacting social-ecological processes.
His international research career started at the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) Institute of CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya, and includes a period at the University of Zimbabwe. At CIRAD (Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement) in Montpellier, France he led an international research team on Systems Design and Evaluation with activities in La Réunion, Brazil, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Benin, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Fluent in Spanish, English, French and Dutch, he is a member of the International Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification, contributing author of the IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) report, serves as editor of several international journals, published more than 170 scientific articles (H-index 45), consults for the FAO, for international NGOs and for the CGIAR, trained a vast number of active young researchers, PhD students and postdocs with fieldwork in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Education/Academic qualification
Production Ecology and Resource Conservation, PhD, Wageningen University & Research
Award Date: 1-Oct-2007
External positions
IPBES Report Contributing Author
1-Nov-2021 → …
Associate Senior Researcher at CIRAD, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Universite de Montpellier, Ctr Cooperat Int Rech Agron Dev CIRAD, Agroecol & Intensificat Durable AIDA
1-Aug-2020 → …
Member (Hon.) of Argentina's National Science Council, INTA EEA Bariloche-CONICET
1-Mar-2017 → …
Member of the International Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI), CGIAR, CGIAR
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
-
SDG 1 No Poverty
-
SDG 2 Zero Hunger
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
-
SDG 4 Quality Education
-
SDG 5 Gender Equality
-
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
-
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
-
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
-
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
-
SDG 13 Climate Action
-
SDG 14 Life Below Water
-
SDG 15 Life on Land
-
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Actions and actors driving transformative change for global sustainability
Reyes-García, V., Krug, R. M., Agrawal, A., Benessaiah, K., Bonilla-Moheno, M., Claudet, J., Forsyth, T., Garibaldi, L. A., Gemmill-Herren, B., Guibal, C., Goldstein, B. E., Gosnell, H., Guo, X., Huntjens, P., Ifejika Speranza, C., Leventon, J., Lima, L. S. D., Magris, R. A., Miwa, K. & Molina, J. L. & 9 others, , 27-Feb-2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature sustainability. 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
-
Conservation agriculture systems reduce weed emergence and alter weed community structure in a cotton-based cropping system in Benin
Imorou, L., Yemadje, P. L., Ranaivoson, L., Christina, M., Tovihoudji, P. G., N'Douro, M. Z. S., Kanlindogbé, C., Zinsou, V., Balarabe, O., Boulakia, S., Sekloka, E. & Tittonell, P., 1-May-2026, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 401, 15 p., 110262.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Influence of cover crops and their traits on the yield of main annual crops grown in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-analysis
Mauryo Fassinou, D. J., Yemadje, P. L., Christina, M., Nonwègnon Aholoukpè, H. S., Heuclin, B., Koussihouèdé, H. & Tittonell, P., 1-Jan-2026, In: Field crops research. 335, 16 p., 110201.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile11 Downloads (Pure) -
Provisioning sustainable food for cities and human settlements: principles and examples
Horlings, I., Leitheiser, S., Tittonell, P. & Trell, E.-M., 10-Feb-2026, The Elgar Companion to Food System Transformation. Pradhan, P. & Prasad Pant, L. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 183-200 (Elgar Companions to the Sustainable Development Goals series).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
-
Diversification, age, and organic amendments affect microbial and enzymatic activities in soils of Arabica coffee plantations in the tropical lowlands of Colombia
Cardona, W. A., Salles, J. F., Montealegre, L. G. B., Cormick, B. P. M., Baena, C. M. G., Ortiz, Y. C. P., Scopel, E., Benavides, M. M. B., Argoti, M. A. A. & Tittonell, P., Jun-2025, In: Geoderma Regional. 41, 14 p., e00966.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)54 Downloads (Pure)
Projects
- 4 Active
-
CurveBend-NL: Reconciling ecological and human lifescapes through collective action in Dutch dairy farming-dominated landscapes
Smit, C. (Coordinator), van den Born, R. (Coordinator), Both, C. (PI), Piersma, T. (PI), Tittonell, P. (PI), Daams, M. (PI), Sijtsma, F. (PI) & Mens, L. (PhD student)
01/05/2025 → 01/05/2032
Project: Research
-
CurveBend: From biodiversity loss to a nature-positive society through mobilisation of collective action at the landscape scale
Olff, H. (Leader), Piersma, T. (PI), Smit, C. (PI), Both, C. (PI), Tittonell, P. (PI), Lensink, R. (PI), Daams, M. (PI), Sijtsma, F. (PI) & Kruger-Zwart, L. (Manager)
01/05/2025 → 01/05/2032
Project: Research
-
CurveBend-AG: Reconciling the ecological and human lifescapes of Argentinian pampas through collective action
Tittonell, P. (Coordinator), Canavelli, S. B. (Coordinator), Garrote Cortinez, A. (PhD student), Allievi, S. (PhD student) & Beißler, M. (PhD student)
01/05/2025 → 01/05/2032
Project: Research
-
LIFE IP GrassBirdHabitat: Conservation of wet grassland breeding bird habitats in the Atlantic Region
Tittonell, P. (PI)
01/01/2021 → 01/01/2031
Project: Research
-
Agroecology and the sustainable intensification of Agri-food systems
Tittonell, P. (Speaker)
9-Mar-2023Activity: Talk and presentation › Academic presentation › Academic
-
Agroecología, seguridad alimentaria y cambio climático
Tittonell, P. (Keynote speaker)
9-Nov-2022Activity: Talk and presentation › Academic presentation › Academic
-
Robustness (and antifragility) in food systems redesign
Tittonell, P. (Speaker)
2-Nov-2022Activity: Talk and presentation › Academic presentation › Academic
-
The gaze of an interdisciplinary agronomist on social sciences approaches
Tittonell, P. (Keynote speaker)
9-Dec-2022Activity: Talk and presentation › Academic presentation › Academic
-
Presentation on agroforestry for Biowad
Tittonell, P. (Invited speaker)
6-Dec-2022Activity: Talk and presentation › Professional or public presentation › Professional
Datasets
-
Data and code for: Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests
Pérez-Roig, C. (Contributor), Videla, M. (Creator), El Mujtar, V. (Creator), Tittonell, P. A. (Creator) & Potapov, A. M. (Creator), figshare, 13-Nov-2024
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.25822513.v1
Dataset
-
How transformative is agroecological knowledge co-creation? Insights from a systematic literature review
Cartagena, L. B. (Creator), Hegger, D. (Creator), Tittonell, P. (Creator) & Runhaar, H. (Creator), Taylor & Francis Group, 3-Oct-2024
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.27160480.v1
Dataset
Press/Media
-
Agroecology and public policies in global scientific literature: a bibliometric analysis
11/08/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Other › Academic
-
Collaboration between The Netherlands and CGIAR to strengthen the Science Program on Multifunctional Landscapes
05/08/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research › Professional
-
Investigadores de INTA Paraná trabajan con especialistas internacionales en manejo ganadero regenerativo
Olff, H., Tittonell, P. & Smit, C.
24/07/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research › Popular
-
Hoe de smaak van melk met cultuur verbonden is
01/06/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment › Popular
-
First visit to CurveBend project sites and partners in Argentina - 10-18 February 2025
10/02/2025
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research › Popular
Prizes
-
Chair in Resilient Landscapes for Nature and People
Tittonell, P. (Recipient), 17-Feb-2020
Prize: Appointment › Academic