The overarching goal of our research group is to investigate how to promote science-based solutions to grand challenges in sustainability and development through a data-driven and mixed-methods approach. Much of our research focuses on investigating the complex interactions within the coupled human-environmental systems in order to test and refine theories in both natural and social sciences. For us, the interactions within and between the human and the environment components in the coupled systems provide exciting research opportunities as they reflect the adaptation processes in the context of shocks such as climate change, environmental degradation, species invasion, and land tenure change. At the same time, however, natural hazards and social injustice appear to be growing, affecting more people’s wellbeing than ever, especially the poorest populations in the world’s most remote places where livelihoods depend largely on natural resources such as forests and rangelands. Within these contexts, we seek to make prescriptive predictions about the impact of social-ecological changes and better inform sustainable and inclusive development.