Santa Kalēja Academic position Now: Researcher at Latvian State Forest Institute ‘Silava’ Ph.D. (obtained in 2020) Field of research 2. Preservation of biological diversity in agro- and forest biocenoses, ecosystem protection and services E-mail santa.kaleja@silava.lv Telephone +371 26548620 PhD. Santa Kalēja is a researcher at the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” with expertise in forest management, soil sciences, and climate change mitigation. She obtained her Ph.D. in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies in 2020. Since joining “Silava” in 2013, Santa Kalēja has progressed through various roles, including forest technician and research assistant, and has held the position of researcher since 2021. Her research activities are focused on the efficiency of forest operations, sustainable land use practices, and the evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions in forest ecosystems, particularly on organic soils and peatlands. Santa Kalēja has been actively involved in multiple scientific and industrial research projects and has co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications indexed in Scopus. Her scientific contributions have been cited in more than 100 documents, and her current h-index is 6. In addition, she is supervising doctoral-level research on greenhouse gas emissions in forest soils. In addition to her research activities, PhD. Santa Kalēja is actively involved in academic supervision. Since 2022, she has been supervising a doctoral thesis at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, focusing on greenhouse gas emissions in forests with naturally wet and drained mineral soils. Furthermore, between 2023 and 2025, she has supervised four bachelor’s theses and one master’s thesis at the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.
