Dr. Anwesha Dutta – Senior Researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (Norway), trained as a political ecologist, researches human-society relationships within forestry, biodiversity conservation, and natural resources sectors. Particularly interested in exploring issues around power, institutions, and governance.
Lecture title- Forests of the Future: Navigating Human-Non-Human Conflict, Cooperation, and Geopolitics
Dr hab. inż. Marcin Dyderski – Researcher at the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), studying the determinants of the ecological success of invasive trees and shrubs, but also biomass production and transformation processes in forest ecosystems, accounting for urbanity, drainage, forest management, and climate change effects on forest vegetation.
Lecture title- Woody plants invasion in temperate forests: drivers and impacts
Prof. Lena Gustafsson– Professor emeritus at Department of Ecology, SLU, Uppsala is studying biodiversity and conservation in forests, especially evaluation and development of knowledge on effects and efficiency of conservation actions, and how such can be combined with forest management. She is interested in processes and structures that drive species dynamics in natural as well as managed forests, and how such insights can be used in conservation strategies. She is a plant ecologist and often uses bryophytes and lichens as model organisms.
Lecture title- Integrating biodiversity consideration into production forestry – the knowledge-base and main conclusions
Prof. Bart Muys – Professor of Forest Ecology and Management at KU Leuven (Belgium), working in ecological knowledge, model simulations, and decision support tools to better conserve and sustainably manage forest resources worldwide.
Lecture title- The tree diversity – human health relationship: a win-win to operationalize social-ecological resilience of forests
Dr hab. Tomasz Samojlik – Researcher at the Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), studying the historical relationship between humans and nature, especially in Białowieża Primeval Forest, to understand the human role in the preservation and transformation of the environment of the Forest. He is also interested in the evolution of the concept of primeval forest and in the cultural importance of iconic species like European bison.
Lecture title- A series of (mostly) fortunate events: How human presence disturbed (and saved) Białowieża Primeval Forest
Prof. Dr. Simon Thorn – Researcher at Hessisches Landesamt für Naturschutz, Umwelt und Geologie
Dezernat N3 – Staatliche Vogelschutzwarte. Simon Thorn has started his scientific career in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany working on the effects of natural disturbances and associated management on biodiversity. He continued this focus while working for the university of Würzburg, where he conducted multiple studies on the effects of forest management and disturbances on forest ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. His research includes evidence-based management recommendations as well as broad scale syntheses.
Lecture title- Please do not disturb ? – Effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on biodiversity
Associate Prof. Camilla Wikenros – Associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, researching trophic interactions between mammalian apex predators and their prey species, and the repercussions of these interactions on lower trophic levels using ecology and behaviour. Her work aims to provide ecological knowledge to inform conservation of threatened species and their effects on biodiversity in relation to wildlife management and sustainable use of natural resources. She is the coordinator of the Scandinavian Wolf Research Project (SKANDULV).
Lecture title- Predator-prey dynamics and trophic cascades in intensively managed boreal ecosystems
Prof. John Linnell– Prof. John Linnell is a professor at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. His research and teaching uses multiple-disciplinary approaches to understand the complex relationships between people and nature. He works extensively with human-wildlife conflicts and the quest for the elusive state of coexistence.
Lecture title- Imagining future forests in Europe – pluralistic approaches for multiple objectives?