Wildlife communities in Europe are changing. Some species groups, such as ungulates and large carnivores, are increasing in numbers, while others are struggling. To reduce conflicts and save endangered species we need science-based conservation and wildlife management. As a wildlife biologist, I am especially interested in how climate and land use impact the interactions between different wildlife species. I study these interactions in space and time, and relate (relative) abundance of animals to positive and negative impacts on humans.
I am specifically interested in smaller wildlife species (including rodents and bats) and how they interact. Research often focusses on the larger species that are more prone to cause conflict, while most wildlife communities are made up of many smaller (< 10 kg) species. There is thus still a lot to learn about the biology of smaller wildlife species. I focus on the development of new research methodology to study and monitor these species. Furthermore, I am increasingly studying how climate and land use influence the distribution of different species and how this influences community composition. I then try to relate these community compositions to impacts on humans such as pest control, disease transmission or damage to forestry.
The fact that species, such as pipistrelles, foxes, hares and badgers, often occur closer to people means that most people have had direct experiences with them. I am increasingly interested in how these experiences shape people’s perceptions of wildlife and nature. The increasing use of technology has further changed interactions between people and wildlife, which is something that I like to explore in collaboration with sociologists and geographers.
Below you can find links to several pages in which I describe some of my past and present research projects in more detail:
- Monitoring wildlife communities
- Wildlife communities and One health
- Small carnivore ecology and conservation
Collaboration and MSc thesis projects
If you are an MSc student and interested in any of the research topics described above, you can always contact me to see if there are any possibilities for you to come to Umeå to do an MSc thesis project. I am also open to all kinds of other collaborations based on the topics described above or elsewhere on this website.