Dr. Georg Winkel (Head of Office, EFI Bonn) Dr. Georg Winkel has a background (MSc) in Forest Sciences, holds a PhD and Habilitation degree in forest and environmental policy from the University of Freiburg. He is currently also affiliated to the University of Freiburg and Yale University (Faculty Associate). In 2011, he was a ten months visiting scholar at UC Berkeley (post-doctoral research scholarship). His main research interests and competencies are the analysis of land use and environmental policy and inter- and transdisciplinary research relating to forest and environmental topics (e.g. climate change, biodiversity conservation, bioeconomy). Dr. Winkel has led and contributed to various European research projects. He has authored more than 80 publications, 45 of them peer-reviewed scientific publications. He has been very active at the science policy interface and has given more than 140 academic presentations in his career. As INFORMAR project manager, he is managing the overall implementation and coordination of the project. Contact Georg Winkel
Dr. Marcus Lindner (Principal Natural Scientist, EFI Bonn) Marcus is Principal Scientist in the Resilience Programme at the European Forest Institute. He holds a degree in forest sciences from University of Freiburg and a PhD in Geoecology from University of Potsdam in Germany. Marcus has 25 years of experience in research on climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation strategies in forest management, forest sector sustainability, forest resource assessments and ecosystem service provisioning from European forests. His work often targeted the science-policy-practice interface and included several policy support studies for the European Commission. He is interested in exploring the effects of management and policy changes on the provisioning of forest ecosystem services in European forests under changing societal and environmental conditions. This interest motivates him in INFORMAR to explore the conditions under which integrated forest management is carried out across Europe. Moreover, he will review the performance of integrated forest management approaches with respect to future risks imposed by climate change, aiming to identify ways how to best integrate nature conservation objectives in Sustainable Forest Management under changing climatic conditions. Contact Marcus Lindner
Andreas Schuck (Senior Researcher, EFI Bonn) Andreas holds an MSc in Forest Science from Freiburg University, Germany. He has been working at EFI for more than 20 years in particular on forest biodiversity conservation, forest risks caused by natural disturbances and forest resilience management. He has extended experience on the policy context in which these topics are embedded and the role of research and practice for supporting informed policy formulation. During the last years, he has implemented numerous projects concerned with addressing the topic of integrative forest management, i.e. options on integrating nature conservation measures to managed forests. He conducted projects and activities for the European Environment Agency (also as partner of the ETC Biodiversity) for many years, acted e.g. as Working Group Leader in the COST Action “Protected Forest Areas in Europe”. He was deeply involved in the projects “Integrate” and “Integrate+” (2012 – 2017) and is now working as project manager for the Marteloscope network in INFORMAR (2017 – 2020). He has published and co-authored numerous papers and reports relating to forest biodiversity. Contact Andreas Schuck
Dr. Agata A. Konczal (Post-Doc Researcher, EFI Bonn) Agata is a post-doctoral researcher in the Resilience Programme at the European Forest Institute. She holds a PhD in social and cultural anthropology from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. Agata specialized in environmental anthropology and political ecology. She conducted long-term fieldwork on Polish forestry and the perception of forests in Poland. During the last four years, she gained considerable experience in the science-policy-practice interface, e.g. through works on the National Forest Program for Poland. A cooperation with foresters and international research visits (e.g. Aarhus University, University of Alberta) made her familiar with an interdisciplinary context in an international context. Agata joined EFI and INFORMAR in October 2017. She focuses on the academic and social science part of the project. Agata is responsible for preparing the case studies and conducting reviews on literature related to integrated forest management. She also supports communication and networking activities. Agata is responsible for the INFORMAR science initiative on the Białowieża Forest. Contact Agata A. Konczal
Jakob Derks (Junior Researcher, EFI Bonn) Jakob holds an MSc European Forestry form the universities of Eastern Finland and Freiburg, as well as a degree in linguistics from Ghent University. He has worked as a teacher and a forest manager for a private forest owner organisation in Belgium before moving into the more academic field. Jakob joined EFI as an intern in Joensuu in 2016, and has since been active in a variety of short-term projects related to forest policy, bioeconomy and social sciences. Within INFORMAR, he mainly supports the practical and silvicultural aspects of the project. Contact Jakob Derks
Joost de Koning (Junior Researcher, EFI Bonn) Joost attained both a BSc (Wageningen University) and MSc (Copenhagen University) degree in Forest and Nature Management. He has worked as a representative and negotiator for private and public organisations on nature and rural land use policies. Currently, he is working on his PhD on forest resilience at the University of Copenhagen using a combination of natural and social sciences. Joost adds his practical knowledge on European policy issues and his academic passion for forest resilience to the EFI Bonn office since September 2018. Joost has joined the INFORMAR team and additionally works on projects relating to forest resilience and climate change adaptation. Contact Joost de Koning
Anna Begemann (Researcher, EFI Bonn) Anna joined the INFORMAR team in January 2019. She holds an M.A. in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin and worked several years in the field of international forest policy and development cooperation for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit before joining EFI in 2017. Anna’s main interest lies in forest policy processes. Within INFORMAR she will work on the policy observatory and support the European Network Integrate. Contact Anna Begemann
Silvia Abruscato (Junior researcher, EFI Bonn) Silvia is a graduate from both University of Copenhagen and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) where she obtained a European Master degree in Environmental Science (EnvEuro). Her main research interests focus on the integration of nature protection, biodiversity and conservation, and sustainable forest management. She is driven by increasing her understating on the science-practice-society interface for Natura 2000 network with a cross-sectoral approach to enhancing community involvement in decision-making processes. Silvia is a youth leader and active member of the International Forestry Students’ Association, where she covers the position as Head of the Capacity Development Commission. Silvia is responsible for the INFORMAR final conference organization, and she supports the planning of other project related events. Contact Silvia Abruscato
Dr. Frank Krumm (WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland) Frank started his career as a researcher at the WSL Institute of Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos (Switzerland) and specialized in mountain forest ecology and natural forest dynamics in subalpine forests while conducting research on changes in mountain forests. In different projects climatic and competition influences on tree growth at timberline and in natural subalpine Norway spruce forests were investigated and published. He is a member of the forest dynamics unit at WSL in Switzerland (since April 2017) and leads a project on the “Production, conservation and other forest functions – How to balance forest management across Europe”, which aim to produce a book publication with valuable practice examples useful for practitioners, scientists and the broad society. In the INFORMAR project, Frank is in charge of maintaining and further developing the network that has been formed through the Integrate projects (Integrate and Integrate+) together with Andreas Schuck. This includes the management of exercises in Marteloscopes and also the establishment of new demonstration sites. Contact Frank Krumm
Gesche Schifferdecker (Communications Manager, EFI Bonn) A political scientist by background, Gesche has worked as a Communication Manager for over 10 years. In the meantime, she also joined Deutsche Welle as a freelance journalist and trained researchers in the field of Science Communications. Since April 2017, Gesche is the Communication Manager of EFI’s Bonn Office and thus responsible for different projects focusing on the science-policy-practice interface. In INFORMAR, she is responsible for communicating the Integrated Forest Management approach to different audiences. She also organizes events and workshops to maintain and enhance the network.Contact Gesche Schifferdecker
Jose Bolaños (Communications Officer, EFI Bonn) Jose graduated from the Communication Science School of the University of Costa Rica and holds a masters on International Media Studies from the University of Applied Sciences Bonn Rhein-Sieg in collaboration with the Deutsche Welle Academy and the University of Bonn and Cologne. This programme combines media and development, journalism, and media management by applying cross-media skills within an intercultural environment. He has significant experience in advertising and outreach campaigns. He has produced TV/radio and social media ads, short movies, and documentaries. He is supporting the implementation of the project communication strategy through the website and other communication channels. Contact Jose Bolaños
Heike Kruse (Office Manager, EFI Bonn) Heike is office manager in EFI and is responsible for the administrative work and logistics, such as supporting the office on financial and HR aspects as well and logistical matter for events. She has a degree as a bilingual secretary and a translator. Contact Heike Kruse