Plenary Speakers

Becki Lawson

Becki Lawson

I am a Senior Research Fellow and wildlife veterinarian based at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology. Our group co-ordinates the Garden Wildlife Health project, a national surveillance project that investigates the infectious and non-infectious diseases that affect amphibians, garden birds, hedgehogs and reptiles across Great Britain. Our aim is to identify disease threats to biodiversity and to provide evidence-based guidance for mitigation. In doing so, we also identify disease threats to wild animal welfare, captive animal and public health. The project partners comprise the British Trust for Ornithology, Froglife and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Read more here.

Daniel Burgas Riera

Daniel Burgas Riera

I completed a PhD in Ecology at the University of Helsinki in which I investigated how raptors affect biodiversity and their role as indicators of forest conservation value. While shifting more into biodiversity conservation, I have been paying more attention into its social dimensions, like how to change attitudes towards more sustainable management in boreal landscapes or organizing collection of environmental data together with indigenous peoples in Africa. Read more here.

Frank Vassen

Frank Vassen

I am working as a team leader in the Nature Unit ENV.D3 in the General Directorate for the Environment of the European Commission in Brussels. Our unit is responsible for the implementation of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, and the Natura 2000 network of sites established under these directives. My current area of work covers issues of financing of Natura 2000, the LIFE program, agricultural policies and the biogeographical seminars.

Jaime A. Ramos

Jaime A. Ramos

I graduated in Marine Biology (University of Algarve), Portugal and hold a PhD in Zoology from University of Oxford. My research is focused on habitat selection, reproductive and foraging ecology of forest birds, terns and Procelariiformes. My studies establish links among population level studies, community functional ecology, conservation and the role of birds as sentinels of environmental change. Currently, I lecture Conservation Biology at University of Coimbra and I am associate editor of the journals Animal Conservation and Ardeola. Read more here.

Ruud Foppen

Ruud Foppen

I am a senior researcher of the Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology and professor at the Department of Animal Ecology and Physiology of the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and currently I am the chairman of the EBCC. I am also involved in ‘citizen’s ornithology’ collating and analysing data of thousands of volunteers in order to report on the state of birds and to inform nature policy and nature management. I focus on research that aims to unravel the driving forces, drivers and pressures that govern our bird populations. I am an enthusiastic bird watcher and ringer and participate in many volunteer monitoring and surveying projects. Read more here.

Top Photo © Fer Goytre