Lecture: “The ecology of Alpine Ring Ouzels and its implications in changing mountain ecosystems“

Arnaud is a Swiss conservation biologist who has been observing and studying birds for more than half of his life. During his academic time at the university of Bern (MSc and PhD) he studied the ecology of mountain birds, focusing especially on the Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) and looking at various aspects of its ecology, including habitat selection, breeding biology, migration patterns and population dynamics. Over the years, he focused his research on the ecological requirements of mountain birds and how changes in land use and climate might impact their populations and distribution. He is currently working for the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach (LU), within the department of Bird Conservation, supporting landowners who wish to implement habitat restoration projects in favour of threatened bird species and biodiversity in general, mostly in farmland.

Lecture: “Current and future perspectives of urban bird research“

Dan is currently an Ordinary Professor in Ecology at the University of Turin, Italy. Following a DPhil on Blackbird ecology at the Edward Grey Institute, Oxford, Dan spent sixteen years working for the British Trust for Ornithology, most recently as the Principal Ecologist for Climate Change and head of Population Ecology and Modelling. He moved to Turin in 2010 to research communities of birds and beetles along elevation gradients in the Italian Alps. In a career of nearly 30 years, he has produced a large body of work on the ecology of birds in highly modified habitats, specifically farmland and urban areas. His current research has two main branches: assessing the impacts of environmental change on birds in alpine habitats; and, identifying drivers of urban animal communities, with a particular focus on the link between human socioeconomic status and biodiversity.

Lecture: “Migration programs facing rapid environmental change“

Barbara is Head of the Bird Migration Unit at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, in Sempach (Switzerland) and Visiting Professor IBAHCM at the University of Glasgow, UK. A birdwatcher from childhood, she was active in bird ringing and conservation from early on. She soon became fascinated by the ability of migratory birds to return to the breeding grounds in time. From then on, next to family, she dedicated her energy to the scientific study of ornithology and biological rhythms. Migration, which is all about being at the right place at the right time, has been at the centre of this research. She has held positions at the universities of Konstanz (D), Glasgow (UK) and Groningen (NL) before moving to the Swiss Ornithological Institute in 2022, where now she leads the migration unit. She continues to be fascinated by fundamental questions but she also worries about birds’ ability to continue their magnificent journeys while we humans quickly change global environments. Hence, in her current position in Switzerland, she also studies effects of climate change, light pollution, and ecology at African stopover and wintering sites of avian migrants.

Karine is a French conservation scientist and quantitative ecologist broadly interested in applied biodiversity conservation. Her research focuses on studying the ecological responses of biodiversity to global changes and local anthropogenic disturbances, as well as to the implementation of conservation measures. Most of her work relies on data from Citizen Science programs, which provide extensive data sets that allow conducting ecological research at multiple spatio-temporal scales. Her research aims at providing tools for policy decision support and conservation management. Since 2019, she provides her expertise to the European Commission (EC-JRC) on different topics from the modelling of biodiversity indicators in scenario assessment exercises as part of CAP policy process, to the development of urban biodiversity profiles in European cities using citizen science data.