Team
BiodiverCities comprises partners in four countries, with associated staff in each location. The core researchers include:
Erica von Essen, PI for BiodiverCities, is an associate professor at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. She leads the project consortium and contributes the case study of Stockholm. With Erica's background in environmental communication, hunting and wildlife ethics, her work in BiodiverCities focuses in particular on regimes of killing or sparing problem animals and populations.
Johan Enqvist is a researcher at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University. He is the consortium's Project Officer supporting Erica's coordinating role in the project, and leads the South African team contributing the Cape Town case study. Johan's experience as a transdisciplinary sustainability scientist studying urban resilience, social psychology and environmental stewardship will contribute to BiodiverCities' efforts to understand residents' experiences of and role in addressing human-wildlife dilemmas.
Manisha Bhardwaj is a wildlife ecologist, motivated to identifying and mitigating the negative impacts of the human activity on wildlife. At University of Freiburg, she leads the research theme of “Human-Wildlife Interactions”, in the Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management. Her research explores how human activity influences behaviour and ecology of wildlife, and in BiodiverCities, she leads the ecological analyses and contributes a case study from Freiburg, Germany.
Francis Turkelboom is a senior researcher at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) in Belgium, focusing on the interface between biodiversity and society. He is coordinating the program on multifunctional rural areas, which combines social analysis, ecological research, ecosystem services, system thinking and participatory multistakeholder approaches. Francis leads the team contributing the Genk case study.
Sanne Van Donink is a researcher at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) in Belgium, focusing on the interface between biodiversity and society. Her work spans topics such as species management, participatory biodiversity monitoring and system thinking. Within BiodiverCities, Sanne contributes her experience in stakeholder interviews and -workshops supporting the development of practical, evidence-based guidelines for urban biodiversity governance in the Belgian case study.
Oswald Devisch is Professor in Civic Urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. He is coordinator of the research cluster Civic Policy & Design and is exploring themes such as autonomous transformation processes, collective learning and strategic participation. Within the BiodiverCtieis project Oswald will focus on the mediation of inter-human conflicts triggered by human-wildlife dilemmas.
Charlotte Noël (PhD) is a social researcher at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) in Belgium, focusing on the interface between biodiversity and society. She is formed as a sociologist and anthropologist and is experienced in qualitative research methods. Her work spans different topics such as biodiversity and health, environmental perceptions, collaboration, nature relatedness and plural values of nature. Within BiodiverCities, Charlotte contributes her experience in designing and executing qualitative research.
Jim Casaer works at the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) as a senior researcher in the Wildlife management and coexistence team. His mean focus is adaptive management of ungulate species such as roe deer and wild boar, within the framework of human-wildlife conflict to coexistence. For this purpose he combines ecological methods such as population modelling and the use of camera traps with decision sciences and human dimension research. Within the project Jim will focus on socio-ecological data related to the management of the species in the different case studies.
Tamara Munesamy is a Master's student in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the University of the Western Cape. She will conduct her thesis project with the South African team of BiodiverCities, studying human-wildlife interactions and ecology of predatory cats within urban and peri-urban landscapes. Through her work, she will explore the relationship between human activities, urban green spaces, and wildlife conservation to support biodiversity management and coexistence between people and wildlife.
Her broader research interests include conservation biology, urban ecology, biodiversity conservation, wildlife behaviour, human dimensions of conservation, and ecosystem management.