Maureen – a new enthusiastic volunteer in our team

I am a Dutch student and for the coming 6 months, I will be LIFEApollo2020 volunteer with European Wilderness Society in Tamsweg. I am on my way of obtaining my master’s degree in Biology, specialising in ecology, at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Not surprisingly, I am interested in ecosystem dynamics, ecological interactions and current global challenges regarding nature conservation. I always strive to combine learning about ecology with exploring new environments and cultures. For my MSc. Thesis, I went to Ghana where I worked together with local people and institutions to do fieldwork in secondary tropical forests. Here, I assessed the drought tolerance of native and non-native tree species by measuring functional trait data. This information can be used in tropical forest restoration, and is especially important considering the current changing climate patterns in the tropics, where droughts are increasing in frequency and severity.

I strongly believe we all should put effort into restoration and conservation of natural areas in order to keep the planet healthy. As nature does not consider anthropogenic borders, the only way we can make conservation efforts successful is by working together, trans-organisational and trans-national. That is why I am very excited to gain experience within the European Wilderness Society! I want to learn more about effective communication strategies and about what is going on in Europe regarding nature conservation.