mail: mchurski@os-conservation.org

He is a forest ecologist with a background in forestry. Researcher and post-doc at the Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieża. He studies the impact of herbivores and environmental factors on the structure and function of temperate forests to understand their natural diversity. He focuses on the adaptations of temperate woody plants to grazing and browsing by large mammalian herbivores and fire. Interested in the ecology and conservation of temperate zone woodscapes – from temperate savannas to closed-canopy forests. Experienced participant of several camera-trapping projects in Poland, Sweden, Venezuela, and Armenia. Developer of Trapper.

mail: dkuijper@ibs.bialowieza.pl

I am interested in how herbivores shape the environment around us. I started to studies these plant-herbivore interactions on the saltmarshes of the Waddensea where small small (Watervole) to intermediate-sized herbivores (Geese, Hares and Rabbits) affect salt marsh vegetation succession. Afterwards I carried out research in Spitsbergen to study how goose grazing affects arctic ecosystem processes. Since 2008 I am based in the Białowieża Primeval Forest (Poland) where you can still study how large herbivores (Bison, Moose, Red deer, Wild boar, Roe deer) affect natural tree regeneration. These studies also include how large carnivores affect behaviour and spatial distribution of their ungulate prey and the way how humans modify these trophic cascading effects.

The Mammal Research Institute, founded in 1952, is an independent scientific research unit of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS). It is one of the oldest scientific institutions of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and one of the leading biological institutions in Poland. Since its founding, its research has been shaping the development of the field of mammalogy. Studies on the morphology, taxonomy, systematics, evolution, population genetics, ethology and ecology of mammals conducted by the Institute have theoretical character, but are also applied in wildlife conservation and management of animal populations.