Education

2014-2016 Master of Science: Forest and Nature Conservation (specialization Ecology), Wageningen University (NL), cum laude

2008-2012 Bachelor of Applied Science: Wildlife Management, Van Hall Larenstein, Leeuwarden (NL)

 Work

May 2016-Nov 2016 Research assistant at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in different projects. My work included writing research proposals, GIS and R analysis as well as field work (catching and collaring geese).

April 2013-Dec 2013 Field assistant in the wild boar project at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Main goal of this project was to get insight in habitat range and habitat use of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in an agricultural area with the help of telemetry.

Internships and theses

Feb 2015-July2015 Master thesis: “The influence of environmental factors, physiological factors and hunting on the reproductive success of wild boar in Germany”. Statistical analysis of data on wild boar reproduction of a 12 year long period at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) in Hannover, Germany.

Nov 2015-March 2016 5-month internship at Alterra, conducted in National Park “Hoge Veluwe” in the Netherlands, where I investigated the effectiveness of different non-invasive methods (trap cam, video surveillance and track pads) to encounter the usage of crossing structures by ungulates.

April 2012-Oct 2012 Bachelor thesis: „Microhabitat characteristics of Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) kill and rest sites in northern Norway“. 3-month data collection (habitat characteristics of collared lynx) at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) (www.nina.no).

Sep 2011-Feb 2012 6-month internship in the lynx project Harz (www.luchsprojekt-harz.de). Project: „Pilot study on the microhabitat selection of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) concerning hunting sites in the Harz National Park, Germany“.

Feb 2010-June 2010 5-month internship in the research and education centre „La Tirimbina“ (www.tirimbina.org) in Costa Rica, where I conducted an own research project: “Density estimation of 10 Costa Rican wet tropical forest birds“. In addition, I helped working with GIS and catching bats with mist nests for educational and research purposes.

Links

Current research project:

I am PhD candidate in the CHIRP project, which stands for Cumulative Human Impact on biRd Populations. It aims to develop a modelling framework that integrates how various human impacts (e.g. climate change, agriculture, mining, fisheries) that act at different spatial and temporal scales affect metapopulation numbers. We will use this knowledge to identify mitigation actions to minimize the impact of human activities and develop the best conservation strategy to help species recovery.

CHIRP uses the well-studied Eurasian Oystercatcher in the Netherlands as a model species. The project combines new field data collection (e.g. using GPS trackers to assess the impact of disturbance on birds) with the development of new hierarchical models that link eco-physiological, demographic and migratory processes (based on the vast literature of this species as well as new large citizen science datasets).

It is a collaboration between the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Radboud University and Sovon, the Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, as part of the newly established Centre for Avian Population Studies. CHIRP is funded by the Technology Foundation of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO-STW).

My part of this project includes to identify the main drivers of reduced reproductive success on the breeding grounds of oystercatchers that has increasingly become an inland meadow bird. I will investigate how variation in reproductive success and population trends across the Netherlands are related to habitat type, land use and predator abundances. Furthermore, I will investigate the links between the choice of overwintering and breeding sites, as well as the potential for carry-over effects of winter body condition on the performance during the breeding season. 

For more information have a look at www.chirpscholekster.nl.

Past research projects:

Reserach projects where I was involved in earlier can be found in my CV.

Frauendorf, M., Gethöffer, F., Siebert, U. & Keuling, O. (2016). The influence of environmental and physiological factors on the litter size of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in an agriculture dominated area in Germany. Science of the Total Environment, 541, 877-882.