BIOCONS
Masters (MSc/MRes) Fellows
One-year Marie Curie Fellows have had the opportunity of more formal training as part of the Masters degree programmes offered within the Earth and Biosphere Insitute and its member Schools. Each Fellow had a choice of 18 available modules and was assigned a personal tutor who would oversee the Fellow’s programme and played an important role in skills development, providing individual feedback on progress. Fellows also have individual supervisors for each of two independent research projects, for which they received training in appropriate research skills. Assessment is through essays, projects, reports, seminars and dissertations rather than examinations.
Bogdan Cristescu
Term of Fellowship: 26/09/2005 - 22/09/2006
Research Project Title: Space use and diet of selected large carnivores in a South African Game Reserve.
Current position: In September 2007 I started my PhD Ecology at the University of Alberta, under the supervision of Prof. Mark S. Boyce, Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife. The goal of my research is to analyze the effects of open-pit mining on grizzly bear movement and foraging, and formulate suggestions for mitigating the effects of industrial development such as mining on grizzly bears. During 2008-2011, in collaboration with the Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Program, we plan on deploying at least 10 GPS radiocollars on grizzly bears in the study area, which covers approximately 10,000 km2 in west-central Alberta, Canada and is centred on active and reclaimed mine sites. Radiocollared bears provide us a combination of hourly GPS locations, detailed ‘real-time’ pedometer data as well as photos from digital cameras attached to GPS radiocollars. These novel technologies will render unforeseen insights on bear behaviour on and around open-pit mine sites, and aid in deriving sound mitigation measures that allow bears and development to coexist. Project website:
http://www.ualberta.ca/~cristesc/grizzly_project.htm
Chrysanthi Michelaki
Term of Fellowship: 20/09/2006 - 19/09/2007
Project Title: How pollen content in lake sediment of different depths reflect vegetation at loannina basin.
Current position:
Natalia Montes
Term of Fellowship: 20/09/2006 - 19/09/2007
Project Title: Fragmentation effects on woody species recruitment in the Western Ghats, India.
Current position: PhD, Colombia
Gundula Bartzke
Term of Fellowship: 19/09/2007 - 18/09/2008
Project Title: Compared Trapping Efficiency of Longworth and Sherman Live Taps (Project 1); Habitat selection of mammals and birds in an Andean cloud forest nature reserve (Project 2).
Current position: I am currently working in a veterinary practice in Germany. I am planning to conduct research for a PhD on the conservation of neotropical felids in South America.
Sarah Mullen
Term of Fellowship: 19/09/2007 - 18/09/2008
Project Title: Inflorescence design in Figs (Ficus: Moraceae) and co-adaptation by fig wasps (Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae): the effects of variation in inflorescence architecture on the fig-fig wasp mutualism.
Current position:
Charlotte Ndiribe
Term of Fellowship: 31/12/2007 - 12/12/2008
Project Title: The effect of distance from streams on the distribution of riparian Ficus species in Thailand.
Current position: I plan to be a Conservation Consultant or take a PhD in Ecology.