Project coordinator Dr. Marcus Lindner
Marcus Lindner is Principal Scientist in the Resilience Programme at the European Forest Institute. He holds a degree in forest sciences from University of Freiburg and a PhD in Geoecology from University of Potsdam in Germany. Marcus has 25 years of experience in research on climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation strategies in forest management, forest sector sustainability, and forest resource assessments and ecosystem service provisioning from European forests. His work often targeted the science-policy-practice interface and included several policy support studies for different DGs. He is currently coordinating expert of the EIP-Agri Focus Group 24 "Forest Practices & Climate Change".
Senior Researcher Andreas Schuck
Andreas holds an MSc in Forest Science from Freiburg University, Germany. He has been working at EFI for 20 years in particular on forest biodiversity conservation, forest risks caused by natural disturbances and forest resilience management. He has extended experience on the policy context in which these topics are embedded and the role of research and practice for supporting informed policy formulation. During the last years, he has implemented numerous studies for the European Commission concerned with combating forest dieback and edited a publication on the effects of windstorms on European forests. He coordinated a feasibility project, which investigated the need and role for a ‘European Forest Risk Facility’ (Project FRISK-GO, 2013 -2015). Such a facility is aiming at enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of European forest landscapes through promoting intelligent handling of natural disturbance related risks as an integral part of sustainable management.
Senior Expert Alexander Held
Alex holds an MSc in Forest Science from Freiburg University, Germany. He started as a fire ecologist at the Fire Ecology working group of the Max-Planck Society and received a number of operational qualifications in the US and South Africa. He moved from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and southern Africa. Later, Alex worked with the South African "Working on Fire" Program WoF, until 2012, when he joined the European Forest Institute EFI.
At EFI, Alex works on the establishment of the European Forest Risk Facility to create more resilient landscapes throughout Europe as a result of the exchange of expertise and knowledge as well as mutual assistance and cooperation. His expertise is in risk management, vegetation fire, silviculture and deer management.
Junior Researcher Laura Nikinmaa
Laura holds an MSc in Forest Science from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She specialized in tree water relations and how drought affects tree physiology. Laura has considerable research experience through her work as a research assistant at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Université du Quèbec à Montréal, Canada. She also worked as a journalist, continuously gaining more experience and developing crucial communication skills. Laura joined EFI in summer 2017 as a trainee and continued her work as a junior researcher.
At EFI, Laura focuses on developing an analytical framework for forest resilience and supports the project activities in SURE.
Communications Manager Gesche Schifferdecker
A political scientist by background, Gesche has worked as a Communication Manager for over 10 years. Before joining EFI, she was responsible for public relations and event management at the international Max Weber Foundation. Gesche also worked as a freelance journalist with Deutsche Welle and as a trainer for Science Communications. Since April 2017, Gesche is the Communication Manager of EFI’s Bonn Office and thus responsible for different projects focusing on the science-policy-practice interface.
Project Administrator Heike Kruse
Heike is office manager in EFI Bonn and thus responsible for the administrative work and logistics, such as supporting the office on financial and HR aspects as well and logistical matter for events. She has a degree as a bilingual secretary and a translator.
Further support
Further important support to the SURE efforts was delivered by EFI's research trainees Cecilia Fraccaroli and Andrea Ortiz Vargas, EFI's Communication Officers Jose Bolaños, Maria Schlossmacher and EFI's Communication Trainee Johanna Strieck. IT support was provided by EFI's IT Experts Sergey Zudin and Simo Varis.