The past year has seen our team grow from the original four members to a group of over ten people, six different nationalities, and ten talented individuals.
At Wiesengut, the local university partner research farm, communications are strong and visits are frequent. Recordings of local fauna captured with video and special audio recorders have led to intriguing research challenges. The future trajectory there is looking bright.
Several masters students have begun their theses - with the group providing insight and support in the role of advisors. A particularly ambitious student has already submitted their thesis and given their incredible work ethic, they have joined the team for the upcoming field season and beyond (welcome Silvio!)
Exciting conferences and travels saw the group going by train and plane across land and sea, from Italy, Spain, Austria, and Czechia, to England, Canada, Brazil, and Sweden.
To the note of Sweden, the group coordinated a week long excursion for an exceptional selection of masters students. Together, they took the opportunity to explore the Island of Ven and it's beautiful nature, while also practicing valuable field skills like plot sampling, surveying, and boots on the ground interviews.
Finally, as the year came to a close, the internationally supported project Earthbridge drew the curtains. This special project promoted early career researchers, cultivated relations between the project member universities, hosted engaging summer schools, and critically, resulted in a wealth of published papers.
With the new year already well underway, we have had an inspiring group retreat discussing our future and the goals of this year, submissions for highly coveted grants, and paper submissions and publications to set us off on the right foot.
Eager eyes ablaze, the future is looking bright!