Board

Photo credit: Laura Bosco

Current board members:

Laura Bosco, PhD 
President of SCB Europe Region (2025 - 2027)

Researcher, Finnish Museum of Natural History, Finland


Laura is an ecologist from Switzerland. Her main research interests are the impacts of human land use and climate change on biodiversity, with a special focus on landscape ecological aspects of these modern challenges. She is also interested in aspects of farmland practices and finding solutions for a sustainable, environmentally friendly agriculture. She has a PhD (2018) in conservation biology from the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Additional roles: Past chair of the Policy Committee (2022 - 2025), creator of newsletters, member of the ECCB Steering and Scientific Committees, member of the Early Career Award Team, co-organizer of fall webinars.

laura

Michelle Henley, MSc, PGDip
Secretary

University of Edinburgh, Scotland


Michelle is an experienced ecologist with over 25 years of experience working in the field of biodiversity conservation and the protection of natural resources for both NGOs and government departments in the UK and Canada. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. Her interests are conservation genetics, land management and habitat restoration, mammal conservation and resolution of human-wildlife conflicts.

Additional roles: Secretary; member of the ECCB2022 Steering and Extended Scientific Committee, ECCB2024 Steering and Scientific Committees and ECCB2026 Scientific Committee; and member of the Early Career Award Committee.

As the Secretary I draft meeting agendas and record minutes at monthly Board meetings. I also monitor the Region email inbox and administer correspondence of the Region. As a member-at-large I ensure good governance and fulfil the general duties required to support and progress the Region’s work and impact. I have also co-organized the fall webinars.

michelle

Arash Ghoddousi, PhD
Treasurer

Assistant professor at the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands


I am an assistant professor at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, interested in conservation questions related to the effectiveness of area-based conservation measures, development of monitoring tools and frameworks, and better understanding of human-wildlife interactions. I have been active in conservation research and practice particularly in eastern Europe and the Caucasus, some of the least-studied, but rich in biodiversity regions in Europe. I have close collaborations with conservation organizations around the world (e.g., IUCN, WWF) and consult on several projects with a particular focus on large mammals and temperate ecosystems.

Additional roles: As the treasurer I maintain the account, collect and pay funds for Region activities. I am also a member of the Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Justice Committee, member of the Early Career Award group, member of the ECCB Steering and Scientific Committees, liaison of the SCB-Europe at the SCB-Global Regional Council.

I regularly attend the online meetings, review and revise documents and processes (e.g., within the award allocations or EDIJ policies), and support others in the Region’s work. As the treasurer I oversee the Region’s finances, plan budgets and do the bookkeeping.

arash

Emma-Liina Marjakangas, PhD
Member-at-Large, DEIJ committee chair

Postdoctoral researcher, Aarhus University, Denmark


Emma is an ecologist from Finland. The overarching theme of her research is understanding what makes species’ communities as they are and how they will change under the ever-intensifying anthropogenic pressures. She studies biodiversity trends at large spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales and develops conservation applications based on the results. Emma has a PhD (2019) in Biology from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway.
Bluesky

Additional roles: co-chair of the ECCB2026 Steering Committee, member of the ECCB2024 Steering Committee, member of the Communication Committee, chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Justice (DEIJ) Committee, representative of the SCB-Europe at the SCB Global’s DEIJ Committee. 

In practice, I participate in online meetings, write social media posts for the SCB Europe account, update SCB Europe’s DEIJ practices, and co-organize the fall webinars.


emma

Michele Lussu, PhD
Member-at-Large

Postdoctoral researcher at University of Bologna, Italy


Michele Lussu graduated in Cagliari (Italy), specialized in Milan and obtained a research master's degree at Imperial College London (UK). His scientific interests are focused on the Orchidaceae, their evolutionary and ecological patterns. He is particulary interests in insular biogeography and how specialized organisms such as orchids response to biogeographic laws and anthropization. He has also obtained several grants on plant functional traits (PFT) and their response to climate change and biological invasions.

Additional roles: secretary of the SCB Italy Chapter; member of the ECCB2024 Steering, Scientific and Local Committees, contact person for the ECCB2024, chair of the ECCB2024

lussu

Katalin Pap, MSc
Member-at-Large

Hungary


Katalin graduated as a biologist from the University of Szeged. During her Erasmus program, she spent time with bright students from developing countries and this experience empowered her to conduct studies on global issues such as climate change and the effect of urbanization. During her ecological work, she focused on wetlands and studied waterbirds. After a career change, she became a member of the IT world, and right know she focuses on virtual conferencing tools, and how these systems can reduce our ecological footprint by burning less kerosene. Her current area of interest is climate change mitigation and child education, providing clean drinking water to all and how one can apply ecological aspects when delivering emergency aid during natural or human induced disasters. ResearchGate

Additional roles: member of the Communication Committee, member of the Hungarian Chapter, chair of the Art of the Carpathians Award

I participate in the online meetings and manage/produce content for the SCB Europe Bluesky account. I also compiled a communication strategy. Currently, I’m organizing a conservation-related Art Award and participating in the organization of the 2023 Fall Webinar.

katalin

Stephen Venn
Member-at-Large, Policy Committee Chair

Senior Research Fellow, University of Lodz, Poland.


I am an ecologist and multidisciplinary scientist, primarily working with conceptual ecology, biodiversity, urban ecology and the ecology of insects in grassland ecosystems. The taxon I work with most is carabid beetles. 

Additional roles: Chair of the Policy Committee.

stephen

Jenny Anne Glikman, PhD
Member-at-Large

Researcher at Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA-CSIC), Cordoba, Spain

Jenny works as a social science researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA-CSIC). Her main research focuses on integrating and applying social sciences to study and better understand human-wildlife interactions, including conflicts and coexistence, as well as the illegal wildlife trade, to inform wildlife conservation actions and strategies. Her research goals are to support global wildlife conservation efforts and build local capacity to achieve human-wildlife coexistence.


Additional roles: currently a member of the ECCB2026 Steering and Scientific Committees. I am also a member of the Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Justice Committee, member of the Early Career Award group.


I participate in the online meetings and I also support the coordination of the fall webinars.

jenny

Janire Castellano Bueno, PhD
Member-at-Large

Researcher, Wild animal Initiative, US
Postdoctoral Researcher, Newcastle University, UK

Janire is a wild animal welfare researcher from the Basque Country (Spain), currently based in Newcastle (UK). Her work focuses on developing and applying methods to assess and improve the welfare of wild animals, with a particular interest in how affective states and behaviour can be used as welfare indicators. She completed her PhD in Affective Neuroscience and Animal Welfare at Newcastle University in 2022, focusing on the long-term welfare of rhesus macaques.

Janire

Alberto García Jiménez, PhD
Member-at-Large

Researcher, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Alberto is an evolutionary biologist and conservation genomics researcher from Spain. He holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, where his doctoral research integrated genomic, ecological, and demographic data to understand how environmental pressures, ecological interactions, and species traits shape biodiversity patterns and resilience.

His work seeks to elucidate the processes that influence species persistence and biodiversity change through an interdisciplinary approach that combines genomics, ecology, and advanced computational, statistical, and modelling frameworks. Alberto’s main interests include the effective integration of genomic insights into conservation practice, the modernisation of conservation approaches through evolutionary perspectives, and reducing long-standing taxonomic and ecosystem imbalances in conservation priorities, particularly the disparity between marine and terrestrial systems.

Alberto

Volker Mauerhofer, PhD MMag.
Member-at-Large

Ghent University, Belgium
Meiji University, Japan


Volker holds academic degrees in Laws and Natural Sciences, Ecological Economics as well as a Doctorate in Law, all oriented towards conservation. In Ecological Economics Volker has a particular interest in questions of how to reduce the socio-economic throughput of resources & energy to support the reversal of biodiversity loss. 

In practice, currently I am a current member of the Policy Committee of SCB – Europe and am supporting the preparation of the committee’s work at European and international events. 

Volker

Luís MD Barcelos, MSc
Member-at-Large

Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) – Azorean Biodiversity Group (ABG)
University of the Azores


Bio