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Sebastiaan van der Hoek MSc student Forest and Nature Conservation at Wageningen University with a specialization in Ecology and attending courses focussing on animal ecology, wildlife management and conservation. I am involved in the PE&RC Research Master Programme in Ecology to gain insight in what it entails to pursue a scientific carreer. Currently I am working as an intern on the department of Biology and Biotechnologies at La Sapienza University of Rome. Main objective of my project is to determine the effect of antropogenic disturbances on the global distribution of terrestrial mammals. Here, we use global habitat suitability that have been developed for 5487 extant and described mammals. Furthermore I have a keen interest in extreme environments and I have experience in travelling either alone or with groups. In the first place this expedition offers me a chance to improve skills in doing research and field-work under harsh conditions. During my studies I obtained skills in statistical data analyses, vegetation plot analyses, transect walks, camera trapping, conservation assessments etc that could be of relevance during this expedition. Following my internship at the Global Mammal Assessment I learned to use GRASS GIS, one of the most important open-source geographic information systems. Furthermore I have good basic skills in recognizing bird and mammal species. I am broadly interested and eager to learn and apply techniques that are new to me. |