Symposium and PhD defence!

Start of online livestream.

Liesbeth Bakker is a wetland and wildlife ecologist studying ecosystem functions and services, food webs, restoration ecology and rewilding. She is particularly interested in the impact of rewilding on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and landscape structure in relation to global change and human pressure. She is a senior scientist at the Department of Aquatic Ecology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and professor in Rewilding Ecology at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.

Esther works as a grazing advisor at PWN. She finished her master in Biology 13 years ago in Madrid (Spain), the chance to make her dreams come true appeared. She was given the possibility to study the feeding ecology of European bison, highland cattle and konik horses in the dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park (the Netherlands) for a full year by PWN. Since then, she has been focusing her career mainly on the restoration and conservation of coastal dune ecosystems through the introduction and management of large mammalian herbivores as an essential aspect within the rewilding approach and the restoration of natural processes.

Rogier is a medical illustrator and the program director since 2011 of the Master in Scientific Illustration of the Maastricht University, where he received his master’s degree in 1999 and where he has taught scientific illustration for 25 years.He works for the faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences of the Maastricht University and the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. Rogier is active in the European Association of Medical Illustrators AEIMS since 1994 and currently serves in the AEIMS Board of Governors where he is the Netherlands representative. In 1999 he founded the company Rogier Trompert Medical Art from which he works for medical specialists, pharmaceutical companies, veterinary companies, universities, museums, scientific magazines and publishers.

Spanish artist Fernando G. Baptista combines his skill in analog and digital tools to create vivid graphics. He produces explanatory graphics by working closely with the experts, sometimes traveling to the field for visual references. To create the illustrations, he often builds reference models by hand, which help with proportions, lighting, and textures. He has been a an artist with National Geographic for 15 years. In 2012, he was named one of the five most influential graphic artists of the previous 20 years by the Malofiej Conference, the “Pulitzer of infographics.” He has won more than 250 awards and has earned two Emmy nominations for his animations.

Lisa Sánchez Aguilar is a passionate scientific illustrator and graphic designer from Costa Rica. She specializes in visual communication directed towards conservation ecology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Costa Rica and a master in scientific illustration from the University of Maastricht (Netherlands). Lisa founded Tierra de Luciérnagas Estudio de Illustación y Diseño (Illustration and Design studio) in 2012, and has since worked for projects with clients nationally and internationally. These include the National Museum of Costa Rica (MNCR), University of Costa Rica (UCR), Technological University of Costa Rica (TEC), as well as international projects including institutions such as the University of Bristol, Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Wageningen University amongst others. Her illustrations and designs have been published in several books and magazines, including species guide books for the National Museum of Costa Rica and the University of Costa Rica, as well as internationally in scientific magazines such as Global Change Biology and published illustrations in popular science magazines such as National Geographic. Lisa will hold a position in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Costa Rica from 2023 onwards.