Welcome Simone Ciuti, new SE

Submitted by editor on 15 April 2014.

We are very happy to welcome Dr. Simone Ciuti, Univeristy of Freiburg, Germany, to the Editorial Board of Wildlife Biology. Here's a short presentation of Simone and if you want to know more, please visit his webpage!

1. What's you main research focus at the moment?

I am lucky to be part of an amazing research network which includes researchers from Canada, US, Germany, Italy, Ireland, The Netherlands, Israel. We are actually dealing with many research topics but linked together by a main goal, i.e., to understand the effects of human disturbance on behaviour and ecology of large mammals. Understanding the effects of human pressure is critical for effective management and conservation of wildlife in an increasingly human-dominated world.

Still, my main background is behavioural ecology, and I actually am developing a new research line which implies the study of  personality traits in wildlife with important consequences in ecology and evolution, again, in large mammals living within human dominated landscapes.

2. Can you describe your research career? Where, what, when?

I began to work with the behavioural ecology of large herbivores  in 1997, when I was an undergraduate student at Pisa University, Tuscany. There, I defended a Msc thesis dealing with mating strategies in fallow deer in 2001. After a period spent in the field as field assistant and mainly working with fallow deer and roe deer, I moved to Sardinia for my PhD dealing with sexual segregation in deer, obtaining my degree on January 2006. I won a post-doc fellowship at Sassari University right after that, supporting my research from 2006 to 2010 when I performed research on anti-predator strategies in mouflon sheep, fallow deer and roe deer, mating system in fallow deer, effect of hunting on roe deer spatial behaviour, migratory behaviour in red deer, among others. Then, a post doc and a position as research associate at the University of Alberta, Canada, working with Prof Mark Boyce and other amazing scientists for one of the largest telemetry study of the world, mainly dealing with the effect of human disturbance on behaviour and ecology of elk in the Canadian Rockies. Least but not last, I tackled the effect of oil and gas developments on ecology of mule deer in North Dakota, US, still working as a research associate at the University of Alberta. Now recent time, November 2013, just got a position at the University of Freiburg, teaching and ready for new challenges with the behavioural ecology of large mammals.

3. How come that you became a wildlife oriented scientist?

I guess it is Sir David Attenborough’s fault. He has been an inspiration to me since I was a kid watching his documentaries.

4. What do you do when you're not working?
As for many of us working in Academia, we never stay in the same city, region, or even country for longer than 2-4 years. I try to take benefit from it.  I like to explore and visit natural areas and cities around my new home. I recently moved to Freiburg, South-West Germany, where I actually am enjoying good weather, excellent white wine, good people and lots of places that need to be explored better!

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