EFI Mediterranean Network Forum 2022 - Speakers

Michele Bozzano is the Head of the Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED) and the Genetic Resources Facility (EFIGEN). Michele has a PhD in forest landscape restoration and a Master’s degree in Forestry. He has been coordinating the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) since 2015. Michele has overseen the development of technical and scientific publications, strategies and reports, related to forests, forest resources and forestry at European and global levels and has been responsible for science-policy dialogue. Recently he was also the Project Coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project, GenRes Bridge.

Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat is a principal scientist at the Mediterranean Facility of the European Forest Institute. Before joining EFI in 2022, Magda started her career at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. As full professor, she chaired the Life and Earth Science Department and was the director of the Laboratory of Biodiversity and Functional Genomics. She also co-founded and managed an NGO versed in forest ecosystem restoration.

Magda holds a PhD degree in Plant genetics from La Sorbonne University-Paris.

She is a National Geographic explorer since 2019. Her main research interests are in the fields of conservation and valorisation of Mediterranean Natural and cultural heritages and Mediterranean forests resilience.

Chair

Bart Muys is a professor of forest ecology and management at KU Leuven (Belgium). His research focuses on the role of tree diversity for forest ecosystem functioning under climate change, on restoration ecology of dry forests, and on sustainability evaluation of forests and bioenergy systems.

At KU Leuven he is teaching forest ecology, silviculture, biodiversity & ecosystem services, and planning for forest and nature management. He is supervisor of 47 graduated and 15 ongoing PhDs. Several of the papers he co-authored have been highly cited, and in 2021 he featured in Reuters’ hot list of most influential climate scientists. He contributed to several science to policy reports of EFI addressing and linking biodiversity, climate mitigation, water and bioenergy issues. Being an earthworm expert and botany aficionado, he advocates an improved biodiversity literacy among forest professionals and public.

Bart Muys holds a master degree in agricultural engineering (forestry) and a PhD in forest ecology from the university of Ghent.

Bruno Fady is a geneticist with an ecology background and a 30-year experience in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. He holds a BSc degree in Plant physiology and cellular biology (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France) and a PhD in Ecology (Aix-Marseille Université, France). Bruno Fady is a senior scientist and deputy director at the Ecology of Mediterranean Forests research laboratory (INRA-URFM) in Avignon, France. He is interested in many fields related to forest genetics and ecology, from breeding to conservation, and has published over 100 articles and book chapters. Currently, he is focusing on how genetic diversity is structured at broad and fine geographic scales in relation to natural ecological factors and human impacts in Mediterranean tree species. He coordinated the H2020 project GenTree which aimed at optimizing the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe.

Davide Travaglini is an associate professor at the University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI). Since 2017, he is the Head of BSc degrees in Forest and Environmental Sciences. He teaches Forest biometry, Forest geomatics, and Ecological planning. He is a member of the Committee of the Doctoral School of Sustainable Management of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Resources.

Since 2020, he is the Secretary of the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology. He is a member of the Italian Academy of Forest Sciences. His main research interests are in the field of forest monitoring and forest management. He has experience in the field of biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, forest ecosystem services, forest inventory and mapping.

Thierry Gauquelin, professor emeritus at Aix-Marseille University (AMU), works, within the IMBE laboratory, on the functioning, dynamics and biodiversity of forests in the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Morocco and in the south of France. In this context, it pays particular attention to soils, their biodiversity and their preservation, but also to Human-Forests relationships. He was the instigator and manager until 2020 of the experimental station O3HP (Oak Observatory at the OHP), which is interested in the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean downy oak forest.