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WildlifeNL as a PhD candidate on the Ecology of Human-Large Grazer Interactions. In the context of increasing wildlife populations and free-roaming large grazers in the Netherlands, this position involves studying behavioural interactions between large grazers and recreationists. You will utilise innovative technological tools and engage in fieldwork to explore the dynamics of these interactions and develop strategies to minimise conflicts. Collaborate with us to promote sustainable coexistence between humans and wildlife.
Your job Numbers of several wild mammal species are increasing in the Dutch landscape, while free-roaming cattle and horses (hereafter, large grazers) are also increasingly used in nature management. For a densely populated country like the Netherlands, this means that there are constant interactions between people and wild mammals or large grazers. While these are often experienced as positive, they also sometimes lead to conflicts: between people and animals, or between people. With a broad consortium of researchers and societal partners, WildlifeNL studies ways to support coexistence between humans and wildlife. We investigate the interactions between humans and animals, and explore how the behaviour of wildlife and humans can be influenced in such a way that a low-conflict coexistence of humans and wildlife becomes possible. The research is approached through diverse scientific disciplines in close cooperation with various societal partners, such as nature managers, farmers, hunters, animal welfare organisations and government agencies. We are currently looking for a team of six PhD candidates with backgrounds in ecology, social science and philosophy.
As a PhD candidate in Ecology of Human-Large Grazers Interactions, you, as part of the WildlifeNL team, will focus on studying the behavioural interactions between large grazers and recreationists in two living labs, Grenspark KempenBroek and Nationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland. You will use technological tools to firstly better understand how and why recreationists and large grazers react to each other and in certain cases come into conflict. You will pay special attention to different types of recreationists and different species and breeds of large grazers and to the role of landscape factors. You will also investigate how wildness can be defined and may play a role in interactions between large grazers and recreationists. In a second phase, you will apply the acquired knowledge to test interventions, partly again with technological tools, that can influence animal and human behaviour in such a way that fewer conflicts arise between large grazers and recreationists. You will study all of this from a natural scientific, behavioural ecology, perspective. You will work closely with the other WildlifeNL PhD candidates to work towards novel strategies to promote human-wildlife coexistence.