Seminar Series: Environment & Biodiversity
Focus on Current Research: From evolutionary biology and ecology to climate change, environmental issues, and biodiversity trends.
The lectures are open to the public – welcoming university staff, students, and anyone interested.
The lectures for the summer semester 2026 are currently being planned and will be published here at the beginning of the semester.
Next date:
Friday, March 13, 2026, 2:00 PM
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 421, 2nd Floor
Sonja Hölzl, M.Sc., Integrated Natural Resources Management, Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management (ANL)
Practice-Oriented Conservation Research: Bridging the Gap
While conservation research reveals how ecosystems function and how they are affected by human action or measures, implementing conservation on the ground often requires additional practical knowledge or the adaptation and clear communication of existing findings. Sonja Hölzl will present the activities of the Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management (ANL) at exactly this interface: between research and practice and natural and social sciences. The emphasis of the talk is on bridging the gap between research and practice, and different forms of knowledge. Examples from projects and other approaches will illustrate approaches for practice-oriented research and knowledge exchange, along with challenges and possibilities to address them.
Host: Univ.-Prof. Jan Christian Habel
Other planned dates:
Hybrid Lecture
Friday, March 20, 2026, 10:00 AM
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 424, 2nd Floor
Microsoft Teams Meeting:
Join: Microsoft Teams meeting Link
Meeting ID: 320 753 779 650 38
Passcode: GU2W3c8W
Assoc. Prof. Hironori Hayashi, Kyushu University
Co-creating Nature positive Watershed Restoration: Lessons from a Small Watershed in Japan
Freshwater biodiversity degradation has been a critical global challenge, occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial or marine systems. In response to the international goal of achieving “Nature Positive by 2030,” Japan incorporated the social implementation of Nature Positive principles into its national biodiversity strategy. Against this background, our project—supported by the National Geographic Society—conducted a community-driven freshwater restoration initiative in the Notori River basin, a biodiversity hotspot on Kyushu Island, Japan. Focusing on degraded wetlands in the watershed, the project implemented practical restoration measures and scientifically evaluated their effectiveness.
The project consisted of four integrated activities. First, the core activity involved community-led wetland restoration. During the project period, approximately 1,000 m² of wetlands were restored through collaborative fieldwork with local residents and partner organizations. Second, the ecological outcomes of the restoration were quantitatively verified through biodiversity monitoring, which enabled assessment of habitat improvement and species responses. Third, multi-stakeholder workshops were organized to discuss the future vision for a sustainable local community and to raise awareness of freshwater conservation. Finally, the project provided environmental education programs for children, helping to share the value of wetlands and to foster local stewardship. Through these combined activities, the project demonstrated a practical and community-based model for advancing Nature-Positive freshwater restoration in rural Japan.
About the speaker
Hironori Hayashi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering at Kyushu University. He specializes in river morphology and river restoration. In particular, he focuses on the social implementation of river environment conservation and restoration in cooperation with various stakeholders. In his most recent work, he is an Explorer for the National Geographic Society, working on a community-led watershed restoration project in the Notori River Basin. He has extensive practical experience in working with local communities on water environment restoration and has received the JSCE Design Award and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in Engineering Education.
Research area: Ecology and Environment, Civil Engineering, Architecture, Disaster Risk Reduction.
Host: Univ.-Prof. Kyoko Shinozaki
Friday, March 27, 2026, 2:00 PM
Dr. Maria Mashirma Fungomeli, University of Passau
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 424, 2nd Floor
Research area: Monitoring of butterfly species distribution, assessment of forest vegetation dynamics, conservation and preservation of biological ecology in the coastal forests of Kenya
Host: Valentina Todisco, PhD.
Friday, April 17, 2026, 2:00 PM
City Nature Challenge
Peter Kaufmann, M.Sc., and Torben Schubert, M.Sc.
Haus der Natur, Salzburg
NLW Faculty, Green Lecture Hall, Ground Floor
Host: Assoz. Prof. Dr. Jana Petermann
Friday, April 24, 2026, 2:00 PM
Dina Dechmann, PD Dr.
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 421, 2nd Floor
Research area: Ephemeral resource adaptations: migration, energetics, bats, shrews
Friday, May 22, 2026, 2:00 PM
Sarah Zala, PhD, and Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dustin J. Penn
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 421, 2nd Floor
Research area: Animal communication and sexual selection
Host: Dr. Sophie von Merten
Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM
Sophia Rodrigues, Peru
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 434, 3rd Floor
Research area: Glaciers and forefields in the Andes and Antarctica: ecology of inhabitants
Host: Dr. Daniel Remias
Friday, June 12, 2026, 2:00 PM
Libor Závorka, Ph.D.
Water Cluster Lunz, Lunz am See
Research area: Aquatic evolutionary biology
Forschungsfeld: Aquatische Evolutionsbiologie
Host: Prof. Dr. Jana Petermann
Friday, June 19, 2026, 2:00 PM
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Sabine Hennig
iDEAS:lab, Salzburg
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 413, 1st Floor
Research area: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), geomedia
Host: Dr. Noreen Mutoro
Monday, June 22, 2026, 9:00 AM
Presentations by students of the MSc and Dissertation Seminar
University of Salzburg
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room C-006, 3rd Floor
Host: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrike Berninger
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Look back:
Monday, March 2, 2026, 1:30 PM
NLW Faculty, Seminar Room 413, 1st floor
Mwangi Githiru
Wildlife Works, KENYA
Towards achieving the whole of society approach to conservation: the role of carbon and biodiversity markets
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) aims to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, with additional 2050 goals. Yet, experience from the 2020 targets plus current patterns of biodiversity threat and loss do not paint a positive outlook for conservation, which is puzzling given all the good intentions and efforts, and the generally growing awareness and financing for the conservation sector. It makes one wonder what it will take to bend the biodiversity loss curve. Wildlife Works is a for-profit conservation organisation that seeks to harnesses the power of market to sustain or improve environmental stewardship. We use the voluntary carbon market as a source of financing to help reduce pressure on tropical forests, improve local livelihoods and drive biodiversity conservation. Recently, we ventured into the biodiversity market, exploring Biodiversity Stewardship Units (BDSUs) as a novel source of financing for rewarding indigenous communities for good stewardship of their forests and biodiversity. This talk will broach how market-driven schemes could help deliver on some of these elusive biodiversity goals, drawing from lessons learnt from our long-running REDD+ projects and nascent BDSU project. I will endeavour to use our current and planned work to draw lessons about moving from theory to practice, bridging disciplines and building linkages for conservation, and hopefully illustrate the role that science and research can play towards realising the plan-globally-but-act-locally notion that will be vital for propelling the whole of society approach advocated by the GBF.
Research Focus: Conservation biology, REDD+
Host: Dr. Beate Anna Apfelbeck
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