Collaborators for the UNESCO Chair at UiB

Meriem BOUAMRANE

Dr. Bouamrane is an environmental economist and programme specialist at UNESCO MAB, Paris. Her work focus is on stakeholder exchange, resources, experiences, co-building of knowledge and tools in agro-ecological landscapes. Read more about Bouamrane's work and publications on the webpage for the Community Conservation Research Network at St. Mary's University. 

Rosalind BRYCE

Dr. Bryce is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Mountain Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), UK. She carries out research on applied conservation and environmental management at Scottish and European levels. Bryce works interdisciplinary as an ecologist considering the social dimension of how we manage our natural resources. Her recent research includes projects on deer management, land ownership, ecotourism and social innovations. Read more about Bryce's work and publications on the UHI webpages.

Micah ELIAS

Micah Elias is a MS/PhD student in the Energy & Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). He focuses his research on the ecosystem services and social benefits of holistically managed agricultural systems in order to incentivize a more sustainable global food system. See the UC Berkeley webpage for more information. 

Amy EYCOTT

Dr. Eycott is an Associate Professor in the Terrestrial Ecology group of Nord University in Steinkjer, Norway. Her research focus as a landscape ecologist is on the consequences of land use for biodiversity and ecosystem function, with focus on plant-ungulate grazer interactions. See more details about Eycott's research at the Nord University webpage.

Helena FREITAS

Professor Freitas is the centre leader for the Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE) at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Freitas holds the UNESCO Chair on Biodiversity Safeguard for Sustainable Development. She has worked extensively with UNESCO’s MAB-programme and has comprehensive experience with mapping and incentivizing sustainable land-use. See the CFE webpage for more info about Freitas' background and scientific areas of expertise. 

Theogene HABUMUGISHA

Theogene Habumugisha is a PhD candidate at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bergen. He is a trained nutritionist, and his PhD project focuses on understanding the impact of reducing dietary meat and dairy consumption on environment sustainability and health/nutrition status of older adults.

Kristoffer Mega HERDLEVÆR

Kristoffer Mega Herdlevær is a PhD candidate at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Bergen. His PhD project focuses on bio-oil, and he is researching possibilities to predict the chemical composition of different types of bio-oil by analysing the biomass in advance of the oil production.

Peter Emil KALAND

Professor Emeritus Kaland of the University of Bergen (UiB) is a paleoecologist and primus motor of the Heathland Centre at Lygra, located in the Nordhordland UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (BR) in Western Norway. Kaland had a leading role in the application process for the Nordhordland UNESCO BR. See the overview of his extensive scientific work at the UiB webpage.

Robin MARSH

Dr. Marsh is a researcher at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, UC Berkeley, USA. She is a socio-economist with over 25 years of experience in international agriculture and rural development. Read more about Marsh's background and research experience at the UC Berkeley webpage.

Johanna McTAGGART

Johanna McTaggart is a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. She is the National Co-ordinator of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) in Sweden. McTaggart's national focus is on guiding new initiatives of establishing biosphere reserves (BRs), creating new partnerships with MAB, and allocating research to biosphere reserves that will contribute to identify sustainability challenges in the BRs. Internationally, McTaggart represents Sweden on the global governing board for the MAB programme. For more information about McTaggart's research focus and work, go to the Stockholm Resilience Centre webpage.

Kari Evensen NATLAND

Kari Natland is a project leader for the Nordhordland Development Company (Nordhordland Utviklingsselskap IKS), specializing in tourism and local stakeholder engagement. Natland is the project leader for the Nordhordland UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (BR) on behalf of the Nordhordland Region Council. See the official webpage for the Nordhordland UNESCO BR for more information about the project.

Martin PRICE

Professor Price at Perth College University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), UK, is the Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies and the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development. Read more about Price's work and research activities on the UHI webpage.

Lisen SCHULTZ

Dr. Schultz is the programme director for resilience thinking at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), Sweden. As coordinating leader of the Biosphere Stewardship research stream at SRC, Schultz facilitates the advancement of this field of research at the SRC by bringing people and insights from various projects together in synthetic activities. See the Stockholm Resilience Centre webpage for more information about Schutz's work and achievements.

Vigdis VANDVIK

Professor Vandvik at the University of Bergen (UiB) is a plant community ecologist with expertise in heathland ecology, and impacts of land-use and climate change. She participates in the research-policy interface as a Lead Author on the IPBES assessment. Vandvik is the centre leader for the Centre for Excellence in Biology Education (bioCEED) and the Centre for Sustainable Area Management (CeSAM) at UiB. See the UiB webpage for more information about her research activites.

Liv Guri VELLE

Dr. Velle is the research leader for the group working on marine and coastal ecosystems at Møreforsking in Ålesund, Norway. As a vegetation ecologist working with semi-natural habitat types along the Norwegian coast, Velle focuses on ecosystem functions and dynamics related to climate- and land use change. This includes work with vulnerable and threatened habitats, biodiversity, blacklisted species, sustainable use and ecosystem resilience. See the Møreforsk webpage for more details about Velle's research.

Apart from our chair in Bergen (UiB), we have:

UNESCO Chair for Education about Sustainable Lifestyles

Associate Professor Victoria Thoresen is the UNESCO Chair for Education about Sustainable Lifestyles at The Collaborative Learning Centre for Sustainable Development at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (HiI). The Centre promotes the development and use of research and learning methods that assist people to contribute to constructive change through the way they choose to live. Thoresen has specialized in curriculum development, global education, peace education, value-based education and consumer education. Read more about Thoresen's background and area of expertise on the HiI webpage.

UNESCO Chair for Diversity, Inclusion and Education

Professor of religious education at the University of Stavanger (UiS), Geir Skeie, is the UNESCO Chair with focus on diversity, inclusion and education. Skeie's research has focused on intercultural education and religion in education with both empirical and theoretical contributions. Read more about his scientific work and publications on the UiS webpage.

UNESCO’s UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme promotes international cooperation and networking between universities. It helps reinforce higher education institutions worldwide, bridge the knowledge gap, mobilize university expertise and collaborate around the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. See the UNESCO webpage for more information about the UNESCO Chair network.

The Centre for Sustainable Area Management (CeSAM) is a UiB initiative to support sustainable management of our landscapes and oceans, biodiversity, and nature's benefits to people. CeSAM's focus is on evidence-based decision making and consolidating cross-disciplinary research and education.