Page 41 - European Energy Innovation - autumn 2019 publication

Autumn 2019 European Energy Innovation 41

FOREST MANAGEMENT

research initiatives such as the Bravo-Oviedo believes COST was In terms of other career
ongoing EU-funded REFORM project, pivotal in helping him secure both milestones, Bravo-Oviedo says
which involves many of the network’s his current tenure-track position having COST on his CV helped him
partners. Its focus includes advancing and a prestigious 2019 Organisation become a research group
understanding of the resistance and for Economic Co-operation and coordinator with the International
resilience of mixed forests to climate- Development research fellowship to Union of Forest Research
driven risks, such as pest outbreaks analyse mixed forests in collaboration Organizations.
or droughts. with the US Forest Service. Its goal
is to inform policymakers and help “Thanks to my COST experience,
Network members also took part shape sustainable mixed forest I’m closer to reaching my
in informal testing of the Smartelo management practices. professional goals,” he says. l
forest management app, helping to
improve its functionality. The app
serves as a teaching tool, allowing
students to practise applying different
silviculture guidelines such as the
virtual marking of trees.

On track
Bravo-Oviedo – who was an early
career investigator (ECI) and enrolled
in the Centre of Forestry Research
at Spain’s National Institute of
Agricultural and Food Research
(INIA-CIFOR) while at the helm of the
network – credits COST with helping
him harness his ambitions and
propelling his professional life forward.

“I want to find ways to optimise
mixed forest management in the
context of social and environmental
change, as well as to fully understand
the resilience of forest ecosystems,”
says the now 43-year-old who
assumed his leadership role just
three years after completing his PhD.

View the Action:
https://www.cost.eu/actions/
FP1206/#tabs|Name:overview
View the Network website:
http://www.mixedforests.eu/

www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu