RestPoll is a pan-European collaboration between researchers from different disciplines, NGOs, businesses and ministries. In addition to this wide scope of scientists and interested parties, there are a number of key figures in pollinator restoration who are involved in RestPoll from outside. These people make up RestPoll’s advisory board, who all contribute their own expertise. After the Annual Group Meeting in November 2024, it is time to find out all about the six board members.
Johannes Rieger
Johannes Rieger is managing director of the Rieger-Hofmann trading company for wild seeds. Such seeds are multiplied by the company, but also by 80+ growers in Germany. The company has more than 40 years of experience propagating wild species. Together with biologists, they create regional and species-rich seed mixtures which will stimulate natural plant societies. Mixtures are used for landscape restoration or newly built areas.
Rieger’s company provides RestPoll with input from practice, a reality check for research questions and methods to implement measures in the landscape. They are also familiar with political frameworks or other propagators within the pollinator restoration network. Rieger hopes that RestPoll will identify how different parts of the natural system function together. This way, the project creates an advisory framework for establishing practical measures.
Andreas Gumbert
Dr Andreas Gumbert works as a policy officer at the Natural Capital & Ecosystem Health unit of the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission. His focus is on implementing the EU Pollinator Initiative as well as the Nature Restoration Law. He intends to provide a background of policy needs for the implementation of these two EU frameworks, to which the RestPoll project intends to make a meaningful contribution.
Gumbert has great hopes that RestPoll will be highly influential in the restoration of wild pollinator habitats. According to him, the project addresses some of the key challenges in rolling out restoration activities for pollinators. Particular examples that he mentions include gaining practical experience in implementation, assessing co-benefits, barriers and incentives, as well as bringing together a broad range of stakeholders and regions.
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is a Professor of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is also head of the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. Moreover, he was coordinator of the Pan-European assessment, monitoring and mitigation of stressors on the health of bees (PoshBee), a Horizon 2020 project funded by the ERC. PoshBee is one of many research projects that have a working relationship with RestPoll.
His area of expertise is wild bee conservation, particularly with regard to agrochemicals: pesticides and insecticides. In his advisory role within RestPoll, he provides support and identifies any potentially overlooked synergies or gaps. This way, the two projects have a symbiotic relationship. What sets RestPoll apart to him, though, is the direct application of conservation approaches on the ground. The Living Labs are important in this respect.
Oleg Furmanets
Dr Oleg Furmanets heads the Research and Development department of Continental Farmers Group. This company employs the best practices of agricultural production, prioritising environmental safety, a sparing attitude to natural resources and minimising the impact on the agroecosystem. He also served as Associate Professor of Agronomy at the National University of Water and Nature Resources Use in Rivne, western Ukraine.
As an ecologist specialising in agricultural sciences and environmental engineering, his publications cover topics including climate change, water supply and drainage, fertiliser efficiency and remote monitoring of crops. His advisory expertise may therefore include adapting solutions developed by RestPoll to production conditions, implementation and scale. To this end, RestPoll needs to ensure the farmers’ interests in its implementation.
Hien Thu Ngo
Dr Hien Thu Ngo is both a biodiversity and pollination expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) and the Senior Assessment Lead for the US Geological Survey (USGS) Department of the Interior. Her areas of expertise include the ecology of bee pollination, conservation biology as well as the science-policy interface. Please note that her participation in the RestPoll advisory board is in her individual capacity.
This advisory role connects to her experience working with end users and collaborators in policy development and implementation, as well as in monitoring schemes. She can therefore provide advice on the aspects of co-design and survey protocols in RestPoll. As the key actors in food production are intimately involved in RestPoll as partners, she feels that the project could be a step towards establishing a global pollinator platform.
Fiona Grossmann
Fiona Grossmann is policy officer at the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission. Among her activities related to farming in Europe, she is programme manager, policy analyst and desk officer of rural development programmes in Germany. In addition, she acts as programme manager and coordinator of the CAP Strategic Plan for Austria. CAP stands for the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
In her advisory role, Grossmann contributes a political perspective for RestPoll’s goals.
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