Scientific Advisory Board
Wir übernehmen Verantwortung und packen an!
Wissenschaftlicher Beirat
Hugo Bucher
Prof. Dr. Paläontologie
Paleontologist
Co-initiator FREETHEBEES
Hugo Bucher is a new member of FREETHEBEES’ scientific advisory board. He is a professor at both the palaeontological institute of Zurich University and the department of geosciences of ETH Zurich. One of his research focuses is mass extinction, and as a palaeontologist he overviews hundreds of millions of years in order to draw conclusions on recreation and diversity. In 2013 he authored a report on the subject, entitled „The Interminable Ballet of the Species“. Science estimates that 99% of the species that ever came into being through biological evolution have later disappeared. Another fascinating subject for Hugo Bucher is the research done on how the species are dealing with global climate change – both of which Bucher attributes mainly to volcanic eruptions and associated extreme climate fluctuations as well as environmental pollution.
Bucher joined FREETHEBEES after a „discussion“ he had had with a bee inspector in south-west Switzerland (Valais) – he had not been using a frame. From an acquaintance he then heard about FREETHEBEES, whereupon he met with André Wermelinger. One result of this meeting was Hugo Bucher’s joining our scientific advisory board, another the founding of a FREETHEBEES subgroup in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
Hugo Bucher currently owns two colonies in tree-hives. It is the kind of bee-keeping he is particularly fond of; it also brought about his decision to devote himself to bees. Looking upon a tree hole occupied by bees, he recalls, was love at first sight. He went on to read books by Henri Giorgi about this old bee-keeping tradition, which is still practised today in parts of France such as the massif central.
The philosophy of merely “accompanying” bees, doing without any chemical intervention, frames or boxes or indeed any production targets, immediately appealed to him. As Bucher himself describes it, he downright „enjoys“ his bees and is as fascinated by the honey bees’ self-organised comb architecture as by their evolution as socialising insects. His task, he feels, is to help the bees, to get to know them but also to simply enjoy them. „It’s wonderful to take a siesta sitting next to a honey bee colony“, he chuckles.
Find out more about Hugo Bucher here
Mathias Binswanger
General Economics, HSG
Dr. rer. pol., Uni Kassel
Professor of Economics
Mathias Binswanger is professor of economics at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland in Olten and a private lecturer at the University of St. Gallen. He was visiting professor at the Technical University Freiberg in Germany, Qingdao Technological University and Lanzhou University in China and at Banking University in Saigon (Vietnam). Binswanger is the author of numerous books and articles in journals and the press. His main research interests lie in the areas of macroeconomics, financial market theory, environmental economics, and research into the relationship between happiness and income. Mathias Binswanger is also the author of the book Die Tretmühlen des Glücks , published in 2006, which became a bestseller in Switzerland. More books followed. His latest work is: Der Wachstumszwang – Warum die Volkswirtschaft immer weiterwachsen muss, selbst wenn wir genug haben (2019). According to the NZZ economists ranking in 2019, Mathias Binswanger is one of the five most influential economists in Switzerland. www.mathias-binswanger.ch
Three questions for Mathias Binswanger – three answers:
- What are your reasons for joining us?
Preserving honeybees is central to biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. - What are your goals for FTB as a scientific advisory board?
To restore the honey bee to the position it deserves in modern society. - Where do you want to focus?
Ultimately, the honeybee and its activities are one of the multifunctional services in agriculture. The question is how to properly understand this.
Daniel Favre
Dr. phil. nat.
Biologist, teacher and beekeeping consultant in the canton of Vaud
He obtained his Diploma of Biologist from the University of Lausanne in 1990 and completed his Doctoral thesis at the University of Bern in 1993. From 1995 to 1997, he studied protein synthesis during his post-doctoral stay at McGill University in Montreal. He then specialized in procedures for in vitro infection of liver cells with hepatitis B and C viruses in research carried out from 1998 to 2007 at the University Hospital of Geneva, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Lyon, and the University Hospital of Zurich. His academic research at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne then consisted of producing cellular extracts to perform the in vitro synthesis of proteins using extracts from cells that have grown in bioreactors.
Since 2009, he has been a bee shepherd and a bee advisor in the canton of Vaud. He studies as an individual the influence of mobile phone waves on the behaviour of bees (induction of the swarm signal).
He is currently a post-compulsory teacher.
Hartmut Jungius
Dr. rer. nat.
Biologist, Geographer
Nature and environmental protection projects
From 1970 to 2004 Hartmut Jungius worked for UNESCO, for WWF and for IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. He had originally studied biology and geography at the universities of Kiel and Pretoria. After a lengthy stay in Bolivia, as a UNESCO advisor on the establishing of protected areas, and his doctorate about a bio-ecological issue at Kruger National Park South Africa, he was in 1970 appointed Conservation Officer and later Director of the Conservation Department at WWF International, and as such responsible for organizing, implementing and supervising WWF’s conservation programme.
In 1978 he transferred to IUCN as Programme Officer with responsibilities for IUCN’s regional and national conservation activities, cooperating with IUCN members and providing advice on conservation issues and the development of projects. In 1985 he returned to WWF International, taking charge of WWF’s projects for Europe, and in 1991 became director (Geschäftsführer) of WWF Germany. As such he was instrumental in the WWF family’s opening up to and involving eastern Europe and central Asia, a programme he was subsequently able to implement in his function as director(1996 to 2004). It was in the southern Ural mountains that he came across the Zeidler tradition (tree bee-keeping) from where he brought it back to Poland.
Hartmut Jungius has done practical conservation work worldwide. He is moreover a member of the IUCN committee for WCPA protected areas (World Commission on Protected Areas) and has since 2004 been a voluntary board member and committed advisor on the preservation of nature and the environment for several NGO’s in Europe and Asia.
Frank Krumm
Dr. sc. nat.
Forest Scientists
Senior Researcher, Farmer
Frank Krumm studied forestry at the College of Forestry and Environmental Science in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). He went on to the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y de Montes in Cordóba (Spain), and subsequently did his doctorate at the Swiss WSL’s Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) at Davos (Switzerland), on the subject of «The natural dynamics in dense subalpine forests of the Swiss Alps».
Today Frank Krumm is working with the European Forest Institute (EFI) on diverse topics relating to forest biodiversity and the natural dynamics observed in forests. His particular focus is on the inclusion – on both a practical and a political level – of nature conservation aspects in intensely managed European forests.
As a sideline Frank Krumm practices a little small-scale farming, producing and marketing his own regional fruit specialities. He has several beehives in his orchards and has recently added a tree-hive. His aim is to show his customers how their consumer habits have a direct impact on the land and thus on their immediate environment. His sideline is, of course, kept on a small scale but complements his main job, which is to interweave science, research and practical work, which usually takes place on large scales.
The performance of pollinators as well as the honeybee in itself is a major prerequisite on all levels, both for agricultural production and for healthy ecosystems. There are multiple reasons why so many of the systems have gone off balance, which is why we need to think and project in new integrative and inter-disciplinary ways.
Przemysław Nawrocki
Dr. sc.nat.
Biologe
River & wetland ecology, WWF Poland
Biologist, specialist in river and wetland ecology, bird studies and nature conservation. Dr Nawrocki got a master’s degree from Poznań University and a PhD from Gdańsk University (both Poland). He has been working for WWF Poland since 1997, and is involved in various projects aimed at the conservation of river and forest ecosystems, combining nature conservation with local economy, ecological education and shaping Poland’s environmental policies. Przemek Nawrocki is one of the initiators of the restoration of tree-beekeeping in Poland. His free time he devotes to carving birds from wood and drawing pictures for wildlife publications.