Dates: 30 July - 4 Aug 2023
The Summer School is open to MSc, & Ph.D. students, and Post-Docs in forest research and related disciplines. EVOLTREE will provide financial support to a limited number of candidates.
I. Background
Forest trees have evolved at species and population levels to adapt to the local environment in which they grow. Such local adaptations lead to genetically differentiated populations, with traits that enable them to adapt to biotic and abiotic stress factors. As climate changes, forest tree populations are likely to respond in three possible ways: adapt, migrate, or become locally extinct.
Natural migration and adaptation are very slow processes that cannot keep up with rapidly changing climate, resulting in maladapted populations with reduced capacity to provide multiple ecosystem services. Given the limitations in tree migration and rapid adaptation, it has been increasingly realized that human-facilitated realignment will be required to match the populations to the environment to which they are adapted. Such facilitated movement is commonly referred to as assisted migration, assisted colonization, assisted relocation, or facilitated migration.
This summer school aims to provide in-depth insight on Assisted Migration of forests in climate change with a focus on models to guide decision support. Participants will get hands-on experience in developing models to identify and spatially map adapted and maladapted populations of forest tree species in climate change. Candidates will also have a real-time understanding of the design, issues, and challenges of forest provenance trials through a guided excursion to provenance trials and forest nurseries.
II. Location
The training venue is the beautiful campus of the Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), the forest training centre (FAST), located in the scenic town of Traunkirchen overlooking the beautiful Traunsee. The training center has state-of-the-art classrooms with boarding and lodging facilities.
III. The registration fee
- The registration fee for summer school is 1200 Euros. This will cover stay
and food during the lecture and excursion. - Accepted participants are expected to bear travel costs to the summer school venue.
- EVOLTREE will provide financial support to a limited number of candidates.
IV. Training Reimbursement
- If you are a member of an EVOLTREE partner lab (student or permanent staff) then you can get your expenses from the training course reimbursed up to 600 Euros!
- In order to do so, once you have completed the training course, please send the following to the EVOLTREE headquarters (see address below):
- The originals of the receipts and invoices related to the course expenses (travel, accommodation costs, meals (except alcoholic drinks)).
- A completed expenses form.
- A short report on the training event. The report should include your statement about the training for the EVOLTREE website and a statement that you agree to the content of the report and your photos being published on the EVOLTREE website.
- One or two photos for the EVOLTREE website (make sure that all persons depicted in the photo agree with the publication of the photo on the EVOLTREE website)
- The form and all relevant receipts are to be sent at the latest one month after the workshop (we advise each participant to keep a copy of them, in case they get lost in the mail)
Lidwina Koop - European Forest Institute (EFI) - Barcelona Office
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, Sant Leopold Pavilion
C/ Sant Antoni M. Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona – Spain
Lidwina.koop @ efi.int - For further information about reimbursement for summer schools, please contact Marjana Westergren (Marjana.Westergren @ gozdis.si)
- Not sure if you are from an EVOLTREE partner lab? Then check the EVOLTREE partner list)
V. Application And Registration
For registration, please email your CV, a motivation letter (one A4 page) to
VI. Other information
- Expected knowledge: Basic or elementary skills in statistics and R programming
- Language of instruction: English
