prof.dr. RD (Douglas) Sheil

Professor/Chairholder

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I am an ecologist, forester and conservationist. I have broad multidisciplinary interests focused on forests, their biota and the people who depend on them. Most of my research has focused on the tropics. I joined WUR in January 2021.

I was born in Northern Ireland and raised in the Republic of Ireland. I trained in Natural Sciences (MA, Cambridge) and Forestry (MSc, Oxford) in the UK. After two years in East Africa (IUCN, based in Nairobi, Kenya), I conducted my doctoral "DPhil." research on long-term forest change in Uganda, while employed by the University of Oxford. My postdoctoral experience includes ten years in Indonesia with the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR, 1998-2008) and four years as director of the Institute for Tropical Forest Conservation in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda (2008-2012). I also spent a year in Southern Cross University in New South Wales, Australia (2012-2013). Before joining WUR I was a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Ås, Norway (2013-2020). I remain a Senior Associate with CIFOR, in Indonesia.

I have authored or coauthored over 200 scientific publications, including a widely used book on rain forests (Ghazoul & Sheil Tropical Rain Forests: Ecology Diversity and Conservation. Oxford University Press, 2010). I received the Biotropica Prize for the best research paper 2004 from the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. I also received the Queen’s Award for Forestry in 2015.

Personal information

Availability	Mon Morning Available Afternoon Available Tue Morning Available Afternoon Available Wed Morning Available Afternoon Available Thu Morning Available Afternoon Available Fri Morning Available Afternoon Available Available not available
Subdivision	Forest Ecology and Forest Management
Address	Droevendaalsesteeg 3 6708PB WAGENINGEN
Secretary	+31643448673
Building/room	Lumen(100)/B.135
Expertise	Biodiversity, Climate change, Climatology, Ecology, Forest ecology, Forestry, Hydrology, Land use planning, Landscape conservation, Landscape ecology, Meteorology, Plant ecology, Water management, Biodiversity assessment, Biogeography, Carbon cycle, Carbon sequestration, Cloud forests, Environmental sciences, Ethnobotany, Forest dynamics, Forest landscapes, Developing countries, Diversity, Earth system science, Ecohydrology, Nature conservation, Nature reserves, Oilseed plants, Palm oil, Plant competition, Population dynamics, Population ecology, Protection of forests, Pteridium aquilinum, Regeneration, Reserved forests, Secondary forests, Silviculture, Succession, Treelines, Tropical africa, Tropical forests, Tropical land use, Tropical rain forests, Vegetation monitoring, Vegetation science, Water conservation, Forest management, Forest monitoring, Forest plants, Forest structure, Forest trees, Forestry practices, Forests, Hydrometeorology, Indonesia, Integrated water management, Land use dynamics, Landscape planning, Large herbivores, Wildlife conservation, Woodlands, Woody plants, East Africa, Community ecology, Ecosystem services, Invasive alien species, Southeast Asia, Trees, Deforestation, Atmosphere-vegetation interaction, Soil organic carbon, Megafauna, Human ecology, Protected areas, Human-nature relationships, Recruitment