Project Manager
It was bird ringing that would determine the course of Justine Vansynghel's life. Immediately after completing her ecology degree in Brussels, Justine set off for Costa Rica to spend three months there ringing birds. “In retrospect, that was perhaps the best decision of my life”, says the Flemish-born woman. Having already acquired a taste for birdwatching during her Erasmus semester in Vienna, Justine finally committed herself to bird conservation in Costa Rica.
Back in Europe, Justine Vansynghel wrote her doctoral thesis at the University of Würzburg. Once again, she travelled to Latin America, this time to Peru. There she researched the influence of pollinator insects and of natural pest control by birds and bats in sustainable cocoa cultivation. Although applied research forms an important basis for nature conservation, Justine decided an academic career was not for her. “I had the feeling that I could make a more direct and, above all, faster impact in practical nature conservation than by writing scientific papers that may or may not be taken up by political decision-makers.”
Justine Vansynghel initially worked for the Bavarian Society for Bird and Nature Conservation (LBV) on the Montagu's harrier species assistance programme. Since March 2024, however, she has been working for EuroNatur, where she is primarily involved in migratory bird conservation projects along the Adriatic Flyway and the coordination of the European Stork Villages initiative. Incidentally, Justine first heard about the foundation when she was ringing birds as a volunteer on the Mettnau reserve in Radolfzell; fittingly, the position of project manager for migratory bird conservation at EuroNatur had just been advertised at the time.
She herself says: “What I particularly like about EuroNatur is the sheer variety of different tasks. In my day-to-day work, I need specialist knowledge as well as organisational and communication skills, especially when dealing with partners. Working with the many motivated people in migratory bird conservation is incredibly inspiring for me.”