Eva-Kleinn-Scholarship

Great Forest: prospects for creating a National Park (Southwestern Belarus)

Великий Лес: перспективы создания национального парка (Юго-Западная Беларусь)

June 2025 and October until December 2025

Yury Bakur is a biologist from Belarus who has participated in numerous wildlife conservation projects in his home country. He spent twelve years conducting research in the deserts of Central Asia before his strong connection to his homeland brought him back.

Around the village where he was born lie three local nature reserves. Yury’s long-term goal is to unite these areas into a single national park. Despite melioration activities in the 1980s, the landscapes have largely retained their ecological integrity. They continue to provide important refuge for rare plants and animals such as the aquatic warbler, the greater spotted eagle, and various orchid species including lady’s slipper. The more he studies this region, the more confident he becomes that he is on the right path.

As part of the Eva Klein Scholarship, Yury is developing a scientifically grounded strategy for establishing a national park, drawing on international experience and expert recommendations from scientists at the University of Greifswald. During the scholarship period, he conducted fieldwork including detailed surveys of birds of prey and assessments of the aquatic warbler population. He is also working on the development of eco-trails and created a thematic video blog on Instagram to share insights into his research and the region.

Supervisors: Jens Wunderlich and Andrei Abramchuk

Biosphere Reserves as Model Regions for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation – Capacity Development for the Establishment of the Dilijan Biosphere Reserve in Armenia

Yeva Danielyan, a PhD student at Yerevan State University's Faculty of Geography and Geology, is contributing significantly to environmental conservation in Armenia. With an MSc in Hydrometeorology and a B.S. in Geography from the same university, she has a strong academic foundation. 
Since 2019, Yeva has worked in various capacities, including as a researcher on the "Pontos" project at the American University of Armenia and as a Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Environment of Armenia. Her diverse experience includes roles at Soluton LLC, Wigmore Group CJSC, and UNECE/FAO projects, focusing on sustainable forest management and environmental monitoring. 
Currently, Yeva is serving as an project assistant at the Michael Succow Foundation on the "Capacity Development for the Establishment of the Dilijan Biosphere Reserve in Armenia" project. Her responsibilities include baseline data analysis and preparation of background information and maps for the biosphere reserve development, identification of information gaps and needed studies, contribution to the development of awareness raising materials, planning and facilitation of field trips, workshops, trainings and study tour and preparing relevant documents. 

 Supervisor: Nika Malazonia 

Update: Yeva Danielyan from Armenia contributed to our efforts to establish the country’s first biosphere reserve.

Development of recommendations for sustainable management of Ural saiga antelope population to reduce human wildlife conflict in Kazakhstan

August 2023 to February 2024

Over the course of the five-month Eva-Kleinn-Fellowship programme, Aibat will engage in an analysis of the data amassed during his Master's program at Greifswald University. Insights regarding vegetation diversity, farmland distribution, and the behavior of saiga antelope in the Ural region hold profound significance in development of recommendations for decision-makers. Furthermore, the viewpoints held by local communities play a pivotal role in mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. By synergizing ecosystem with human activity and aspirations, the prospect of coexistence is fortified, ensuring the conservation of key species within the Kazakh steppe for the years ahead. The recommendations developed by Aibat through the Eva Klein program will constitute an integral component of his Master's Thesis within the Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation study program.

Supervisor: Rustam Murzakhanov

Update: Aibat Muzbay from Kazakhstan works with NABU International on the sustainable use of the growing saiga antelope population. In 2025, he presented the management concept at the international wildlife conservation conference CITES COP20 in Samarkand.

Project assistant for the project “Towards the World Heritage nomination of the Eastern Mongolian steppes

Bulgan Odmaa holds a Bachelor's degree in Geography from the National University of Mongolia and is pursuing a Master's degree with a thesis focused on White-naped Cranes. She has been working as a researcher at the Mongolian Bird Conservation Center NGO since 2021. In her previous role in Eastern Mongolian Protected areas administration as an expert in charge of the World Heritage and MAB sites in Eastern Mongolia, such as the landscapes of the Daurian World Heritage Site, the Dornod Mongol MAB Site, and the Tosonkhulstai MAB Site.

She was responsible for conducting research and management of these important protected areas. Her extensive experience in protected area management has earned her the Eva Kleinn Fellowship at the Michael Succow Foundation, where she is currently serving as an assistant on the "Towards the World Heritage Nomination of the Eastern Mongolian Steppes" project. Her main responsibilities include creating introductory materials, planning field trips, preparing documents for working group meetings, and facilitating communication among project team members to address any gaps.

Supervisor: Nika Malazonia

Project assistant for the project “Towards the World Heritage nomination of the Eastern Mongolian steppes
April to June 2022

Uchrakhzaya Tserenbat has a bachelor degree in Management of the Ecology and Environmental Protection of the University of the Humanities of Mongolia. She has been working as a researcher in Mongolian Bird Conservation Center NGO since 2019 and also the coordinator of Chukh Bird Research Station which is the only one station that focused on the shorebirds, especially their migration ecology. In recent years, she focused on wetland and steppe conservation projects in Eastern Mongolia.

Ms. Uchrakhzaya has experience on the planning and managing of the protected areas. During her two-months of the Eva Kleinn fellowship at the Michael Succow Foundation, Uchrakhzaya worked as an assistant in the project “Towards the World Heritage nomination of the Eastern Mongolian steppes” and developed introductory leaflets and planned further field trips. She also prepared required documents for further working group meetings of her project cooperating with colleagues. Her main duty was connecting team members and to focus on filling the gaps of their ongoing project.

Supervisor: Nika Malazonia

October 2021 to December 2022

Irina Grigoryeva is working for the Michael Succow Foundation in the field of nature tourism development in the Mangistau Oblast of Kazakhstan, which is funded by the Central Asian Desert Initiative (CADI) project and the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
Currently, Irina is studying Landscape Ecology in the master's program at the University of Greifswald. She also works in the Kazakh conservation organization "Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan" (ACBK), which is one of the NGO partners on the ground in the CADI project.

Combination of observational and functional trait-based approaches in developing a polyculture design tool

Dezember 2020 to April 2021

During his 5 months Eva Kleinn Fellowship with Michael Succow Foundation, Pavlo will be doing a research on designing crop polycultures (intercropping and crop rotation schemes) with vegetables and leafy greens) and will promote development of community-supported agriculture (CSA) in Ukraine. Pavlo is developing an integrated approach for designing crop polycultures based on optimizing diversity of crop traits and on multifunctional (of permaculture) system optimization based in crop integration within farm functional zones, management requirements, similar processing, resource needs and growth characteristics. The main project outputs are:

• Guidelines on intercropping and crop rotation schemes with vegetables and leafy greens for cold temperate climate, tailored for diversified small and medium producers, in particular for Community-supported agriculture (CSA) schemes.
• Academic publication with the review of successful crop polyculture practices and constrains among German CSA farmers.
• Recorded presentation from the CSA online seminar.
• CSA guideline translated into Ukrainian.

Supervisor: Sibylle Faust

August 2019

Bektemir Osmonali was helping the Michael Succow Foundation to build one of the first digital herbaria in Kazakhstan as part of the International Climate Initiative's (IKI) Central Asian Desert Initiative project (CADI). See https://www.flora-kaz.de/
Bektemir is working at the Botanical Institute (Almaty) in Kazakhstan (www.botsad.kz). There he is working on his PhD thesis and is responsible for the further technical administration of the digital herbarium including the involvement and training of students and interns in working with the herbarium. In addition, he ensures the continuous updating of the technology.

October 2019 until February 2020

Sarangerel Ichinkhorloo was involved in the World Heritage nomination of the Eastern Monogolian Steppes. She is an expert in bird and plant identification and was responsible for the organisation and administration of an expedition to the steppes. Until summer 2022, Sarangerel worked for a Mongolian conservation organisation (mbcc.mn). After that she founded her own conservation organisation, of which she is still the director. In the newly requested Mongolia project, the Michael Succow Foundation will cooperate with mbcc.

February to April 2018

Gankhuyag Purev-Ochir provided support for the World Heritage nominations of Eastern Mongolian Steppes as well as Gobi. He founded the environmental organization Mongolian Bird Conservation Centre (mbcc.mn), of which he remains co-director. Currently, Gankhuyag is working on his PhD thesis on saxaul jays and is still in contact with the Michael Succow Foundation..

December 2016 to April 2017

Ilgar Maharramov is conducting literature research on pasture management in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Ilgar also completed a Master's degree in Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Greifswald.

November 2015 to March 2016

Fatemeh Ahmad Kamali's research focus is sustainable management of biosphere reserves in Iran, for which she participated in the master's program "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald. 
She joined the Michael Succow Foundation in 2016 and is responsible for projects on biosphere reserves, world heritage sites, civil society in Iran, Oman and Azerbaijan.

July to December 2015

Aida Eyvazzadeh participated in a project to map peatlands in Iran. Contact was established via the Greifswald Moor Centrum.

Climate changes in the Zagros Mountains, Iran
July to October 2015

Mona Poorzady works in various environmental organisations.

October 2013 to April 2014

Alisher Shukurov advises the Foundation on political and legal issues in Uzbekistan and supports networking in the country. He also completed a Master's degree in "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald.
Alisher helped set up the FAO country office and was director of the office between 2014 and 2020. Since 2020, he has been the personal advisor to the Uzbek Minister of Agriculture.

Climate change in the Zagros Mountains, Iran
November 2012 to November 2013

Rana Kaviani did her PhD on the comparative study and assessment of biosphere reserves in Iran. She was an employee of the Michael Succow Foundation in projects in Iran and has been an employee of a pharmaceutical company in Greifswald since 2019.

March to July 2011

Jemshid Muhammedov has received training in landscape ecology through attending lectures in the master's programme "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald. He is an employee at the Ministry of Nature Protection Turkmenistan.

January to June 2010

Jahan Annachariyeva completed a Master's degree in "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald. She supports the Foundation in technical matters in Turkmenistan. For example, in the preparation of the World Heritage nomination of the Winter Cold Deserts of Turan. She is a staff member in various projects of the Turkmen Ministry of Environment and Resources and an important contact person for the Foundation at the Ministry.

January 2010 until June 2011

Viktoria Kim studied "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald and works at the Foundation with different working hours. Thanks to her knowledge of the subject, language and country in the post-Soviet region, as well as her contacts in Turkmenistan, she has become an important part of the International Working Group.

December 2007 until October 2008

Amangul Ovezberdyyeva completed a Master's degree in "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald. 
She helped with many projects in conservation organisations such as www.carececo.org or the National Desert Research Institute NIDFF. Since 2016 she is project coordinator of a UNDP project in Turkmenistan "Supporting climate resilient livelihoods in agricultural communities in drought-prone areas of Turkmenistan". Amangul is a staff member in various projects of the Turkmen Ministry of Environment and Resources and an important contact person for the Foundation at the Ministry.

December 2007 to October 2008

Jamal Hanmedova completed a Master's degree in "Nature conservation and Landscape ecology" at the University of Greifswald. She is a technical expert in the UNDP/GEF project "Sustainable Cities in Turkmenistan: Integrated Green Urban Development in Ashgabat and Avaza". She is also a staff member in various projects of the Turkmen Ministry of Environment and Resources and an important contact person for the Foundation at the Ministry.

May to June 2007

Walter Wucherer made an important contribution to the project on the flora and carbon sinks of deserts and steppes in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Late-Holocene Vegetation History of Central Caspian (Hyrcanian) Forests, Northern Iran
June to September 2006, March 2007

Elyas Ramezani did his PhD on "Late-Holocene Vegetation History of Central Caspian (Hyrcanian) Forests, Northern Iran".