Aitor Ameztegui, awarded by the Spanish Society of Forest Sciences for his doctoral thesis

Aitor Ameztegui, former student of the FiDBosc group, has recently been awarded by the Spanish Society of Forest Sciences (SECF) as the second best Ph.D. Thesis in Forest Sciences in 2013. The thesis, entitled Forest dynamics at the montane-subalpine ecotone in the Pyrenees, was supervised by Dr. Lluís Coll and was defended in CTFC last July. It aimed at a better understanding of the main drivers of forest dynamics in mixed mountain forests. One of the main findings of Aitor's work was the substantial role that land-use changes play in the observed patterns of recent forest expansion in the Pyrenees, as well as the effect that shade tolerance can play interacting with the expected consequences of climate change in tree demography.

Currently, Aitor is developing a post-doctoral stage in the Centre for Forest Research of the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada), where he works in the integration of forest management alternatives under global change scenarios.

The award ceremony will take place on friday 21st at the Palace of Santa Cruz in Valladolid, coinciding with the celebration of the International Day of Forests.

Congratulations, Aitor!