Andrea Kölzsch

Andrea Kölzsch is an Affiliated Scientist and Project Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior's Department of Migration. She will transition to an Assistant Professor position at Radboud University in September 2024 while maintaining an affiliated researcher role at MPIAB. Her career includes extensive postdoctoral work at leading European ecology institutes and principal investigatorship of the Goose Migration Group.

Education and Academic Career:

• Diploma in Biomathematics, University of Greifswald (2000-2005)
• PhD studies in Theoretical Ecology (University of Potsdam, 2006-2007) and Mathematical Modelling (University of Oldenburg, 2007-2009)
• Postdoctoral researcher at Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW, 2009-2013)
• Postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (2013-2019)
• Principal Investigator of Goose Migration Group, MPIAB (2019-2024)
• Project Leader of MoveApps platform (2020-2024)

Her research focuses on movement ecology of avian migrants, particularly European goose species, using high-resolution GPS and 3D acceleration data to analyze environmental drivers (food availability, wind, disturbance) and social factors influencing migration patterns. She leads the development of MoveApps, a no-code analysis platform for animal tracking data that bridges ecologists and wildlife managers. Since 2024, she coordinates the EU-funded HABITRACK project, managing data collection and habitat modeling for conservation of huntable bird species.

She oversees the Goose Migration Group research team and MoveApps development initiative at MPIAB. Her future work includes expanding habitat tracking research through the HABITRACK project and establishing a new research group at Radboud University.