Fiona Schönfeld

Prof. Dr. Fiona Schönfeld serves as Professor for Wildlife Management & Hunting at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt within the Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Forestry. She holds leadership positions as Head of the Bachelor's program in Forestry and Ecosystem Management and Head of the Master's program in Forest Management, while also contributing as Member of the Faculty Council and Senate.

Her educational background includes a Doctorate (Dr. rer. silv.) from TU Munich (2014), Master's degree in Ecology (M.Sc.) from Technical University of Munich (2006-2008), and Diploma in Forestry (Dipl.-Ing. (FH)) from Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences (2002-2006).

• 2014: Doctorate, TU Munich
• 2006-2008: Master's in Ecology, TU Munich
• 2002-2006: Diploma in Forestry, Weihenstephan

Prof. Schönfeld's research centers on wildlife management and hunting with specific expertise in habitat selection of hoofed game, wildlife monitoring methodologies, and hunting strategy impacts. Her work integrates field research with technological applications including thermal imaging and camera trap analytics. She examines ecological dynamics in forest conversion projects and wildlife disease management, particularly focusing on red deer, roe deer, and wild boar populations in the Thuringian Forest.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals strong emphasis on habitat assessment technologies and wildlife-human conflict resolution. Her work demonstrates consistent focus on practical applications of wildlife ecology in forest management contexts, with increasing integration of machine learning for species detection and thermal imaging for disease control. Key thematic clusters include habitat fragmentation effects, ungulate population dynamics, and technological innovation in wildlife monitoring.

Prof. Schönfeld actively supervises doctoral candidates and Master's/Bachelor's students, with recent theses covering Eurasian lynx reintroduction, red deer pregnancy testing, and telemetry-based habitat assessment. She leads the DIALOGUE project addressing communication challenges in forest conversion and provides scientific guidance for Thuringian wildlife management initiatives including drone technology implementation and biosecurity protocols.

She maintains significant external engagement through membership on the State Hunting Advisory Board of Hesse, Research Advisory Board of Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, Thuringia Sustainability Advisory Board, and Wild Boar Competence Center Thuringia. At institutional level, she serves on the University Council (2023-2027) and Election Committee.