Sophie Lund Rasmussen

Sophie Lund Rasmussen is an Assistant Professor at The Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, where she focuses on European hedgehog conservation. Known as "Dr Hedgehog," she has dedicated her career to understanding and protecting hedgehogs through scientific research and public engagement, with over 2,865 media features across 47 countries.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Biology from University of Southern Denmark (2019)
• MSc in Biology from University of Copenhagen (2013)
• BSc in Biology from University of Copenhagen (2010)

Dr. Rasmussen previously held postdoctoral positions at University of Oxford (2021-2023) and Aalborg University (2020-2021), and is currently a Research Fellow at University of Oxford. She gained prominence through her "Danish Hedgehog Project" (2016-2019), which engaged over 400 citizen scientists to collect and analyze 697 dead hedgehogs across Denmark, enabling research into genetics, parasitology, MRSA prevalence, pesticide accumulation, and dental health.

Her research encompasses multiple aspects of hedgehog biology and conservation, including microbiome composition, food choice, and the impacts of human technologies like robotic lawn mowers. In 2024, she played a key role in the IUCN Red List assessment that changed the European hedgehog's status from "Least Concern" to "Near Threatened," leading to her invitation to address the European Parliament on hedgehog conservation. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong interdisciplinary approach, combining field studies with laboratory analyses to address practical conservation challenges.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Top Downloaded Paper Award (2020)
• Best Paper Award (2025)

Dr. Rasmussen maintains an active outreach presence through her website www.drhedgehog.org and has developed significant collaborations with wildlife rehabilitation centers across Europe. She is currently leading efforts to develop an EU Conservation Strategy for the European hedgehog, building on her IUCN assessment work and leveraging her extensive network of international collaborators to translate research findings into concrete conservation actions.