Description

Hello fellow professional. My name is Nina, I work with research, sustainability and nature conservation organizations and individuals. I design, implement, strengthen and evaluate projects and policy-relevant research.

My work focuses on local collaboration in place-based contexts such as protected areas, rural landscapes and community initiatives, integrating ecological and social aspects.

I bring experience from more than 5+ reserach and conservation projects and 3 first-author publications.

I typically support organisations with:

• Mixed-methods research design and mixed-methods data analysis

• Literature reviews and evidence synthesis

• Participatory workshop design and facilitation

• Stakeholder mapping and engagement strategies

• Monitoring & evaluation frameworks and indicators

• Theory-of-change-based programme and proposal design

• Project, sustainability and impact reporting

• Preliminary spatial analysis and cartography (QGIS)

Typical deliverables are: literature or research reports, stakeholder analyses, evaluation frameworks, workshop design framework, theory-of-change models, sustainability and project reports.

If you developing, implementing or evaluationg on a conservation or sustainability topic and need detail-oriented policy-relevant support, I'd love to discuss how I can help you.

Industry field of expertise

Languages

English
Native or bilingual
Slovenian
Fluent
Italian
Basic
Serbian
Native or bilingual

Workplace preferences

Can work on-site

Koper (up to 50km)

University of Primorska, Department of biodiversity
Data article first author and co-lead
ENVIRONMENTAL
October 2022 - September 2024 (1 year and 11 months)
Koper, Slovenia
First author and co-lead of the Database of European vascular plants red lists, on COST Action ConservePlants.
The data article is a 4-year pan-European collaboration that resulted in an open access database of 40+ national red lists of threatened vascular plants. The database was published in Scientific Data (Nature journal portfolio).
Academic writing Data mining Plant conservation
University of Primorska, Department of biodiversity
Assistant researcher
ENVIRONMENTAL
October 2022 - October 2025 (3 years)
6000 Koper, Slovenia
• First author and lead researcher ''Assessment of ecosystem services of UNESCO Biosphere reserve Škocjan caves'' for BR management plan
• First author and co-lead researcher of ''Database of European vascular plant red lists: a coherent contribution to plant conservation'', published in Scientific data (Nature journal portfolio)
• Taught Bachelor level subjects (GIS tools & Biology in English) and a Master level subject (Plant Ecology); co-mentored two Bachelor's theses.
• Designed and coordinated 12 online 'Biology evenings', a science outreach program for the public.
• Contributed to preparation of €500k EU-funded multi-partner project proposal and supporting documentation.
• Led improvements to departmental public outreach through a structured content strategy, coordination across relevant partners.
• Assisted project implementation; systematized research, project aims and tasks, optimized management processes.
• Led organisation of 1 international conference, supported organisation of 1 regional conference.
Academic writing Literature review Mentoring Project Management Research
University of Primorska, Department of biodiversity
Ecosystem services assessment study author
ENVIRONMENTAL
October 2022 - April 2024 (1 year and 6 months)
Koper, Slovenia
Author of study on ecosystem services assessment for UNESCO Biosphere reserve Škocjan caves management plan. It included:
• Combined 2 cultural and provisioning ecosystem services demand assessments (30 in-depth interviews and 97 questionnaires, in- person) and 1 economic valuation of 2 provisioning and 1 regulatory ecosystem
service.
• Systematic stakeholder mapping of 200+ SHs, covering government, NGOs, farmers, outdoor sports companies, local municipality representatives, etc.
• Participatory research through 3 workshops with SHs, for ecosystem services prioretisation, joint mapping and validation of research results.
Stakeholder mapping Qualitative research Academic writing Report writing Participatory research