Heinke Jäger
Principal Investigator - Restoration of Scalesia Forests, Terrestrial Invasive Species
Heinke is lead researcher on several projects related to invasive plant and animal species, including blackberry Rubus niveus, guava Psidium guajava and the treefrog Scinax quinquefasciatus. These projects include assessing their distributions, their impacts and the impacts of their control on resident species, soil and microclimate. She is also leading the assessment of the state of endangered Scalesia (giant daisy tree) forests and of the restoration of these forests. Heinke started working at the Charles Darwin Foundation in 1998, first on the introduced quinine tree Cinchona pubescens and then on the conservation of rare and endangered plant species. She worked eight years in agricultural research at the University of Kiel, Germany, holds a MSc from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, a PhD from Technical University Berlin, Germany, and carried out her post-doctoral research at Brown University, USA.
Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rYLafN4AAAAJ&hl=en
ResearchGate
Heinke's programs
Land
Scalesia forest restorationScalesia forests once thrived on the Galapagos Islands, forming a unique humid ecosystem for plants, insects, giant tortoises and birds. Today, only 1% of the forests’ original distribution remains, with several endemic species, including the Scalesia themselves, struggling to survive. We are working to restore this important habitat and given the rapid rate of forest loss, it is a race against time.