Tibor Hartel - Biography#

Tibor Hartel is an Associate Professor at Babeș-Bolyai University whose work links ecology with sustainability transformations in Eastern Europe’s rural landscapes. He co-edited the first social-ecological synthesis of European wood-pastures (Routledge, 2014) and was elected to Academia Europaea in 2021. A former Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Leuphana, 2012–2014) and recipient of the 2019 Peregrinus Prize, he currently directs SESCARNIVORE (2025–2027), advancing transdisciplinary approaches and leverage points for human–large carnivore coexistence. His publications span Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Sustainability Science, Freshwater Biology, Ecology and Society, Science of the Total Environment, and Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, with additional contributions to Science Advances and Global Environmental Change.

Beyond research, Hartel coordinated the Transylvanian Wood-Pastures project (2022–2024), strengthening evidence and dialogue around biocultural heritage, and he contributes expert input to national discussions on the protection of veteran trees and high-nature-value farmland. Currently he leads a research project on exploring opportunities for human-carnivore coexistence, funded by the Romanian UEFISCDI - SESCARNIVORE.

He teaches courses on social-ecological systems and conservation planning, actively mentors MSc and PhD students, and reviews for leading journals in ecology and sustainability. He frequently collaborates with municipalities, NGOs, and local communities on co-creation workshops focused on coexistence with large carnivores, biocultural diversity, and urban biodiversity planning, and he engages wider audiences through public talks and short educational videos.