Teams

Răzvan BĂTINAȘ

Project Manager & Hydrologist

I am lecturer at the Department of Physical and Technical Geography within the Faculty of Geography of Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. The main research interests are related to hydrology, tourism and environmental quality. They are supported by a collection of articles, chapters and books. I had the opportunity to work in various research projects and contracts focused on regional development, nature conservation, cross-border relations and territorial and urban planning. I am a sociable person who has affinity for nature, photography, sports and outdoor activities.

Skills and expertise: Hydrology, Biodiversity, Environmental Quality

Gabriela-Victoria UNGUREAN

Financial Manager

I am an economist, a graduate of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, with a master’s degree in European Affairs and Project Management at the Faculty of European Studies at the same university. Currently, I work as a financial administrator at the Accounting Office of Babeş-Bolyai University, but also as a financial manager and accountant in European projects. My hobbies are photography, travel, art history, music, gardening and reading.

Iuliu ZĂHAN

Public Procurement Expert

I am an economist, a graduate of the Business Faculty of Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, with a master’s degree in Business Management at the Business Faculty at the same university. Currently, I work as a Heritage Administrator at the Public Procurement Office of Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. My hobbies are sports, reading, music, agriculture and everything related to nature activities.

Alexandru-Sabin BĂDĂRĂU

Biodiversity Specialist

I specialize in biodiversity conservation. I graduated Environmental Research in 1995 at the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca and currently I am Lecturer at the Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering of the same university. I believe that biodiversity and its conservation is one of the greatest future tests for Romania, a test that will be particularly difficult to be passed by society and specialists, taking into consideration the chaotic nature of the current economic development and the current Romanian social model. From this point of view, I am dedicating most of my personal time to this goal by participating in many biodiversity conservation projects and by publishing materials on the conservation of local and rare endemic species (the so-called peripheral species), the most threatened of all, including biochemistry, in order to emphasize the need for their preservation.

Skills and expertise: Biodiversity, Nature conservation

Ana-Maria CORPADE

Environmental Specialist

I am lecturer at the Faculty of Geography from Cluj-Napoca since 2009 and, currently, my didactic and scientific activity is mostly connected to environmental science. Besides my academic activities, in the last ten years I have been engaged as independent expert in a number of environmental assessment projects, elaboration of management plans for protected areas or strengthening the administrative capacity of environmental authorities.

Skills and expertise: Environmental impact assessment, Biodiversity conservation, Sustainable tourism, GIS

Ciprian CORPADE

Environmental Specialist

I am lecturer at the Faculty of Geography from Cluj-Napoca since 1999 and my didactic and scientific activity is mostly connected to environmental science and geography. Besides my academic activities, in the last fiften years I have been engaged as independent expert in a number of environmental projects that had a significant contribution to the achievement of a practical work experience in the academic domains I work in (environmental assessment and public or private projects, elaboration of management plans for protected areas).

Skills and expertise: Environmental planning, Environmental impact assessment, Natural protected areas, Biodiversity

Ioan Valeriu GHIRA

Herpetofauna Specialist

I graduated the Faculty of Biology-Geography-Geology at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, in 1978. In 1979, I graduated in Ecology and Environmental Protection, at the same university. From 1995 to 2020, I was lecturer at the Department of Taxonomy and Ecology of the same university, and later I was an associate professor at the same department. My specialisation is related to herpetology, but I have also skills in ethology, vertebrate zoology and nature conservation. Over the years, I have led and participated in several national and international research grants and projects, as a herpetologist.

Skills and expertise: Herpetology, Nature Conservation

Estera HADA

Hydrologist Technician

I am student at the Faculty of Geography, specializing in Hydrology and Meteorology. Born in Alba County, I have always been fascinated by nature and eager to explore it, so geography was my first option. The academic years within the faculty were fruitful. I have gained skills about the multitude and complexity of natural processes. My desire to explore was amplified. For me this project represents a real challenge, which I look forward to, but which also makes me responsible.

Gheorghe-Gavrilă HOGNOGI

GIS Specialist

Born in Târlişua, in the Land of Năsăud, I am a graduate and postgraduate in Geography from the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. Currently, I am working as lecturer. I am a photography and graphic enthusiast, a passion translated into the elaboration of cartographic materials (by using software such as ArcGIS Pro, Corel Draw, Global Mapper, and Photoshop). Some of my most important research results include the elaboration of scientific articles and involvement in spatial planning, regional geography, tourism or biodiversity research projects.

Skills and expertise: Geography, Regional and urban planning, GIS, RPAS, Digital era-governance (DEG), Extended Reality (XR)

Cristian Valeriu MALOȘ

Biodiversity Specialist

I am lecturer in the Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering within Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. I joined Babeș-Bolyai University in 2008, and have been a lecturer since 2014, conducting research on environmental projects, mainly nature conservation and GIS projects. I have been involved in more than 25 projects related to GIS, monitoring and nature conservation and water resources. Currently, I am teaching GIS and spatial statistics.

Skills and expertise: Ecological services, Ecological reconstruction, GIS

Vlad MĂCICĂȘAN

Biodiversity Specialist

I graduated with a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from the Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. Currently, I am part of the teaching staff of the same faculty. I gained practical experience in the field of environmental management systems during my master’s degree, as an employee in the private sector, and during my PhD studies I started the first activities of writing and implementing environmental projects. After completing my PhD, I started working as a GIS / Habitat and Plant Expert, in projects focusing on protected natural areas. I am passionate about travel, photography, aquarium and IT.

Skills and expertise: Environmental impact assessment, Natural protected areas, Environmental management systems

Ana-Maria POP

Awareness Specialist

Perfectionist, responsive to new challenges and experiences, I work as senior researcher at the Centre for Regional Geography within the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. After my graduate and postgraduate studies in Geography within the Cluj School of Geography, my interest in research is continuously fuelled by the elaboration of scientific materials, published in articles or presented at scientific meetings, by the participation in various projects focused on territorial planning or by the organization of conferences.

Skills and expertise: Regional geography, Spatial and regional planning, Territorial governance, Creative social methods

Daniel Andrei SABĂU

Hydrologist Specialist

Born in Cluj-Napoca, I am a hydrological engineer within the Someş-Tisa Water Basin Administration, Cluj-Napoca. I graduated university and postgraduate studies in the technical field of Hydrology and Meteorology, within the Faculty of Geography, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. Currently, I am PhD student at the same faculty. Passionate about numerical modelling of hydrological processes, transposed into elaborate studies and complex action plans (made using H.E.C; D.H.I; Auto CAD software), and geoinformatics. With a good experience of teamwork in projects, communicative, demanding, responsible, flexible, I am currently expert in several international projects of M.M.A.P and B.M, regarding the implementation of Directive 2007/60 / EC on the assessment and management of floods. The area of ​​scientific investigation is Water Management. Among the most important projects I have taken part in, I mention the project Integrated Study on the Contribution of Ecosystems in Protected Areas Natura 2000: Pricop-Huta Certeze and Tisa Superioară to the sustainable development of local communities.

Skills and expertise: Water management, with the subdomains: numerical hydrological modelling, water resources engineering, basin hydrology, hydraulics, limnology, hydrometry, hazards and water risks, hydrological syntheses and regionalization, GPS and GIS in the study of water resources, water supply and hydrogeology, Systems decision support.

Dan SUCIU

Web Designer

I am a multi-disciplinary designer with more than fifteen years of experience in web design and online applications. I am currently the manager of Technical Services department within a Canadian company, which develops occupational health and safety applications, aimed at the industrial sector. I am a graduate of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Management at Babeș-Bolyai University, specialization on Marketing and Business Development. After completing my studies at UBB, I enrolled in a postgraduate course specializing in advanced digital design, and thus began my career as a designer. I spend my time doing various activities with my family. I also spend a lot of time online, always looking for new technologies that can be useful to me at work or in my daily life. For example, I recently started using Figma for interface prototypes, and I’m currently learning Selenium IDE to test automation for online applications.

Gheorghe ŞERBAN

Hydrologist Specialist

I am associate professor and director of the Department of Physical and Technical Geography, within the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, with a complex professional experience: 4 years as a hydrologist at the “Someş-Tisa” Water Basin Administration, Cluj-Napoca and more than 25 years as a university teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Geography of the same university. Among the scientific contributions, I mention: 100 studies and articles, of which 13 indexed in WOS and Scopus – 7 WOS with impact factor, 2 WOS without impact factor, 4 WOS proceedings; 1 category A in France; 3 other Scopus and ERIH PLUS; 1 ERIH PLUS; other 18 BDI; 2 books, 2 university courses, 4 practical guides, 3 chapters in Springer collective books (1 indexed in WOS) and 6 chapters published in journals and reference volumes of recognized national publishers, 29 grant projects and research contracts scientific: 25 national and 4 international, of which 4 national as director and 1 project manager, and 25 members of the project team.
Technical and electronic skills and competences: use of echo sounders (since 1993), PC (hard and soft components – since 1994), GIS (since 2001), GPS (since 2004), total station (since 2014), UAV/UAS systems (from 2014 and 2016 respectively)
Competences and skills for managing and using operating systems: Microsoft and Macintosh and computer editing software (Microsoft Office, SPSS, Pages, Numbers), geoinformatics and spatial analysis (ArcView, ArcGIS, ArcINFO, AutoCad, Global Mapper, Quantum GIS), media editing (Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, Final Cut PRO, Screen Flow), hydrological and hydraulic modelling (HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, Mike), use of UAS systems (DJI Go4, Drone Deploy, Pix4Dcapture), UAS product processing (Agisoft Metashape), as well as media platforms (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, Webex, Google Meet), location platforms (Google Earth, Google Maps) etc.

Skills and expertise: Reservoir Limnology, Hazards and Water Hazards, G.I.S. & Hydro informatics, Water Supply, Hydrogeology

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.hr/citations?hl=ro&pli=1&user=JBtlPRIAAAAJ
Web of Science: https://publons.com/researcher/1171560/gheorghe-serban/
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=8502154500
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gheorghe-Serban-2

Ioan TANȚĂU

Palynologist and paleoclimate Specialist

I am associate professor at the Department of Geology, within the Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, with 26 years of experience. My main teaching and research activities are focused on the Quaternary period, palynology, and hydrogeology. So far, I have coordinated and participated in numerous research projects during which I undertook studies on the reconstruction of Quaternary vegetation, aiming to understand the dynamics of vegetation and the factors that can influence forest ecosystems. Through multi-proxy approaches, especially in peat bogs in Romania, I have gained relevant experience in reconstructing temporal and spatial patterns of past climate changes and vegetation’s response to climate changes, human impact, and fires.

Skills and expertise: Palynology, Quaternary paleoenvironments

Duncan HALLEY

Senior Researcher

As a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, I have 25+ years of experience in obtaining research funding, and organizing and leading research and nature management projects. I was frequent leader and organizer of ERASMUS programme groups visiting Norway on restoration and related topics.

Dagmar HAGEN

Senior Researcher

As a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, I have over more than 20 years of experience in organizing and leading research and development projects. I was coordinator for NINA strategic commitment on ecological restoration, pointed by NINA Managing Director.

Camilla NÆSS

Senior Researcher

Since 2020, I have been working at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research as a Science Communicator, being responsible for public communications, website development and management, social media channel management, storymap development and publishing, popular science journalism, photo and video.