Former ExCo members

Mike Pienkowski

Mike was involved in organising and leading wader-study expeditions to Iceland, Morocco and Greenland 1970-4, being at the time active in the Wash (and other) Wader Ringing Groups. His PhD (supervisor Peter Evans) was on plover ecology and behaviour, and he stayed at Durham University to run projects on shelduck population dynamics and behaviour, and on Movements of Wader Populations in Western Europe. A founder member of IWSG, Mike was Editor of Wader Study Group Bulletin 1973-82 (when paste-up involved physical pasting!), Vice-Chairman 1982-7 & Chairman 1987-92 (concentrating particularly in expanding WSG from a British to an International Group), and (reluctantly) President 1992-2009. From 1984, he worked for the UK Government’s conservation agency, initially as Head of Ornithology and later as Director (while still trying to promote wader, as well as other, work). In recent years, he has worked in a largely voluntary capacity supporting local conservationists in UK’s Overseas Territories, but sneaks shorebird work into this too.

Gerard Boere

Following a Phd on the importance of the Netherlands Waddensea as a moulting area for Arctic breeding waders Gerard has been active at the policy and governance level in global nature and bird conservation issues with an emphasis on flyway conservation. He has been heavily involved in AEWA and the Bern Convention and Bonn Convention. Gerard was IWSG Chariamn for almost 10 years.

Chairman, until 2008.

Vice-chairman until 2008.

Nick Davidson

Nick has been involved in the IWSG since the mid-1970s and has served at various times as a Committee member, WSG Bulletin editor, WSG-Wetlands International Liaison Officer and Vice-Chairman. Since 2000 he has been the Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, but in limited spare time continues with shorebird research and conservation interests, especially on the eco-physiology of Red Knots and other migratory species, and on waterbird population status assesssments.

Treasurer for 15 years, until 2008.

Former Publicity Officer, until 2008.

Rowena Langston

Following a PhD on shorebird ecology with the late Peter Evans, at Durham University, Rowena has worked for over 20 years as a conservation biologist, mainly with the BTO and the RSPB. Her work involves providing scientific advice on a range of issues, notably relating to sites and species safeguard, to conservation and policy colleagues at RSPB and partner organisations. Formerly, Rowena was a very active shorebird ringer, especially with the Wash Wader Ringing Group and SCAN in North Wales. General Secretary, 2001-2004, ExCo member 2001-2007.

Tomas Gunnarsson

Tómas became a member of the IWSG in 1997 and a member of the ExCo in 2007. Since becoming a wader ringer as a teenager, he has been active in the study and conservation of waders, primarily in Iceland. After finishing postgraduate studies on the population ecology of Whimbrels and later on Black-tailed Godwits, his main focus has been on a long-term project on Black-tailed Godwit migration ecology and he is working with colleagues from across Europe. He works at the University of Iceland.  He is a former Vice-Chairman.

Robin was a Membership Secretary until 2011

Julia was Membership Secretary from 2011 to the end of 2013

Henk van Huffelen

Since his research in Lauwersmeer area (Netherlands) about the consumption of Agrostis seeds by Greylag Geese, Henk started studying colour-ringed birds. Since the early 1980s he has read 23,000+ birds with a colour rings or a metal ring only. After four years as Colour-mark Coordinator, Henk retired from exco in 2013.

Pedro Lourenco

Pedro joined the ExCo in 2007, being part of the editorial board of the Bulletin and collaborating with Rodney West as publicity officers for the IWSG. He started working with waders at the University of Lisbon, studying the diurnal and nocturnal ecology of waders in the Tejo estuary. Since 2006 he has been working towards his PhD at the University of Groningen, studying the migratory and breeding ecology of the Black-tailed Godwit.

Hans is a researcher at the Vogeltrekstation, the Dutch ringing centre. In his previous job, he has studied the breeding ecology of waders in agricultural grasslands in the Netherlands (particularly Black-tailed Godwits), and of several arctic shorebirds in the Siberian tundra. Little Stint is his favourite shorebird species. On the ExCco, Hans served as the editor of International Wader Studies, the IWSG’s series of ‘special publications’.

Less was our former African representative. He brought the southern hemisphere perspective to our minds.