Our Team
NGO “Danube-Carpathian Programme”
– is a team of experts and scientists on ecology, nature conservation, sustainable development of natural ecosystems, forestry, wetlands, environmental law and other problems of protection and sustainable development of the environment.
Bohdan Prots, Ph.D. (1997), Senior Research Scientists (Assoc. Prof., 2003).
- CEO and Director of the NGO "Danube-Carpathian Programme".
Areas of scientific and expert work: conservation biology, plant ecology, conservation and protected areas management, floodplain management, nature protection policy.
Experience: 30 years of expertise/research studies in biodiversity and natural resource management in countries of Europe and Asia; 17 years of management of international projects on nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the Danube-Carpathian Region; For more than 11 years he worked as the leader of WWF in Ukraine. Also he is a Head of the Department of Landscape and Biota Diversity, State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine (2018).
Awards: Whitley Award Winner for Nature Conservation (2007, London) (“Green Oscar” in Nature Conservation).
Nataliya Gorban-Fedorova
- communication and fundraising. Master in Ecology and Environmental Protection. An environmental journalist with more than 10 years' experience. Winner of the Forestry Law Enforcement and Management Competition organized by the ENPI-FLEG Program in Ukraine. He is a participant of numerous training and seminars for environmental journalists, in particular: "Legal regulation of journalistic activity in Ukraine", School of social journalism "How to write about climate change", course "Text in news", etc.
Areas of expertise: communication, environmental journalism, investigative journalism.
Vasyl Gavryliuk
- expert on forestry practice in Ukraine. Forestry specialist with many years of scientific and teaching experience.
Areas of expertise: sustainable forest management, monitoring of forest territories using remote methods, evaluation of old-growth forests.
Oksana Hnatyna
- researcher, PhD in Biology (2008), Associate Professor (2024) at the Department of Zoology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Professional activity focuses on education, wildlife conservation, and wetland protection, with more than 25 years of research experience. Main research areas include the impact of human activities on wildlife, bird migration studies, and the conservation of wetlands as habitats for rare bird species. Member of the West Ukrainian Ornithological Society, the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds, and the European Bird Migration Research Group.
Areas of expertise: nature conservation, environmental education, ecosystem services.
Andriy KiykoІ
- Mg.Sc in ‘biology”, an expert on environmental education, protected areas management and capacity building, conservation management of wildlife. Experience: more than 25 years in the field of environmental education and research studies in the field of vertebrate fauna. He also has research interests in the field of vertebrate zoology, environmental pedagogy, nature conservation, wildlife rehabilitation.
Areas of expertise: environmental education and training, protected areas management, conservation and restoration of wild vertebrates diversity.
Oleg OrlovІ
- PhD in “soil ecology”, an expert on soil ecology and nature protection. Winner of the scholarship of the President of Ukraine and the Head of the Lviv Regional State Administration for young scientists and specialists. Member of the Society of Soil Scientists and Agrochemists of Ukraine.
Experience: more than 20 years in soil ecology and soil protection, He also has research interests in floodplain soils, nature conservation and wetlands management.
Areas of expert work: soil ecology, carbon balance, Red Book of soils, soil types in Western Ukraine, physical and geographical characteristics of natural and anthropogenic habitats, conservation of wetlands, biodiversity conservation.
Maryna RagulinaІ
- expert in plant ecology and nature conservation. PhD in Biology.
Areas of expert work: bryoecology, phytoecology, nature conservation, preservation of floodplain ecosystems, research on plant diversity in natural and anthropogenically transformed habitats of western Ukraine.
Vasylyna Strus
is a zoologist, researcher, and expert in biodiversity monitoring and amphibian conservation. She received her PhD in zoology in 2019 from V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. She has over 10 years of experience in field and laboratory research. She is the author of scientific publications, identifiers, and methodological manuals on the genetic and morphological diversity of amphibians, roadkill, fauna monitoring, and the use of digital tools in nature conservation. She has participated in research projects in the United States and in numerous training courses on ecosystem management and climate change adaptation.
Areas of expert work: biodiversity monitoring, batrachology, ecosystem assessment, roadkill, and public engagement in nature research.
