{"id":5873,"date":"2018-03-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4vultures.org\/blog\/women-vultures-vcf\/"},"modified":"2018-03-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T00:00:00","slug":"women-vultures-vcf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/es\/blog\/women-vultures-vcf\/","title":{"rendered":"Some of the women behind our vulture conservation work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Franziska L\u00f6rcher: VCF \u00b4s scientific and conservation coordinator <\/p>\n

\u201cVultures are pretty bad-ass creatures – dealing with bacteria that would kill any other species or breeding at -20\u00b0 in the middle of winter – that’s actually quite cool. Beside the importance of vultures for their function to dispose carcasses and hindering the spread of diseases their personality as a group and even more from each single individual fascinates me a lot. Working with animals is not always easy – losses are difficult to deal with but seeing them soaring or encounter a known bird makes it worth spending also countless hours behind the computer to write reports, analyse genetic data or checking GPS tracks to work for their conservation. Being part of the huge vulture-family is very inspiring and makes working for the VCF a real win.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Franziska\u00a0L\u00f6rcher, 08.03.2018<\/p>\n

Franziska L\u00f6rcher had her first encounter with bearded vultures when she was a young girl, at the time the first three young bearded vultures where released in\u00a0Switzerland. After some training to become an\u00a0optician, and after several years working as such, she\u00a0completed high-school and studied biology\u00a0in Bern and Zurich in Switzerland. For her\u00a0Masters’ thesis she got back to the bearded\u00a0vultures: she investigated the genetic diversity of the reintroduced bearded vulture population in the Alps. She works part time for both the VCF and the Swiss Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture, sharing her time between the reintroduced bearded vultures in Switzerland and coordinating the monitoring, GPS marking and genetic analysis of vultures Europe wide. In her spare time Franziska likes to be outdoors, for hiking, climbing, snowshoe walking, ski touring, and bird and wildlife watching.<\/p>\n

Alice Gama: VCF\u00b4s finance & events manager <\/p>\n

\u201cSpying on a tagged Egyptian vulture\u2019s migration route, to imagine the challenges it faces, to realize the energy it takes to fly 4000 km in 10 days, and the excitement it is to see it back safely to the breeding grounds, year after year, is something that never ceases to move me. I am thrilled to be part of a passionate team of people who are trying to protect these incredible creatures, on so many simultaneous fronts. In my office, at home, while vultures fly above, I take care of the VCF budgets and finances. My every day slogan? Saving vultures, one invoice at the time<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alice Gama, 08.03.2018<\/p>\n

Born in Porto, Portugal, Alice studied Biology in the university of Aveiro. Between 2003 and 2006 she participated in research and field work on birds of prey in Costa Rica and the USA, and the impact of powerlines on bird populations. From 2007 to 2016 she worked at ATN, a regional conservation organisation in northeast Portugal, as a conservation manager. At VCF,\u00a0she is responsible for the financial management and also the organisation of the major events. In her spare time, Alice has started a sustainable farming family project, producing organic olive oil\u00a0and\u00a0almonds in the Northeast of Portugal, close to nesting griffon and Egyptian vultures.<\/p>\n

Anna Baumann: VCF\u00b4smanagement board member