Florian Pacher, BSc

Room 513

Florian.Pacher@student.uibk.ac.at

As a child, I spent a lot of time outdoors in the East Tyrolean mountains watching birds and other wildlife. My fascination with nature and its animals, especially chamois, roe deer, red deer, and black grouse, has been with me since an early age. Spending time out there observing and taking pictures of them is still my favorite thing to do. Hunting has a long history in my family, so it is no surprise that I am also a hunter.

After graduating from school, I knew I wanted to work in and with nature. Therefore, I completed my bachelor’s degree here in Innsbruck, and currently I am doing my master’s degree in Ecology and Biodiversity.

In my master’s thesis, I work with three native grouse species: Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) and Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta). My research focuses on adapting a protocol for genomic monitoring with feces from these birds. This approach could be a practical and cost-effective tool for monitoring these birds in the future.

Research topics
Animal-human relationships
Conservation biology
Ornithology
Population genetics and genomics
Wildlife monitoring