Greetings, IFSA’s Northern Europe Region!

Are you ready for the upcoming vetting and voting session for the next Northern Europe Regional Representatives? Hereby we announce our outstanding RR candidates this year for your LC to vote.

1) Stephanie Thomas, IFSA LC Göttingen, Germany

My name is Stephanie Thomas, I am 23 years old and I am studying Forestry Sciences at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen, Germany. I currently hold the position of LC President of the Göttingen LC, and before that, I was the LC Representative. I am proud to apply for the position of Northern Europe Regional Representative.

The position of LC President has allowed me to develop leadership and public speaking skills that will be invaluable for this position. I have also played a key role in organising many LC events such as BBQs, fundraisers, and nature walks. Through my role as LC representative, I have regularly attended Regional Councils and Coffee Hours. I was a key part of the organising committee that initiated and organised the 2024 Winter Meeting in Germany, which was attended by IFSA members from all over Northern Europe. I also hold the informal position of leading and organising the Germany online meetings, which led to the continuation of the Germany summer meeting, this year in Freising. I am looking forward to joining NERM, 2024, making even more friends, and expanding my understanding of the IFSA community.

My formative IFSA experience was at the 2023 German Summer Meeting in Freiburg, where I came into contact with IFSA people from outside my LC for the first time and discovered what it was all about. I was thrust into the wonderful and colourful world of IFSA and its members, after which I joined my LC Board and have not looked back since. As I have gotten to know IFSA and the people of the Northern European Region, I have shared more and more memories with them, both online and in person. Now I have a strong desire to give back to the IFSA community and do my part to ensure that people have the same amazing opportunities and experiences that I have had. The next natural step for me to do this is to become one of the next Northern Europe Regional Representatives.

In my understanding, the Regional Representatives are the link between IFSA International and the LCs and one of the key communication mechanisms between LCs in their respective region. This means that they report and discuss the current activities and status of the LCs to the Membership Department, while also providing the LCs with news and opportunities from IFSA, as well as providing online opportunities to bring LCs together (a role I have already informally taken on in the German context). I feel that the most important role of the Regional Representative is to communicate with and support the LCs in their region to be the best they can be. They do this by getting to know the LC representatives in the Regional Councils, hosting coffee hours, coordinating activities, and offering advice. As for plans for the IFSA term, I would like to reactivate LCs that became inactive after COVID-19, as I have sadly seen in Germany. We discussed strategies for this in the aforementioned online Germany meetings such as contacting the respective student councils at the universities and inviting them to regional IFSA events. Other than that, I will continue the excellent work of the previous Regional Representatives Being a native English speaker is something that I believe will be an asset in my favour. I am also a very creative person with experience in graphic design. Beyond that, my friends would also describe me as a very personable and open person which I count as essential attributes for communication. My strongest skills lie in my determination and ability to learn anything I set my mind to. In summary, between my national and international experience, my understanding of the position, my passion, and my plans for the future, I believe I will make a fantastic Regional Representative and can’t wait to make the IFSA community a better place.

Kind regards,

Stephanie Thomas

2) Beniamin Chrzanowski, IFSA Warsaw Forestry Students Association, Poland

My name is Beniamin Chrzanowski, I am 21 years old and currently studying forestry at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. I have been involved with IFSA since spring 2022, where I joined right before LC’s trip to LOW in Eberswalde. It was there that I met the first IFSA crazies, and I was immediately struck by the beauty of what makes us different, but not at all divisive.

I was eager to gain experience in this new environment, so I joined OC NERM 2023 Poland, where I was responsible for contact, advertising, social media and a few minor functions. The event provided me with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how to operate from a more official side as an IFSA member, including how to cooperate with other association boards and how to organise a group of people. Most importantly, it gave me a chance to learn more about what IFSA actually is and the many beautiful things it offers.

Following this preoccupation, I registered for IFSS Germany 2023 and a couple of other events. Each taught me something and made me feel more and more indebted to IFSA. Out of all this came the idea of becoming President of LC Warsaw. At the time I started my term, we were before the generational transition, resulting in a population oscillating around 8 people. My main goal as president was to strengthen the position of my LC within the structures of our university and to set the pace before the next generation of students left.

Thus, at this point we have about 35 active members, we are involved in many educational projects from kindergarten to even undergraduates, we participate in many scientific conferences presenting both our science club and the IFSA as a whole, and we even have gained funding to participate in IFSA events for the first time ever. In addition, we are creating as many opportunities as possible to meet with foreign students, or LOWs, with the aim of fostering the best possible international integration. Members of my LC have expressed their appreciation for the continuous development of our group during my presidency. I would like to take this situation a level higher to the level of the whole region that is Northern Europe, which the position of Regional Representative would enable me to do. IFSA has instilled in me a sense of global curiosity and a desire to grow as a person. I am grateful for the opportunity it has given me to develop and feel a responsibility to give back in some way.

As an active member of IFSA, I am aware of the responsibilities that the position entails and am prepared to contribute to the success of the organisation. In assuming this role, my primary objective will be to maintain close contact with all Country and LC representatives in our region. I will strive to ensure that they are fully aware of the valuable opportunities that IFSA can offer. Additionally, I am eager to reinforce the standing of our association in our region by reactivating existing LCs and, if circumstances permit, even opening new ones. I believe I have already gained some experience in this area, having been involved in the reactivation of one of the Polish LCs in Poznan.

As the current LC president, I believe it is important to maintain regularity in what is planned and what happens in the structures that I am responsible for, such as meetings and other events. I also believe it is important to ensure that the information I send is clearly communicated. Recently, I have developed my graphic design skills by creating LC guides and posters announcing meetings, which I believe could be useful in creating summaries and other important materials for the region.

As a Regional Representative, I would also like to try to develop the idea, born within the walls of our university, of conducting socio-forestry research on the example of IFSA members as nature lovers. We are pleased to report that our previous research on social relations in the context of clear-cut logging has achieved considerable success, winning awards under the IFSA label at Polish scientific conferences.

Northern Europe Regional Meeting Organising Committee
(NERM OC) 2025 Candidate

Greetings, IFSA’s Northern Europe Region!

Are you ready for the upcoming vetting and voting session for the next Northern Europe Regional Meeting Organising Committee? Hereby we announce our outstanding OC candidate this year for your LC to vote!

1) WFSS/WIT LC, Ireland