Our Team

What volunteers say about us:

Marion Möstl studied Environmental and Bioresource Management and is now training to become a musical actress. Marion war a RWS volunteer in a field internship in march/april 2024 in the Project Restoring the European Mink to the Romanian Carpathians.

“I volunteered at RWS to learn practical skills in wildlife-conservation field work, to spend time in nature and to have an adventure. I definitely got all that and what I didn’t expect is how much work it is to generate scientific information about wild animals. Later, it helped me with my thesis because I experienced the steps of a scientific project: preparations, going in the field, how to collect and manage data and to be creative, because a lot will be unexpected…

Living with this research group felt like a small world and like a school of life – you form friendships, feel excited or exhausted and I learned a lot about myself. For example, that pleasant team dynamics are very important for me to feel good at work.

More than a year laten, I’m still thinking about this experience a lot and all the practical and technical skills I learned are still in my head as well as knowledge about wildlife and the complexity about conservation work. I use these learnings to improve forest management back in Austria. Now studying at an Academy of Musical Theatre is not a change in direction for me, I always had a big love for arts plus the environment, and I could never leave one interest behind. So, what I now know is that no matter how important environmental protection to me is, I also need to work as an artist.

Erwan Rouillon – student at the Veterinary Medicine Faculty in Timisoara was a RWS volunteer in a field internship in february/march 2025 in the Project Restoring the European Mink to the Romanian Carpathians.

“My volunteering with the SRS Wild Association had an impact on my vision of fieldwork and conservation in Europe. It was the first time I had a concrete understanding of the logistical, human, and financial complexity involved in a project monitoring endangered wildlife species. Understanding this concrete sequence of actions allowed me to see conservation no longer as an abstract idea, but as a collective, pragmatic effort rooted in the reality on the ground. This experience fueled a broader reflection on our responsibility, as Europeans, in the face of the silent disappearance of our wildlife. Since then, I have had the opportunity to obtain other internships in this field, thanks to the experience and credibility acquired here. In hindsight, this volunteering was a real starting point: it shaped my skills, clarified my ambitions, and left a lasting imprint on how I see my future in biodiversity protection.”

Delia Cretu studied MSc Multipurpose Forestry at Transilvania University and did an Erasmus-funded internship in camera trapping with Rewilding Spain. Delia was a RWS volunteer in a field internship in february/march 2025 in the Project Restoring the European Mink to the Romanian Carpathians.

“Two years ago I became a member of the European Young Rewilders network and my interest in the topic has been growing steadily ever since. This is why volunteering with SRS was a very valuable experience for me, a chance to see what it is like to prepare a reintroduction project on the ground. I really enjoyed the fieldwork and especially the relationships we developed within the team. I even enjoyed the struggles, the difficulties and learning how to overcome them (at least in retrospect 🙂 ). But what really stayed with me were the discussions about what a reintroduction means, what it needs in order to be successful, the debates over various monitoring methods, their pros and cons, and above all the vision of landscape connectivity. I am currently building on the skills and experience gained in RWS by being an intern with Rewilding Spain and while I’m not exactly sure what’s coming next… I am actively looking for ways to continue on this career path.“