Research Interests

My main research interests lie in movement and social behaviour of animals (socio-behavioural ecology). My long-term career goal is to contribute to animal conservation as a socio-behavioural ecologist. My work experience has made me an independent worker with the ability to make clear decisions and perform under pressure. I have learned to be an open-minded and result-oriented person with great dedication for my work.



Academic steps:

PhD (Ecology; 2022-2025)

University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway

Thesis title: “Affairs in the forest”: The social system of a brown bear population

Investigating the social system of the European brown bear in Scandinavia by using GPS data to infer animal social behaviour. Focus on showing that solitary species are more social than expected!

Link: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33124.44168

Papers:

  1. Heeres, R. W., Leclerc, M., Frank, S., Kopatz, A., Pelletier, F. & Zedrosser, A. (2024). Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore. Animal Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022
  2. Heeres, R. W., Leclerc, M., Frank, S., Kopatz, A., Pelletier, F. & Zedrosser, A. (2025). Flexibility in female spatiotemporal behavioral tactics to counter infanticide risk during the mating season. Movement Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00561-6
  3. Heeres, R. W., Boot, W., Delen, E., Tovar Heid, M., Leclerc, M., Frank, S., Kopatz, A., Pelletier, F., Kuipers, H., Weterings, M. J. A. & Zedrosser, A. (2025). Family Breakup Dynamics in a Promiscuous Solitary Mammal. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72070
  4. Zarzo-Arias, A., Heeres, R. W., Hertel, A. G., Leclerc, M., Frank, S., Steyaert, S. M. J. G., Kindberg, J., Swenson, J. E., Penteriani, V., Pelletier, F. & Zedrosser, A. (2025). “The landscape of love” – sex-specific habitat-use during the mating season in a solitary large carnivore. Landscape Ecology.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-025-02250-6
  5. Heeres, R. W., Pelletier, F., Leclerc, M., Frank, S., Kopatz, A., Swenson, J. E. & Zedrosser, A. (2026).Male reproductive behavior is associated with individual characteristics, harvest, and female behavior in a solitary large carnivore. Under Review at Journal of Animal Ecology.





 

MSc (Biology; 2018-2020)

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

Thesis title: Den shifting behaviour of female wolverines (Gulo gulo) in Northern Sweden

Utilizing den use data from reproductive female wolverines to unravel their den shifts behaviour throughout the denning season.

Link: Thesis document - manuscript under development




BSc (Wildlife Management; 2011-2016)

Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Thesis title: Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) building in shore banks: A study about the attraction of protected or unprotected shore banks to muskrats

Investigating how muskrats use their burrows in an urban landscape in the Netherlands.

Link: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14008.65282




Additional Publications:

Tallian, A., Arnemo, J., Evans, A., Friebe, A., Fröbert, O., Hansen, J., Heeres, R., Hertel, A., Kopatz, A., Mattissson, J., Ordiz, A., Støen, O., Thiel, A., Zedrosser, A. & Kindberg, J. (2025). Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. A 40 Year Research Summary. NINA Report 2589.

Märtz, J., Talllian, A., Wikenros, C. & Heeres, R. W. (2024). “ClusterApp”: A Shiny R application to guide cluster studies based on GPS data. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11695

Aronsson, M., Persson, J., Zimmerman, B., Maertz, J., Wabakken, P., Heeres, R., and Nordli, K. T. (2022). Järven i Inre Skandinaviens skogslandskap -områdesbruk, födoval och reproduktion. Technical Report, Swedish Wolverines Project / Grensevilt.

Scrafford, M. A., Avgar, T., Heeres, R. W., & Boyce, M. S. (2018). Roads elicit negative movement and habitat-selection responses by wolverines (Gulo gulo luscus). Behavioral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx182


Work experience:

Assistant Professor in Statistics (2025-2026)

University of South-Eastern Norway (temporary position; 2025-2026)

  • Course leader of the MSc course “Statistics and Study Design”
  • Assisting teacher for the BSc course “Human-Wildlife Conflict”.
  • Supervising BSc and MSc students during their thesis projects.


Research Assistant (2020-2022)

Swedish Wolverine Project

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - Grimsø Research Station

  • Wolverine predation studies
  • Teaching assistant for the Wildlife Biology course (2020 and 2021)
  • Writing manuscripts
  • Data management



Research Assistant (2021-2022)

Red fox project

University of Freiburg

  • Placing camera traps
  • Collecting faeces
  • Analysing/managing photo data

Fieldwork Assistant (2019-2020)

Swedish Wolverine Project

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - Grimsø Research Station

  • Wolverine predation studies (assisting one season and organizing/leading two seasons).
  • Assisting BSc students with fieldwork in between predation studies.



Practical Instructor (2017-2018)

Wildlife Management Unit

Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences,

The Netherlands

  • Logistics for the field-days/weeks
  • Providing practical lessons about field methods
  • Laboratory/field equipment management
  • GIS instructor
  • Assisting with BSc thesis/research projects.


Intern (2016)

Northern Alberta Wolverine Project

University of Alberta - Mark Boyce Lab

  • Created a traffic model based on camera trap data to predict traffic on the roads.
  • Analysing road crossings of the collared wolverines by using GPS data.
  • Cluster analysis fieldwork in Rainbow Lake, mainly collecting scat for diet analysis.


 
 
 
 
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