Name:   Philip Birget

Born:   23.11.1988

Biography and connection to the station:

I started ringing as a young chap in Iwwersyren in 2001 when the group comprised merely two people. For the following 9 years birdringing topped my leisure time priority list, which eventually led me to study biology at Oxford University, Imperial College and eventually the University of Edinburgh where I am currently preparing my PhD dissertation. Birdringing gave me to opportunity to lead expeditions into Peru’s cloud forest as well as to make a major study of the occurrence of bird malaria in the Camargue. Since then my interest have shifted more towards evolution and ecology and how we can harvest such knowledge to fight infectious diseases (“Darwinian Medicine”, http://reece.bio.ed.ac.uk/phil-birget.html). Being limited by distance, the main help I contribute towards the station is data analysis of our ringing records but whenever I am back home, I miss no opportunity to get back into the muddy boots. As one of the senior ringers in Iwwersyren, the development of the ringing station into an international hub for data collection, nature protection and cultural exchange fills me with great pride and happiness.