Feedback by Jemal Mohammed Abdela

By: Jemal Mohammed Abdela

The summer school was organised by the Austrian Research Center for Forests (BFW) in collaboration with the EVOLTREE network and the Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU). It took place at the Forestry Training Centre in Traunkirchen, Austria, from July 28 to August 1, 2025. The program aimed to provide in-depth insights into assisted migration of forests under climate change, with a focus on models to support decision making.
Skills and Knowledge Gained
• Acquired a deeper understanding of species distribution model, universal response functions, and the identification of adapted and maladapted tree populations under current and future climate scenarios.
• Learned methods for retrieving climate variables from WorldClim in raster format.
• Gained knowledge on pollen-based assisted migration concepts.
• Explored new collaboration opportunities with international researchers working on related topics.
Relevance to my PhD Work
The training provided skills highly relevant to my PhD project. In particular, I strengthened my ability to retrieve climate variable data for genotype–environment analysis and to map adapted versus maladapted populations under current and projected climate conditions. I also gained practical experience with several statistical tools in R, which I can directly apply to my ongoing research.
Statement about photo and report
Photo: Jemal Mohammed Abdela and Marcela Van Loo.

Consent was givenby Dr Van Loo to publish my picture and I consent to my picture and report being published on the EVOLTREE website.
Report by Jemal Mohammed Abdela
PhD student, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
August 19, 2025