On June 11th 2026, Dr. Alex Thiel, an ecologist and researcher at the University of Inland Norway (INN), received the Norecopa 3 R prize, which was established to acknowledge outstanding efforts to advance the 3Rs (replace, reduce, refine) in connection with animal research. The price was rewarded for the work Alex did as part of her PhD, in which she investigated the effects of capture, anaesthesia and invasive methods in the bears of our study population. She combined behavioural and...

Jacopo Morelli has been looking into the physiological effects of capture and anesthesia of brown bears and other wildlife species over the last 10 years. In the past six months, his cutting-edge research and outstanding dedication to this matter were rewarded with the William R. Lance Award and the Amanda Hawkswood Wildlife Health and Welfare Research Grant by the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, the American College of Zoological...

Rick successfully defended his dissertation entitled " "Affairs in the forest": The social system of a brown bear population " at the University of South-Eastern Norway on August 28, 2025. Congratulations Dr. Heeres!