Curriculum Vitae
Assaf Shwartz
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
ASSAF SHWARTZ
PERSONAL DETAILS __________________________________________
Telephone:
+33 (0) 952 91 54 89
Mobile:
+33 (0) 611 36 65 13
Nationality:
Israeli , French
Tel/Fax
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Conservation des Espèces, Restauration
Populations
et Suivi des Populations
55 rue Buffon CP 51
75005 Paris
+33 (0) 1 40 79 53 56 / (0) 1 40 79 38 35
Email:
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
Date Of Birth:
03/07/1977
Address:
PERSONAL AIMS ____________________________________________
Conservation ecology in particular: (1) urban conservation: what are the mechanisms that influence the
people-biodiversity interaction in the urban environment and by which means this interaction could be
enhanced for the mutual benefit of conservation and people. (2) Biological invasions, impacts and
solutions.
KEY SKILLS _______________________________________________

Management – organisation of field projects; administration, logistics and problem solving while
guiding groups and working as a project manager.

Communication – natural communicator, teamwork, teaching, oral presentations.

Computer skills – MS Office including Access, GIS (ArcGIS), Remote sensing (ERDAS),
Statistical softwares (Genstat, SPSS, R), Ecological softwares (Distance, Primer, EstimateS)

Languages – English (fluent), Hebrew (native), French (conversational), Spanish (basic).
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION _____________________________________
2012 - current
Post-Doc in the Natural History museum Paris exploring the relation between
ecosystem services and biodiversity in a large national natural park (parc naturel
régional scarpe escaut)
2008 – 2012
PhD in Ecology and Geography, Natural History museum Paris and University
Paris I, la Sorbonne
Thesis title: The interactions between people and biodiversity in the centre of a large
metropolis, supervised by Romain Julliard and Laurent Simon.
2004 – 2007
MSc in Ecology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (93.4%)
Thesis title: “Patterns and processes shaping the success of urban and invasive
birds”, supervised by Dr Salit Kark.
1
Curriculum Vitae
Assaf Shwartz
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
Three-years degree: one year of courses (e.g Statistics, Quantitative methods in ecology,
Remote sensing, Raster GIS workshop, Conservation ecology) and two years of research
with presentation of final thesis
2001 – 2003
BSc in Biology and Geography, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (92.2%)
(with honours)
Three-year degree: three years of courses (e.g. Biochemistry, Molecular biology, Genetics,
Population Genetics, Population Biology, Ecology basic and advance levels, Evolution,
Economic geography, Hydrology, Meteorology, Geology, Introduction to GIS, Analysis of
aerial-photography).
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE________________________________________
2010
Wasteland project, MNHN, France
Interdisciplinary research project that aimed to explore the biodiversity of small
wastelands in Paris metropolis and people’s perceptions of these habitats and the
nature they enclose.
2009 – 2010
Bird perception, MNHN, France
Socio-ecological project that explored which local and alien bird species people
would like to have in parks and gardens in Paris and which socio-demographic
factors influence this choice.
2004 – 2007
MSc research project, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Advisor: Salit Kark
Research project: Monitoring three species of invasive birds which involved radiotracking, birds' surveys and monitoring of breeding success in cavities.
2005
Conservation course project, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Research project: examining the feasibility of reintroducing the sand cat (Felis
margarita) back to the Araba rift (with the nature and park authority and the Israeli
zoo organisation).
2003 – 2006
Undergraduate research project, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Advisor: Salit Kark
Research project: How do habitat variability and management regime shape the
spatial heterogeneity of birds within a large urban park?
OTHER EXPERIENCE __________________________________________
2001 – Present
Professional tour guide
Leading groups across Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Bulgaria.
2004 – 2006
Teaching Assistant
Teaching assistant in two courses: Ecology of plants of Israel (62 hours) and
Conservation Ecology (42 hours).
2003
Managing student project
Management of a scholarship project for tutoring children in need. This included
managing 50 student tutors, monitoring the educational contents, fundraising and
financial management.
2000 – 2001
Teaching in secondary school
Teaching Biology for eighth and ninth grade.
2
Curriculum Vitae
1996 – 1999
Assaf Shwartz
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
Military service (obligatory in Israel)
Three years serving as a soldier and commander in a Special Forces unit.
ACADEMIC CONFERENCES ______________________________________
International:

Shwartz, A., Camila Andrade and Romain Julliard. (2012) Do urban birds adapt to a weekly cycle
and ‘work’ harder during the weekends? European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB)
Glasgow (Scotland). oral presentation

Shwartz, A., Turbé A., Julliard R., Simon L. and Prévot-Julliard A.C. (2011) Motivations for
Studying Urban Biodiversity: Facts versus Statements. The 12th European Ecological Federation
Congress Avila (Spain). oral presentation (first prize for student presentation)

Shwartz A., Strubbe D., Teillac-Deschamps P., Julliard-Prévot AC., Julliard R. and Chiron F. (2011)
Concerns regarding impact risk assessment and management recommendations for invasive birds.
8th Conference of the European Ornithologists’ Union. Riga (Latvia). oral presentation

Shwartz A., 2007. “Winners” and “Losers” in the Biotic Homogenization process, The natural
history museum in Paris, research department (France). Seminar

Shwartz A. and Kark S., 2006. Alien invasive birds: how do they succeed? A case study of three
species in Israel. The Neobiota Meeting, Vienna (Austria). poster presentation

Shwartz A., Miller E., Levin N. and Kark S., 2004. Bird diversity in an urban park: the Tel Aviv city
park as a case study. International Conference on Bird and Environment, Haridwar (India). oral
presentation

National:
Shwartz A., 2005. Bird diversity in an urban park: the Yarkon Park as a case study. The 41st
Conference of the Zoological Society of Israel, Haifa (Israel). oral presentation

Shwartz A., Orchan Y., and Kark S., 2005. Introduced birds in Israel and their impacts on the native
bird community: The Tel Aviv Yarkon Park as a case study. First meeting on biological invasions in
ecological systems in Israel, Beer-Sheva (Israel). oral presentation

Shwartz A., Orchan Y. and S. Kark, 2006. How can we maximize biological diversity in urban
parks? Birds in the Yarkon Park as a case study. The 2nd Conference on Research and Innovations
in the Ornamental Garden, Beit-Dagan (Israel) oral presentation

Shwartz A., 2006. From East Asia to Israel: starlings, mynas and parakeets invading the Holy
Land. The 43rd Conference of the Zoological Society of Israel, Kfar-Saba (Israel). oral presentation

Shwartz A., 2006. From East Asia to Israel: starlings, mynas and parakeets invading the Holy
Land. The 43rd Conference of the Zoological Society of Israel, Kfar-Saba (Israel). oral presentation
3
Curriculum Vitae
Assaf Shwartz
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
PUBLICATIONS _____________________________________________
Peer-reviewed articles:

Shwartz A., Shirley S. and Kark S. (2008). How do habitat variability and management regime
shape the spatial heterogeneity of birds within a large Mediterranean urban park? Landscape and
Urban Planning 84, pp 219-229.

Shwartz A., Strubbe D., Butler C. J., Matthysen E. and Kark S. (2009). A test of the role of the
enemy release and climate hypotheses in shaping the invasion process of birds: The case of the
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Diversity and distribution 15, 310-318.

Zion M., Spektor-Levy O., Orchan Y., Shwartz A., Sadeh I. and Kark S. (2011). Tracking Invasive
Birds - a Challenge of Open Inquiry Learning and Conservation Education. Journal of biological
education 45(1).

Strubbe D., Shwartz A. and Chiron F. (2011). Concerns regarding the scientific evidence
informing impact risk assessment and management recommendations for invasive birds. Biological
Conservation 144 (8).

Strubbe D., Chiron F. and Shwartz A. (2011). Reply to Kumschick and Nentwig (2010,2011):
Promoting a robust cost-benefit approach for conducting impact risk assessments of invasive
specie. Biological Conservation 144 (12).

Shwartz A., Cosquer A., Jaillon A., Piron A., Julliard R., Raymond R., Simon L. and PrévotJulliard A. C. (minor revisions). How does an urban conservation activity-day influence the
relation of city-dwellers with nearby urban nature? PloS One.

Orchan Y., Chiron F., Shwartz A. and Kark S. (2012). Positive? Negative? Neutral? What do
cavity nesting birds teach us about interaction networks among alien species? Invasion biology.

Shwartz A., Muratet A., Simon L. and Julliard R. (in press) Local and management variables
outweigh landscape effects in enhancing the diversity of different taxa in a big metropolis.
Biological conservation.

Shwartz, A., Turbé A., Julliard R., Simon L. and Prévot-Julliard A. C. (submitted). Motivations for
conserving urban biodiversity: facts versus statements. Landscape and Urban Planning.

Shwartz, A., Cheval, H., Simon, L., and Julliard, R. (submitted). Virtual Garden – a novel tool
exploring which elements of biodiversity people want to have in cities. Conservation Biology.

Shwartz, A., Turbé, A., Simon, L., and Julliard, R. (submitted). Increasing species diversity in
small urban gardens and its influence on people’s connection with nature and well-being. Ecology
Letters.


Book section (fact page):
Shwartz A. and Shirley S. (2008). Species accounts of 100 of the most invasive alien species in
Europe: Rose-ringed parakeet. In : DAISIE, editor. Handbook of alien species in Europe.
Dordrecht : Springer. pp.273.
Popular science articles:
Shwartz A. and Orchan Y., 2006. The quiet Invasion. Teva Hadvarim 121, pp 88-98 (in Hebrew).
4
Curriculum Vitae
Assaf Shwartz
shwar.a@mail.huji.ac.il
OTHER INTERESTS __________________________________________
Traveling and hiking in South America, Central and East Asia, Europe, Canada.
Music: playing several instruments.
Sports: ultimate frisbee, running, squash.
5