Hans Meltofte

DepartmentOrganizationEmailPhoneAddressRoskilde DenmarkBioDr. Hans Meltofte was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1946. Since childhood, nature, birds, people and travelling were his main interests. Originally trained as a radio technician and meteorological assistant, he worked at weather stations in NE Greenland for several years. This was followed by more than 35 expeditions and travels to the Arctic and five travels to the Antarctic. Since 1973, he has worked as a freelance ornithologist. He has volunteered at a number of NGOs including positions as board member of the Danish Ornithological Society and Wetlands International and earned a DSc degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1994 on a thesis analyzing Western Palearctic/African shorebird migration strategies. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Zackenberg Research Station in NE Greenland in 1995, where he worked for 11 seasons, initially as station manager, and during the entire period as head of the biological monitoring program. Currently, he is Senior Scientist at the Department of Bioscience at Aarhus University, Denmark, primarily engaged with research in Arctic ecology and waterbird biology. He has authored or co-authored about 650 scientific and popular articles/reports and produced 14 books. Privately and professionally, he has visited more than 100 states on all continents.

Science Specialties

avian ecology, wildlife management, environmental monitoring, Arctic biodiversity, climate effects

Current Research

Monitoring of year-to-year variability as well as long-term change in Arctic bird populations, distribution, reproductive phenology, and success.