Dr Sabrina Kumschick is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She has focused on biological invasions for the past 15 years, beginning with her PhD in Ecology in Switzerland, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Colorado State University, and joining CIB in 2012.

 

Her work is highly applied and policy relevant. In collaboration with university colleagues and field managers, Dr Kumschick has developed frameworks for managing biological invasions at global, national, and local levels. One such framework is a risk analysis tool used to guide the listing of alien species under South African regulations, which has recently been adapted for protected areas. Additionally, she helped create the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) in partnership with a global team of experts. EICAT provides a standardized method for assessing the impact of biological invasions and is endorsed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These frameworks support global conservation goals, such as Aichi Target 6 and the Sustainable Development Goals, which focus on the management and monitoring of biological invasions.

 

Dr Kumschick has worked closely with policymakers at local, national (especially in South Africa), and global levels, as well as with NGOs like the IUCN, to improve biological invasion management and promote integrated governance. She is currently the Chair of the IUCN EICAT Authority.

 

Most recently, she contributed as a co-author to the thematic assessment report on invasive alien species and their control for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). She also co-developed the IUCN EICAT Standard and contributed to South Africa's National Status Report for Biological Invasions and the National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan.