Sophie Trenning is a Dutch wildlife and nature management student at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, currently completing her graduation programme in Animal Management. With a background that bridges ecology, conservation policy, and human-wildlife coexistence, she is drawn to the complex questions that arise when nature and society intersect.
Her graduation research, carried out as an internship with the Rewilding Academy between February and June 2026, focused on assessing the feasibility of Eurasian lynx recolonisation in the Netherlands — a topic that sits at the heart of contemporary rewilding debate in Western Europe. For this project, she developed a multi-criteria analysis framework integrating ecological, social, and governance dimensions, which she applied through an extensive literature review and interviews with seven specialists across carnivore ecology, conservation law, agricultural stakeholder representation, and species reintroduction.
The resulting advisory report is one of the most structured and comprehensive assessments of lynx recolonisation feasibility in the Dutch context to date. Sophie brings a rare combination of analytical rigour, clear scientific writing, and the ability to make complex findings accessible to a broad audience. She is passionate about rewilding and large carnivore conservation, and about the kind of careful, evidence-based stakeholder engagement that gives ambitious conservation initiatives their best chance of long-term success. The Rewilding Academy is proud to have supervised her work and looks forward to following her career in the years ahead.
