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KJELL DANELL

DISTINGUISHED MOOSE BIOLOGIST - 2011 RECIPIENT

The Distinguished Moose Biologist Award 
was presented to Professor Kjell Danell at the 46th 
North American Moose Conference and Workshop 
held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, May 23-26, 2011 
in recognition of his many contributions to our 
understanding of moose biology and manage-
ment.  Professor Danell is Senior Researcher and 
Lecturer in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and 
Environmental Studies at the Swedish University 
for Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.  

Kjell graduated from Umeå University 
in northern Sweden with a Master of Science 
comprised of botany, chemistry, zoology, and 
environment protection in 1971. Although Kjell 
received formal qualifications as a teacher after his 
M.Sc. Degree, he instead moved into research and 
became a graduate student.  He graduated with a 
PhD in animal ecology with research focused on 
the ecology of the American muskrat that was an 
introduced species in Sweden.

Afterward, Kjell’s research quickly diversi-
fied and moose research and management became 
his primary interest.  With the rapidly increas-
ing number of moose in Sweden that peaked at 
~500,000 in the 1980s, moose became of major 
societal interest and importance, both pro and 
con.  This unique ungulate population required 
intensified management with issues such as hunting 
practices, forest damage, and traffic accidents of 

critical importance in Sweden, an extensive field 
of research that Kjell embraced.  His contributions 
to international moose research and management 
have been extensive, with numerous publications, 
students, and outreach activity marking his distin-
guished career.  Kjell was employed as Professor 
in Animal Ecology in 1988, and is currently re-
nowned as one of the most distinguished wildlife 
researchers in Scandinavia.

Kjell has been a very productive researcher and 
writer, publishing well over 100 original research 
articles in more than 30 refereed international 
scientific journals including ALCES. Importantly, 
he also contributes substantially to the popular 
literature and agencies, producing >15 articles 
annually.   He has edited a number of books, and 
written book chapters and ~100 popular scientific 
papers in Swedish and/or English.  His magnum 
opus is the book Vilt, människa samhälle (English 
translation: “Wildlife, Human, Society”) on adap-
tive management in Sweden that he recently edited 
with his long-time colleague and friend, Profes-
sor Roger Bergström.  This book, in many ways, 
comprises what Kjell represents and believes in 
with regard to practical management and outreach; 
applied research that aims for sustainable resource 
management with broad societal acceptance. 

Kjell has a discrete and sophisticated person-
ality.  His mind always moves in alternate ways, 
and his strategic approach is very result-oriented 
and determined.  Yet, so many have enjoyed and 
savoured their productive and enlightening sit-
downs with him to discuss matters from research 
and practical management, to strategic passages 
and purely private perspectives and reflections in 
his exhilarating academic world.

The North American Moose Conference and 
Workshop is proud to recognize a humble and 
productive researcher that has devoted most of his 
life to science in general, and moose research and 
management in particular, Professor Kjell Danell, 
the recipient of the Distinguished Moose Biologist 
Award in 2011.

Margareta Stéen
Carl-Gustaf Thulin