I graduated as a “Diplom Biologe” with a major in Zoology from Saarland University (Germany) in 1998. My thesis research focused on the spatial ecology of rare and endangered European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris). In 1999, I started my PhD with Bruce McLellan and David Shackleton at the University of British Columbia (Canada). My dissertation research focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying the decline of endangered mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and marked the beginning of my interest in ungulates and predator-prey interactions. Upon completion of my PhD in 2004, I was briefly affiliated with Justin Brashares’ lab at the University of California in Berkeley (USA) before commencing a two-year postdoc with Doug Armstrong at Massey University (New Zealand). From 2007 until 2010, I was employed as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the University of California in Davis (USA). My affiliation with UC Davis continued until 2014. I joined the faculty in the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington in 2010 where I am currently a Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.

Heiko served on the editorial board of Ecology and Ecological Monographs from 2010-2018 and is currently a member of the IUCN Deer Specialist Group