I am trained as an architect and urbanist, but currently I am researching soil contamination in Amsterdam. What is an architect doing with soil? Cities are where the majority of the global human population resides. In fact, by 2100, eighty-five percent of us are projected to reside in urban areas. Cities will thus remain the […]
Soil-Positive Urbanization Lire la suite »
As a scientist who studies atmospheric composition, climate change, and the impact of agricultural practices on nature areas, it is sometimes difficult to take action in response to the alarming signals we see in our research. If I stop visiting trans-continental conferences, does that make a real difference? Should I switch to a vegan diet?
It is only recently that I fully grasped the increasing importance of forests and timber for the European economy: from the wooden furniture in our homes to innovations like wood-based constructions and feedstocks for the bio-economy. Since wood can be a renewable alternative to several conventional materials, the European forestry sector expects an increased demand
Bringing nature back into production forests Lire la suite »
As an ecologist who works at an institute where ecosystem monitoring with Remote Sensing is a key activity, I know nature is variable and can have many faces. It varies over seasons and it varies over years. Some years are drier, other years are wetter. So we know that, to really look at changes in
Savannas in Eastern Netherlands Lire la suite »
As a young ecologist, I aimed to contribute to understanding the effects of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning by exploring an often-overlooked realm: underground ecosystems. My journey led me to the prestigious Jena Experiment, a large-scale, long-term grassland biodiversity study in Germany where effects of plant species richness on ecosystem functioning are studied. This opportunity
To bee (or not to be) Lire la suite »
When I was 10, I witnessed my dad converting our family’s dairy farm to embrace agroecological and organic practices. Away with the synthetic inputs. No more mineral fertilisers, no more chemical pest controllers. Hedgerows of diverse native trees were planted between fields, and apple trees flourished in their midst. Complex rotations were introduced, enriching the
Let us not witness the fall of agroecology Lire la suite »
Het gaat slecht met de Europese vogelpopulaties. Sinds 1990 zien we een afname van 12% onder de 168 meest voorkomende soorten. Vooral de landbouwvogels gaan sterk achteruit (met een afname van 36%), voornamelijk door de intensivering van de landbouw. De Europese Unie kan deze negatieve trend omdraaien door meer in te zetten op natuur-inclusieve landbouw,
Al fluitend door het leven Lire la suite »
During my PhD research on the decline of the hedgehog in Great Britain I spent many hours in the field doing research on their whereabouts in rural areas. In Great Britain, plenty farms are entered in agri-environment schemes meaning that arable fields are surrounded by grassy field margins and hedgerows, which should promote biodiversity. During
Agri-environment schemes benefit biodiversity Lire la suite »
Ecology was – and still is – my field of study and of academic teaching for decades on end. From understanding terrestrial ecological processes at first, i.e., plant-animal interactions, my field broadened to include livestock, humans and human – wildlife coexistence. Now, my focus is on thoroughly understanding how the lifestyle of the privileged few
Students with a passion Lire la suite »
Abstract The evils attributed to the “Anthropocene” are not the responsibility of all humanity; the main culprits, who have the political and economic power to shape the forms of production and consumption and define lifestyles, must be distinguished from the majority of the population, whose power to change things cannot be compared with those. “Systemic”
The “Anthropocene” Circumvention: A New Ideology to Sustain the Status Quo? Lire la suite »
