Institute full name:

Wageningen University

Institute acronym:

WU

Institute profile:

Wageningen University (WU) is a leading university in Life Sciences focusing on agricultural and environmental education and research and is, according to the NTU Agriculture Ranking 2013, ranked the number one university in agricultural sciences in the world. WU is part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), comprising several strategic research institutions focusing on applied research. WU is, amongst others, partner in the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the World Water Council (WWC), the Global Water Partnership (GWP), and Climate Change and Biosphere (CCB).

The Soil Physics and Land Management (SLM) Group of Wageningen University focuses on: i) flow and transport processes in soil systems and surrounding water bodies, ii) interactions between soil, water and plants, and iii) land use and management with regard to ecosystem degradation, and the design and economic impact assessment of technologies for soil and water conservation and restoration. The SLM group has long-term experience in areas affected by different forms of soil and water degradation in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and in Europe. SLM coordinated and participated in a range of EU-funded projects focusing on soil, water and agricultural land management related topics, including EROAHI, WEELS, WAHIA, AWACAD, OLIVERO, DESIRE, WAHARA, CASCADE and RECARE.

The Soil Biology and Biological Soil Quality (SOQ) group of Wageningen University focuses on: 1) fertile soils, 2) soil biodiversity and ecosystem services, and 3) soils in a changing climate. The SOQ group has long-term experience on biological aspects of soil quality related to soil organic matter dynamics, rhizosphere processes determining bio-availability of plant nutrition, functional trait diversity of plant roots and rhizosphere biota, and the greenhouse gas balance of soil. The SOQ group has ample experience with degraded soils in terms of soil structure, soil organic matter and nutrient balances in Africa, Latin America, China and Europe. SOQ currently coordinates an international consortium on Amazonian Dark Earths with several research institutes participating in Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and has long-standing collaboration on the benefits of intercropping for soil organic matter enhancement with partners in China and participates in the EU-funded project ECOFINDERS.

Institute website

www.wur.nl

Address

Droevendaalsesteeg 4
6708PB Wageningen
The Netherlands

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Contact info

Key qualifications

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Prof. dr. Coen Ritsema
Project Coordinator

Coordinating large inter-national research projects; soil physicist and hydrologist, fundamental and applied research related to droughts, water scarcity, degradation and desertification

Dr. Luuk Fleskens
Scientific Project Coordinator

Interdisciplinary land use science; model-based integrated, spatially-explicit assessments of land management on soil quality and farm viability

Dr. Violette Geissen
Project Coordination Team

Senior Scientist in Soil physics and Land use; Associate professor in the Soil and Land Mangement Group of WU

Xiaomei Yang
Project Coordination Team

PhD candidate soil physics and land management group

Klaas Oostindie
Project Coordination Team

Tel: +31 317 486482
E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Researcher with emphasis for water and solute transport through soils, soil physics and land use topics. Webmaster of different websites. 

Ing. Harm Gooren
Project Coordination Team

Tel: +31 317 483707
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