Drained peatlands in the Netherlands have undergone degradation over the course of centuries, prompting an urgent need for the restoration of ecosystem functioning. This imperative arises not only from climate agreements but also to mitigate socio-economic consequences. The current project I am working on primarily focuses on addressing increased CO2 emissions and human-induced land subsidence rates from drained peatlands. The overall aim of the Living on Soft Soils (LOSS) project is to develop an integrative approach to achieve feasible, legitimate, and sustainable solutions for managing the negative societal effects of land subsidence, connecting fundamental research on subsidence processes to the socio-economic impact of subsidence and to governance and legal framework design.

LOSS Project: https://nwa-loss.nl/

My responsibility in this project is to investigate the role of organic matter decomposition in drained Dutch peatlands. This includes checking the variability of decomposition rates from different peat sites in the Netherlands and determining the major drivers of decomposition rates. We conduct field and laboratory experiments to understand how available carbon content, its degradation status, and origin can alter decomposition rates at both drained and saturated peat depths. Also, we explore pore-water chemistry, specifically the presence of iron and sulfur, and how the availability of these alternative electron acceptors can drive decomposition rates with changing redox conditions. Lastly, the physical properties of peat are studied to understand how physical land subsidence mechanisms might alter decomposition rates.

We actively engage in producing transparent and reliable scientific outputs and sharing them with our stakeholders and the general public.

Besides my scientific research, I am involved in teaching at the Biology Department, giving different levels of Ecology courses, coordinating the final year thesis and internship course at the Ecology and Biodiversity Group, and processing the master applications of the Ecology and Natural Resource Management track.