Prof. dr. J.T.A. (Jos) Verhoeven

Hugo R. Kruytgebouw
Padualaan 8
Kamer N.306
3584 CH Utrecht

Prof. dr. J.T.A. (Jos) Verhoeven

Emeritus Professor
Ecology and Biodiversity
+31 30 253 6851
j.t.a.verhoeven@uu.nl

My whole career as a biologist has been focused on the diversity and functioning of wetland ecosystems. Learning more about these fascinating habitats is an ongoing, lifelong objective for me. Wetlands have a prominent role in many landscapes, where they occupy a strategic position in between the uplands and the aquatic ecosystems. They are often of great importance for the hydrodynamics and biogeochemical functioning of the landscape. I work as a tenured staff member at the Department of Biology at Utrecht University since December 1979. I have been promoted to Professor of Landscape Ecology on 1 November 2001.

 

Together with my colleagues, I developed a research program focusing on the nutrient dynamics of freshwater wetlands (fens and wet heathlands) in landscapes with human impacts such as eutrophication and water table draw-down. Over the years, my interest in wetlands has broadened and I have become involved in nutrient-related studies of fens, bogs, river floodplains, freshwater tidal wetlands, lake marginal wetlands and mangroves. I am particularly interested in the interactions between the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in wetlands and how these affect their botanical species composition. Further, the impacts of nutrient loading of wetlands on water quality and on greenhouse gas emissions have my special attention.

 

I strongly value international collaboration between scientific researchers and have become involved in several long-term cooperative research projects. The first to mention here is my long-lasting collaboration with prof. Dennis Whigham from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md, USA. In recent years, Dennis and myself have worked together with prof. Riks Laanbroek of NIOO-KNAW in a research project in mangroves in Florida, studying plant-microbe interactions related to the nitrogen cycle.

OUTREACH

In 2004, I organized the 7th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference in Utrecht, together with my research group. Since then, I am on the executive board of INTECOL, the International Association of Ecology.

Since June 2012, I am the President of the Society of Wetland Scientist’s European chapter.

In The Netherlands, I acted as the chairman of the Center for Wetland Ecology, a consortium of 20 research groups in the Netherlands and Flanders providing a scientific platform and having spin-offs in collaborative research projects, e.g. PEATCAP Volgermeer and NMIJ (Natuurlijker Markermeer and IJmeer) from 2006 through 2015..

I also acted as the coordinator of the Hotspot “Shallow waters and peat meadow areas” of the national research program Knowledge for Climate (2007-2014).

Chair
Landscape Ecology
Inaugural lecture date
07.06.2002