Current PhD projects

Linking species variation in plant and macro-detritivore traits to predict the effects of hydrological amplitudes on soil carbon and nutrient cycling, plant productivity and diversity.

A baculovirus expression system free of contaminating baculovirus particles (BACFREE).

Identification and quantification of agricultural subsoil compaction at multiple scales to support spatiotemporal modelling.

Taxonomy, phylogeny and evolutionary diversification of the damselfly superfamily Lestoidea (Odonata).

Private land for public benefit.

Morphological, anatomical and physiological differences between different types of rice and wheat under water-deficit conditions.

The role of mononuclear phagocytes in the vertical transmission of arboviruses.

Integrated resilience assessment of farming systems: case-studies from Europe.

Ecological intensification of farming systems in inland valleys and floodplains of Benin through rice and vegetables.

Assessing occurrence and abundance of sympatric deer’r and predators with reference to ecological and anthropological aspects in between Yamuna and Ganga. (Tentative).

Energy saving in greenhouse crop production by flexible management

Comparative eco-immunological and disease-ecological sttudy on barnacle goose sub-populations having different migration strategies.

Origin and natural history of the fungus-growing termites.

Abiotic and biotic factors that shape the community structure, physiology and activity of methane oxidizers in freshwater systems.

Nudivirus replication mechanisms.

Plant traits as proxies for (evapo)transpiration.

Rapid Mitigation of cyanobacterial blooms in fresh water lakes with hydrogen peroxide: From proof of principle and new ideas to market readiness (cyanostopper).

Multi-functional crop-livestock-tree systems in the Amazon: landscape scale assessment of ecosystem services.

HeartLAND - Health, Environment, Agriculture, Rural development: Training network for LAND management.

Effects of oxygen and temperature on fish growth: does cell size matter?

Clever Crop Cropping - Plant Soil Interactions.

The Evolution and development of orchid flowers and fruits.

Genetics of rice plant architecture.

Quantifying ecosystem resilience for restoration success in Chinese drylands.

Exploration of scenarios to increase circularity and sustainability of intensive dairy farming systems in China.

Reconstructing Holocene spatio-temporal bog developments.

North Sea Fish Community Dynamics.

Environmental efficiencies and controversies: yield intensification in smallholders oil palm production systems of South-East Asia.

Genetic basis and ecological relevance of intraspecific variation in grass-microbiome interaction.

Model-based perception for soft, fragile and deformable agro-food objects.

Understanding yield variation in potato cultivation to move towards more sustainable potato production.

Applying a diagnostic approach and local knowledge to understand nutrient supplying capacity of agricultural soils in Northern Ethiopian.

Towards better understanding stewardship and its effect on sustainable land management.

Tropical forest cover gain and carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation.

The role of pioneer Mimosa species in secondary succession in Mexican tropical dry forest.

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of a male polyphenism in bulb mites.

Assessing uncertainties and the value-of-information of remote sensing derived data for forest biomass and carbon emissions estimation.

Genomics of moving hybrid zones in Amphibia.

Exploring pathways for gender transformation and women’s empowerment towards sustainable farming systems

Quantifying resources-to-food conversion efficiency in urban horticultural systems, under diversified climate conditions.

Temperature sensitivity of microorganisms in Arctic soils.

Vital Soils for sustainable agriculture.

Dynamic risk based early warning systems.

Systematics of liocranid spiders (Araneae, Liocranidae) and the evolution of asymmetric genitalia.

Genetic methods applied to tracing of tropical timber species.

Global island biogeography and diversity dynamics of Asteraceae.

Governing potassium dynamics in potato and upscaling advisory services by remote sensing.

Horned dinosaurs from cradle to grave.

Social web as urban sensors: feasibility of user-generated internet-based data as a source for quality of life indicators.

Large scale forest change monitoring using satellite data.