Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

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  • Festive opening Research Vessel R.V. Dreissena

    18 July 2017

    Friday 14 July was the festive opening of the research vessel R.V. Dreissena. The ship will be used by the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED-UvA) to carry out research on Lake Markermeer. The ...

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  • Markermeer research vessel ready to sail

    3 July 2017

    The R.V. Dreissena, a ship for ecological research in lake Markermeer, is ready to set sail. Researchers and students now have their very own research vessel to carry out safe and well-equipped field trips. On 14 ...

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  • Retiring Prof. Lucas Stal: ‘Water science more important than ever’

    27 June 2017

    For ten years Lucas Stal has been a special professor in the field of Marine Microbiology at the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED). This year he will retire and in his honour there is a ...

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  • Master's student Silke van Daalen wins UvA Thesis Prize 2017

    19 June 2017

    Master's student Silke van Daalen (MSc Biological Sciences) is the winner of this year's UvA Thesis Prize. She won the award for her study of the analysis of demographic patterns in populations of human and non-human ...

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  • Antarctic krill victim of its own success?

    6 June 2017

    The fluctuations in the population abundance of Antarctic krill – small, crustaceous animals – are the result of internal self-regulation (i.e. competition for food) and not because of external climatological events, ...

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  • Wind blows young migrant birds to all corners of Africa

    24 May 2017

    Migrant birds that breed in the same area in Europe spread out across all of Africa during the northern winter. A new satellite-tracking study shows that the destination of individual birds is largely determined by ...

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  • Chinese Government Award for PhD Candidate Xing Ji

    10 May 2017

    Xing Ji, PhD candidate at the Research Department Freshwater and Marine Ecology of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), has received the 2016 Chinese Government Award for outstanding ...

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  • To catch a killer: DNA fingerprinting reveals how malaria hides from our immune system

    9 May 2017

    DNA fingerprinting has revealed how the malaria parasite shuffles genes to create different strains and hide from our immune system. This trick allows the parasite to remain undetected and re-infect the same people, ...

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  • Article Pim de Voogt among ES&T’s Best Papers 2016

    26 Apr 2017

    The paper entitled "Mind the Gap: Persistent and Mobile Organic Compounds—Water Contaminants That Slip Through" was selected as one of the Best Papers of 2016 of the prestigious journal "Environmental Science & ...

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  • Amsterdam Water Science showcased at NKWK Climate and Water Conference

    21 Apr 2017

    Over 400 participants attended the NKWK Water and Climate conference that was held at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam on 11 April. The conference was co-organised by Amsterdam Water Science and themed ‘New ...

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  • Construction of Markermeer research vessel begins

    19 Apr 2017

    After a successful fundraising campaign among donors to the Amsterdam University Fund last year, construction of a ship for ecological research in the waters of Markermeer began in late March.

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  • Lecturer in the spotlight: Judy Shamoun-Baranes

    28 Mar 2017

    Judy Shamoun-Baranes is lecturer in the interdisciplinary Bachelor’s programme Future Planet Studies, for which she also coordinates the first-year course ‘A future perspective for planet Earth’. She is also guest ...

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  • Amazon River no younger than 9 million years, new study shows

    21 Mar 2017

    Researchers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the University of Brasilia (Brazil) have determined the age of the formation of the Amazon River at 9.4 to 9 million years ago (Ma) with data that convincingly ...

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  • Vacancy Assistant professor in Benthic Ecology

    16 Mar 2017

    We are looking for an enthusiastic and outstanding new Assistant Professor, who wants to make leading contributions to the research and teaching program of the Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology.

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  • Presentation of Amsterdam Water Science highlights at NKWK Conference on Water and Climate

    14 Mar 2017

    The scientific results of four research projects initiated by Amsterdam Water Science are presented at the NKWK Conference on Water and Climate that will be held on 11 April in Amsterdam.

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  • KNAW grant for five UvA biologists

    9 Mar 2017

    Biologists Martijn Bart, Ineke Knot, Rob Kroes, Gea van der Lee and Benjamin Mueller from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (UvA) have received a grant from the KNAW Ecology Fund. The grant will ...

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  • AWS takes part in the third NKWK conference

    28 Feb 2017

    The conference is organised by Amsterdam Water Science, Rijkswaterstaat, KNMI and staff Delta Commissaris, in collaboration with NL Engineers / Arcadis, U Twente and TU Delft.

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  • Harro Bouwmeester, professor of Plant Hormone Biology

    21 Feb 2017

    Prof. H.J. Bouwmeester (1960) has been appointed professor of Plant Hormone Biology at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

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  • Prestigious Vici grants for four UvA researchers

    17 Feb 2017

    The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a prestigious Vici grant worth 1.5 million euros to four researchers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The grant will enable the ...

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  • Environmentally-friendly pest control strategies potentially conflicting

    14 Feb 2017

    If used in the wrong combination, environmentally and health-friendly pest control strategies might actually increase crop pest populations. A new European research project, led by UvA researcher Merijn Kant, will ...

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  • The solution from the skies to save endangered species

    9 Feb 2017

    Four hundred years ago Galileo created a revolution by pointing his telescope to the skies. Now an astrophysicist and an ecologist from the University of Amsterdam and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) are ...

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  • Soil fungi play important role in nature restoration

    8 Feb 2017

    European biologists have discovered that relationships between soil organisms are missing during the first stages of nature restoration in former agricultural soils. Soil fungi play an important role in establishing ...

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  • Thirteen researchers to visit UvA with Marie Curie Fellowship

    7 Feb 2017

    Thirteen promising researchers have received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to conduct research at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The projects focus, among other things, on the formation of ...

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  • Three UvA researchers receive Rubicon Grant

    26 Jan 2017

    The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a Rubicon Grant to UvA researchers Jesús Aguirre Gutiérrez, Marc Heerdink and Annegreet Veldhuis-Vlug. The grant will allow them to conduct ...

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  • New light shed on how people use palms in South America

    23 Jan 2017

    An international team of researchers from the UK, Denmark and Spain together with Associate Professor Daniel Kissling of the University of Amsterdam shed new light on why and how people use palms in South America. ...

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  • Scientists sound alarm for world’s dwindling primate populations

    18 Jan 2017

    A new article co-authored by a group of internationally recognised experts on primate conservation, among them UvA professor Serge Wich, calls for urgent action to protect the world’s dwindling primate populations. ...

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  • eScience grant for Daniel Kissling

    6 Jan 2017

    Associate Professor for Quantitative Biodiversity Science Daniel Kissling of the University of Amsterdam has obtained a grant from the Netherlands eScience Center. The grant will be used to start a project to ...

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  • Grant for research on contaminated fish

    6 Dec 2016

    UvA environmental chemists Steven Droge and Pim de Voogt are rewarded a research grant of €500,000 by CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council. The grant is intended for research on fish that is contaminated ...

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  • Jolanda Verspagen appointed as Assistant professor at IBED

    21 Nov 2016

    Dr. Jolanda Verspagen, currently Amsterdam Water Science postdoc, accepted the new Assistant Professorship job offer in the new department of Freshwater and Marine Science / Ecology at IBED. She will start her new ...

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  • Art meets science in Amsterdam Science #4

    3 Nov 2016

    The fourth edition of the popular science magazine Amsterdam Science is out now. This issue explores the interfaces where science and art meet.

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  • Science Education at UvA-VU: Master’s in Ecology and Evolution

    11 Oct 2016

    The Master's programme in Ecology and Evolution offered by VU Amsterdam and the track in Ecology and Evolution, which is part of the UvA Master's programme in Biological Sciences, had so many similarities that both ...

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  • Choosing a mate: It's the brain, not the nose, that knows

    4 Oct 2016

    How does a male moth find the right type of female for mating when there are two similar types luring him with their pheromones? In many species, differences in the antenna used by the male to smell these perfumes ...

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  • Lizards as slow colonizers

    29 Sept 2016

    High numbers of African lizard species are found in areas where their ancestors have entered the continent more than 20 million years ago, which suggests strong dispersal limitations. These are the findings of a new ...

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  • Persistent and mobile organic compounds a threat to water resources

    29 Sept 2016

    A class of newly emerging contaminants, so-called persistent and mobile organic chemicals (PMOCs) are a threat to the quality of water resources. This is what Pim de Voogt, professor of Environmental Chemistry at the ...

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  • Teun Boekhout, professor of Fungal Functional Diversity

    22 Sept 2016

    Dr T. Boekhout (1955) has been named professor by special appointment of CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science. The chair was established on behalf of the Royal ...

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  • UvA programmes in Biology, Psychobiology and Biological Sciences assessed as ‘good’

    16 Sept 2016

    The UvA’s Bachelor’s programmes in Psychobiology and Biology and Master’s programme in Biological Sciences have been assessed as ‘good’ by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). All ...

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  • ERC Starting Grants for seven UvA researchers

    13 Sept 2016

    The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Starting Grant to seven researchers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). This individual grant, which is about 1.5 million euros for each project, offers talented ...

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  • Biology teachers receive doctoral scholarship

    13 Sept 2016

    On 12 September 2016 State Secretary of Education, Sander Dekker, awarded Biology Teachers Nienke Wieringa and Rob Kroes a doctoral scholarship.

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  • Specialist moth takes advantage of defensive compounds in Physalis fruits

    26 Aug 2016

    Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, including Dr. Astrid Groot (UvA-IBED), found that the specialist moth Heliothis subflexa benefits from the defensive ...

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  • Toxic blue-green algae adapt to rising CO2

    4 Aug 2016

    A common type of blue-green algae is finding it easy to adapt to Earth's rising CO2 levels, meaning blue-green algae – of which there are many toxin-producing varieties – are even more adept at handling changing ...

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  • Voice control in orangutan gives clues to early human speech

    27 July 2016

    An adolescent orangutan called Rocky could provide the key to understanding how speech in humans evolved from the time of the ancestral great apes, according to new research.

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  • Blue-green algae successfully combated with hydrogen peroxide

    4 July 2016

    The amount of blue-green algae in Lake Oosterduin in the province of South Holland has dramatically declined following an experiment with hydrogen peroxide. It is now safe to swim in the lake once again. The ...

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  • Lecturer in the Spotlight: Astrid Groot

    1 July 2016

    Astrid Groot gives lectures and practical training in Evolutionary Biology to second-year students of Biology, Psychobiology and Future Planet Studies. She also set up the Master’s course Current Trends in Evolution. ...

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  • DNA of Dutch carp under threat

    28 June 2016

    The crucian carp, the only cyprinid native to the Netherlands, can crossbreed with non-native carp species. That’s one of the things Sebastiaan Rückert, Master’s student at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), ...

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  • Major steps towards forecasting global biodiversity change

    28 June 2016

    After two international workshops with world-leading experts, the EU horizon 2020 project GLOBIS-B project, coordinated by Daniel Kissling of the University of Amsterdam, has made a major step towards building ...

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  • Understanding monument construction through geospatial modeling

    21 June 2016

    An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the University of New Hampshire successfully identified spatial and environmental variables of importance to the placement of historical ...

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  • Pteropod experiments on board of a cruise ship

    9 June 2016

    Lisette Mekkes is a student of the MSc programme Limnology&Oceanography at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics. To get into marine science has been her dream since she ...

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  • In Memoriam Remi Laane (1949 - 2016)

    3 June 2016

    It saddens us to announce the untimely death of prof. dr. Remi Laane a few days ago. Remi Laane was an affiliate professor at IBED, holding a special chair Marine Biogeochemistry supported by DELTARES.

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  • Cyanobacteria of Jef Huisman on NPO2

    26 May 2016

    The outdoor swimming season has arrived again and we have to watch in some places for the dangerous blue-green algae. But there is only a very small part of the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) family which is toxic. ...

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  • Eleven NWO Vidi grants awarded to UvA and AMC-UvA researchers

    13 May 2016

    Eleven scientists from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Academic Medical Centre (AMC-UvA) will each receive an €800,000 Vidi grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), to develop ...

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  • Esscher prize for MSc thesis Frederique Kirkels

    10 May 2016

    Frederique Kirkels (MSc Earth Sciences, track Geoecological Dynamics) won the Esscher Prize 2015 for the best Dutch Master's thesis in Earth Sciences. She carried out her research on organic carbon as source for CO2 ...

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  • In Memoriam Hans Matthijs (1951 - 2016)

    4 May 2016

    A passionate scientist, inspiring lecturer and beloved colleague has unexpectedly left our midst. Hans Matthijs was a biochemist who was fascinated by cyanobacteria and did ground breaking work on them for almost 40 ...

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  • Small oil spills affect life in North Sea

    29 Apr 2016

    A team of European researchers, including Corina Brussaard of UvA-IBED and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), found that frequent small oil spills have immediate negative effects on life in the ...

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  • Shifting pollinator distributions

    25 Apr 2016

    Insects such as bees and butterflies are important for pollination of wild plants and crops. It is therefore important to understand how climate and land use changes affect pollinators. A study by researchers from ...

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  • Spider mites paralyze host plants

    19 Apr 2016

    Spider mites secrete proteins via their saliva that suppress the natural resistances in their host plants. This was discovered by a group of researchers under supervision of Merijn Kant and Rob Schuurink of the UvA ...

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  • Diet affects the evolution of birds

    12 Apr 2016

    How diet has affected the evolution of the 10,000 bird species in the world is still a mystery to evolutionary biology. A study by Daniel Kissling of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (UvA) and ...

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  • Coastal food webs greatly impacted by ecosystem engineers

    6 Apr 2016

    A new international study reveals that ecosystem engineers, such as sea-grass, cordgrass and mussels, can create the perfect habitat for themselves and other species, making them an invaluable tool for the ...

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  • New research says dodo stood proudly upright

    22 Mar 2016

    Today, exactly 150 years after the first reconstruction of a dodo skeleton, a new monograph on this giant pigeon which became extinct in the 17th century was published. For the first time ever, the 15th Memoir of the ...

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  • Viruses able to adapt infection strategy during microbial population booms

    21 Mar 2016

    The growth in an ecosystem’s microbial population isn’t necessarily accompanied by a rise in the number of viruses who infect and destroy it, a new study has revealed. The study, published yesterday in Nature, ...

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  • Major progress on global biodiversity observation system

    14 Mar 2016

    Great steps towards the development of a global monitoring system for changes in biodiversity have been made in the EU Horizon 2020 project GLOBIS-B. This breakthrough in global collaboration was achieved during a ...

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  • Corina Brussaard to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

    14 Mar 2016

    Corina Brussaard, professor by special appointment of Viral Ecology at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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  • More Sumatran orangutans than previously thought

    5 Mar 2016

    A larger number of Sumatran orangutans live in the wild than previously thought, a new survey has revealed. The research team behind the survey, however, warn that continuing deforestation is likely to reduce their ...

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  • Researchers successfully breed threatened coral species to full sexual maturity

    1 Feb 2016

    Researchers from the University of Amsterdam, SECORE International and the Carmabi Marine Research Station have for the first time successfully raised laboratory-bred colonies of the critically endangered Caribbean ...

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  • Pim de Voogt in special edition of American Chemical Society

    26 Jan 2016

    Research of UvA professor Pim de Voogt and colleagues of the KWR Watercycle Research Institute, the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Waterworks and Wageningen University & Research, is published in a special edition ...

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  • Large variability in abundance of viruses that infect ocean microorganisms

    26 Jan 2016

    Viruses infect more than humans or plants. For microorganisms in the oceans – including those that capture half of the carbon taken out of the atmosphere every day – viruses are a major threat. A recently published ...

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  • Understanding sexual selection: which sex leads the dance?

    18 Jan 2016

    Astrid Groot, associate professor at the UvA Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, received an NWO Earth and Life Sciences open program grant for the research project 'Understanding sexual selection: ...

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  • Environmental policy causes imbalance in phosphorus and nitrogen levels of the North Sea

    18 Jan 2016

    In recent decades, European environmental policy has aimed to improve water quality through the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus loads in surface waters. The measures taken were much more effective at the removal ...

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  • NWO–ALW open program grant for Astrid Groot

    14 Jan 2016

    Astrid Groot received a NWO–ALW open program grant for the project “Understanding sexual selection: which sex leads the dance when both are signallers?”

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  • Corals fuel sponge engine in tropical and deep-sea reefs

    12 Jan 2016

    In 2013 an international research team, including Jasper de Goeij from the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, found an answer to Darwin's reef paradox: how one of the world’s ...

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  • Publication of Crystal McMichael in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

    5 Jan 2016

    Comment on Clement et al. 2015 ‘The domestication of Amazonia before European conquest’ was published on 23 December 2015 (authors: C. H. McMichael, D. R. Piperno, M. B. Bush)

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  • New Year’s Eve fireworks cause mass exodus of birds

    5 Jan 2016

    Birds flee to unusual heights on the most noisy night of the year. Judy Shamoun-Baranes, of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, wrote a blog post about this specific bird’s behaviour on New Year’s ...

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  • Bart Nolet, professor by special appointment of Waterfowl Movement Ecology

    22 Dec 2015

    Dr B.A. Nolet (1961) has been named professor by special appointment of Waterfowl Movement Ecology at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science. The chair was established by the Netherlands Institute for ...

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  • Amsterdam Water Science to hold international water management symposium

    9 Nov 2015

    Amsterdam Water Science, a new initiative by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), will hold its inaugural launch during a two-day water management symposium on 25 and 26 November 2015.

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  • Launch of website AWS

    9 Nov 2015

    Amsterdam Water Science, the new water research collaboration between VU Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam proudly announces the launch of its new website.

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  • Science Research at UvA-VU: Amsterdam Water Science

    3 Nov 2015

    The water in and around Amsterdam – that's the focus of the new Amsterdam Water Science consortium (AWS). On 25 and 26 November, the consortium will be officially launched with a symposium. The decision to fund AWS ...

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  • IBED-researchers co-author winning book Jan Wolkersprijs

    27 Oct 2015

    UvA researchers Gerard Oostermeijer, Sheila Luijten and Koos Biesmeijer, all part of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, made a large contribution to the book ‘Not without each other – flowers and ...

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  • Griffon vultures measure the weather

    15 Oct 2015

    Data generated by GPS tracking devices used in the University of Amsterdam (UvA) Bird Tracking System (UvA-BiTS) to study bird behaviour have such a high level of accuracy that they can be used to deduce weather ...

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  • Amsterdam Science Talent Scholarship for 14 Faculty of Science students

    6 Oct 2015

    On Thursday 1 October, fourteen Faculty of Science students received the Amsterdam Science Talent Scholarship from Rector Magnificus Dymph van den Boom. The Amsterdam Science Talent Scholarship was founded by the ...

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  • Coral’s Delayed Reaction to Devastating Effects of an Oil Spill

    1 Oct 2015

    Oil spills prevent larvae of Caribbean corals from attaching to the reef bottom well after spills are cleaned up

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  • Joint research on Water Sciences in the Netherlands

    21 Sept 2015

    Amsterdam Water Science is a joint research programme of the UvA and VU on Water Sciences in the Netherlands. This initiative integrates research from more than 110 fulltime researchers at the Amsterdam-based ...

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  • Evolution peaks on tropical mountain

    18 Aug 2015

    Mount Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo has an exceptionally high biodiversity. During an expedition, organised by Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Sabah Parks, experts, including Katja Peijnenburg (UvA-IBED) discovered ...

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  • Smart Monitoring grant for Piet Verdonschot and Michiel Kraak

    18 Aug 2015

    Piet Verdonschot and Michiel Kraak (UvA-IBED) received a grant of €320.000 from the Dutch water boards, united in the STOWA (Foundation for Applied Water Research). The to-be appointed PhD student will focus on the ...

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  • Jasper de Goeij on BNR Radio

    11 Aug 2015

    On Thursday August 13, BNR Radio will broadcast an interview of Jasper de Goeij

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  • Marc Davidson appointed Endowed Chair at the University of Maastricht

    1 Aug 2015

    Marc Davidson has been appointed, per 1 August 2015, Endowed Chair of Philosophy of sustainable development from a humanistic perspective at the International Centre for Integrated assessment and Sustainable ...

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  • Veni grant for 10 Faculty of Science researchers

    17 July 2015

    Twenty-three recent doctorate recipients have been awarded a Veni grant from the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for research at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the UvA’s Academic Medical ...

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  • NWO open competition grant for Daniel Kissling

    1 July 2015

    W. Daniel Kissling (UvA-IBED) received a €230,000 grant from the open competition programme of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), which will be used to fund a 3-year postdoc position. The ...

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  • Abrupt cooling in Europe

    5 June 2015

    A new reconstruction of past climate change shows that a warm climate in northern Europe can be hit by a sudden cooling associated with an interruption of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation. An international team ...

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  • Wastewater analysis – New data multi-city study on drug wastewater analysis released

    4 June 2015

    New findings of the largest European study on illicit drugs in wastewater analysis will be published today by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in Lisbon as part of the EMCDDA ...

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  • Butterflies in sharp decline

    27 May 2015

    The diversity of butterflies has changed since 1900. A new study now provides the first inventory underlining the decline of butterflies in Denmark. It shows that twelve species (10% of Danish butterfly species) have ...

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  • Nature prefers chaos on the rocks

    25 May 2015

    Plants and animals in natural ecosystems do not always settle at a stable equilibrium. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam present the first field evidence for chaos among multiple interacting species, based ...

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  • NWO grant for interdisciplinary research project to strengthen women’s food entrepreneurship

    8 May 2015

    In a unique interdisciplinary research project, Nicky Pouw (Amsterdam Institute for Social Sciences Research, AISSR) and Boris Jansen (Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, IBED) will study possibilities ...

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  • NWO award for research on cyanobacterial control

    6 May 2015

    Researchers Dr Hans Matthijs and Dr Petra Visser of the University of Amsterdam's (UvA) Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) have received a grant within the Netherlands Organisation for ...

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  • Two Faculty of Science subject areas listed in QS World University Rankings top 50

    29 Apr 2015

    In the QS World University Rankings by Subject, published on Tuesday 28 April, Geography and Linguistics of the Faculty of Science are in the top 50.

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  • Heathlands more susceptible to climate change due to landscape management

    29 Mar 2015

    Dutch heathlands are a typical ‘cultural landscape’ that cannot exist without landscape management. A new study by a European science team, which included Dr Albert Tietema of the University of Amsterdam, shows how ...

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  • Science faculties UvA-VU launch popular science magazine

    26 Mar 2015

    The first issue of the popular science magazine ‘Amsterdam Science’ was officially released earlier today during the Dies Natalis celebrations of the UvA’s Faculty of Science. A joint initiative of the University of ...

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  • Science Research at UvA-VU: Earth Surface Science

    24 Mar 2015

    Chemicals in drugs end up in our waste water and in the environment. Fortunately, some microorganisms may be able to break down these harmful substances. Exactly how these bacteria do this is being jointly ...

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  • Marie Curie Fellowships awarded to thirteen UvA researchers

    20 Mar 2015

    A Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship has been awarded to thirteen researchers for research projects at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The projects will focus, among other things, on sexual communication between ...

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  • Rare glimpse into how coral procreates could aid future conservation

    19 Mar 2015

    A rare and threatened Caribbean coral species has for the first time been successfully bred and raised in the lab, according to research conducted by researchers of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem ...

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  • Neither more food nor better food – still fish biomass increases

    9 Mar 2015

    To increase the biomass of fish, contemporary ecological theory predicts that either the amount of food or the quality of the food has to increase. In a recent publication in Nature Communications researchers of Umeå ...

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  • Horizon 2020 Grants for Faculty of Science researchers

    3 Feb 2015

    Horizon 2020, the EU programme for research and innovation, has granted three Faculty of Science projects a total of more than EUR 1.5 million. These projects are concerned with large-scale database applications ...

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  • PhD in the spotlight: Jamie McLaren

    3 Feb 2015

    Canadian national Jamie McLaren will be awarded his doctorate degree at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on 4 February. McLaren studied bird migration as a part of his doctoral research at the Institute for ...

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  • Bednets and malaria vaccines not always good combination in fight against malaria

    27 Jan 2015

    The use of malaria vaccines combined with a bednet can be counter-productive in some cases and can even exacerbate the problem. This follows research carried out by an international team led by Yael Artzy-Randrup ...

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  • Why are tropical rainforests so diverse?

    22 Jan 2015

    Tropical rainforests have the largest number of species on Earth and an astonishing variation of life forms, such as climbing palms. A new study led by Daniel Kissling of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem ...

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  • Amsterdam Water Science consortium receives AAA funding

    20 Jan 2015

    The Amsterdam Water Science consortium has received start-up capital from the Amsterdam Academic Alliance (AAA). These funds will give VU University Amsterdam (Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences) and the University ...

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  • PhD in the spotlight: Peter Demaeght

    20 Jan 2015

    Peter Demaeght (1984) will be awarded his doctorate degree at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on 23 January. During his doctoral research at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), he studied ...

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  • Chasing sea butterflies in one of the World’s largest oceans

    19 Jan 2015

    Two months ago Alice Burridge, PhD candidate at Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre Leiden, joined an international oceanographic expedition across the Atlantic ...

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  • Orangutan produces human-like sounds

    12 Jan 2015

    Orangutans have the ability to produce vowel and consonant-like sounds similar to those of human speech. This is the finding of new research conducted by an international team of scientists, among them researchers ...

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  • In Memoriam Maurice Sabelis (1950-2015)

    9 Jan 2015

    Maurice Sabelis passed away on Wednesday, 7 January 2015, after an illness of two years, during which he remained scientifically active until the last moment.

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  • NWO and water companies will study environmental risks during shale gas extraction

    19 Dec 2014

    The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), together with KWR Watercycle Research Institute, have started a four-year research programme focussing on the environmental risks for water systems during ...

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  • Students present glacier research to King Willem-Alexander

    18 Dec 2014

    Students Darko Radakovic and Rachael Chambers of the master Earth Sciences presented their glacier experiment to the Dutch king Willem-Alexander at the occasion of 50 years of European cooperation in space on 16 ...

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  • Large water management project funded by NWO-STW

    18 Dec 2014

    On 15 December 2015 a large joint project of the ESS group of IBED and the Department of Geoscience and Engineering of TU Delft was funded in the WATER 2014 call of STW – NWO. Within the project lead researchers Timo ...

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  • Pim de Voogt, professor of Chemico-Biological Interactions in Aquatic Ecosystems

    18 Dec 2014

    Dr W.P. de Voogt (1952) has been appointed professor of Chemico-Biological Interactions in Aquatic Ecosystems at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science.

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  • Peter de Ruiter, professor of Soil Systems Ecology

    18 Dec 2014

    Professor P.C. de Ruiter (1952) has been named professor of Soil Systems Ecology at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science.

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  • 2014 Jongmans medal awarded to palynologist Dr Bas van Geel

    9 Dec 2014

    In recognition of his palaeoecological studies, Dr Bas van Geel was awarded the 2014 Jongmans Medal for excellence in Palaeobotany and Palynology during the opening of the 9th Palynological Conference in Padova.

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  • TEDx talks by two IBED scientists

    8 Dec 2014

    During the 2014 TEDx Amsterdam event on 28 November, two IBED scientist gave a short talk ‘beyong the wall’ in Vondel CS. Dr Judy Shamoun-Baranes talked about ‘Birds on the Move’, while Dr Sebastiaan de Vet went ...

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  • Micropia: a museum dedicated to the smallest life forms

    8 Dec 2014

    The smallest forms of life on Earth are now exhibited in a brand new museum called ‘Micropia’. IBED scientists contributed to the realization of this unique museum, which is affiliated to the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam.

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  • New Insights into the Paleobiology of the Dodo presented

    6 Nov 2014

    Researcher Kenneth Rijsdijk from UvA-IBED and colleague’s will present new insights of the evolving of the extinct dodo at the Conference of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology on Thursday 6 November. These ...

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  • United they stand: self-organisation makes mussel beds robust

    22 Oct 2014

    Natural ecosystems often develop distinct spatial patterns. Research from the University of Amsterdam, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and the ...

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  • Peter de Ruiter to be appointed new IBED director

    16 Sept 2014

    Professor Peter de Ruiter will be appointed professor of Soil Systems Ecology at the UvA’s Faculty of Science and director of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED). He will assume his duties ...

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  • Ermine moths singular in plant choice

    15 Sept 2014

    One species of moth can subsist on a particular plant type, while another can’t. Why? Katja Hora has been exploring the way in which ermine moths choose their host plant and, more in particular, the genetic ...

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  • Rising CO2 levels will intensify algal blooms across the globe

    14 Aug 2014

    Rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere will stimulate harmful algal blooms at a global level. This warning is issued by UvA scientists Jolanda Verspagen and Jef Huisman on the basis of new mathematical models, ...

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  • Lowlands University presents: Ewald Engelen, Frank Linde and Wouter Vansteelant

    11 Aug 2014

    Coolpolitics and Lowlands will give a stage to science at Lowlands 2014. At Lowlands University, UvA researchers Ewald Engelen, Frank Linde and Wouter Vansteeland will give lectures on global inequality, the Higgs ...

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  • Weather conditions determine migration speed of raptors

    7 Aug 2014

    Researchers at the UvA’s Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) have determined the influence of wind and thermals on the migration speed of raptors. Based on their migratory journeys between Europe ...

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  • Africa’s great apes threatened by growth in oil palm plantations

    11 July 2014

    The growing demand for palm oil threatens the survival of Africa’s great ape species. This is the conclusion of a continent-wide analysis conducted by an international team of researchers, including Serge Wich, ...

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  • Future of emperor penguins on thin ice

    7 July 2014

    By the end of this century, climate change will have cut the worldwide population of emperor penguins to a fraction of what it is today. This finding, which comes out of a study conducted by an international team of ...

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  • The success of rogue online pharmacies: around two thirds of Viagra may be illegal

    3 July 2014

    At least two-thirds of the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil (Viagra) consumed in the Netherlands may be illegal. In a letter published on bmj.com, a team of researcher including Prof. Pim de Voogt of the ...

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  • Geodiversity of Alpine geo-ecosystems

    22 June 2014

    A first comprehensive inventory of the archive function of alpine landforms and the crucial role of geodiversity has been published by researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) in ...

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  • Karsten Kalbitz one of most-cited UvA researchers

    19 June 2014

    Five UvA professors have been listed as the most cited researchers of 2014. Dr. Karsten Kalbitz, professor in Earth Surface Science at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is one of them.

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  • Peter van Tienderen appointed Vice-Dean Faculty of Science

    16 June 2014

    Prof. Peter van Tienderen, professor of Experimental Plant Systematics, will be appointed Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Science. He will be taking up his new position as of 1 October 2014 and succeeds Prof. Ben ...

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  • Serge Wich, professor by special appointment of Conservation of the Great Apes

    13 June 2014

    Professor S. Wich (1969) has been appointed professor by special appointment of Conservation of the Great Apes at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science (FNWI). This special chair has been designated ...

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  • Conserving the Andean highlands

    3 June 2014

    A newly published e-book ‘Avances en investigación para la conservación de los páramos andinos’ by CONDESAN bundles recent studies on the Páramo en Jalca ecosystems in Peru and Equador. These studies were executed ...

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  • Quan-Xing Liu receives 2013 Chinese governmental award

    3 June 2014

    Researcher Quan-Xing Liu received the ‘2013 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Chinese Students Abroad’. He is currently working as postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Biodiversity and ...

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  • Frost weathering of volcanic glass can increase health hazards

    2 June 2014

    Weathering of volcanic glass produces particles that can increase respiratory health hazards and complicate the estimation of volcanic explosivity of volcanoes. These results were recently published in the Bulletin ...

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  • Analyses of wastewater detect illicit drug use in 42 European cities

    27 May 2014

    Wastewaters of 42 European cities have been analysed on an European-wide scale to establish the illicit drug use of their inhabitants. The results of these wastewater analyses were published in the scientific journal ...

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  • Two prestigious VIDI fellowships awarded to IBED scientists

    20 May 2014

    Isabel Smallegange and Merijn Kant, both researchers at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Dynamics (IBED), have been awarded a prestigious VIDI fellowship within the Innovational Research Incentives ...

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  • Birdwatching 2.0: citizen science with a smartphone app

    15 May 2014

    Why does a bird land in the middle of a residential neighbourhood instead of a beautiful forest? And why do some birds return to the same place over and over again? Everyone can contribute to the scientific study to ...

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  • Two student teams win European centrifuge competition

    8 May 2014

    Two teams composed of Master and PhD students from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics have been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to perform their experiments under higher levels of ...

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  • Mites and insects hijack bacterial gene to prevent cyanide poisoning

    8 May 2014

    Many plants defend themselves against attacks from plant-eating animals and insects by releasing the highly poisonous compound cyanide (HCN). Some insects and mites can thrive on toxic cyanogenic plants,which has ...

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  • Festive launch of the ‘Vogel het uit!’ smartphone app

    7 May 2014

    On 14 May at 16.30 the team ‘Vogel het uit!’ from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) will officially launch their smartphone app for bird research during a festive event in science centre ...

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  • Hal Caswell receives Mindel C. Sheps award for mathematical demography

    7 May 2014

    Hal Caswell, professor of Mathematical Demography and Ecology, received the 2014 Mindel C. Sheps Award for his contributions to the field of mathematical demography. The award is one of the most prestigious ...

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  • Scientists respond to commitments of Dutch Government to Open Access

    3 May 2014

    The Dutch government is in favour of using Open Access publishing to make scientific literature publicly available. Their enthusiasm is not shared by scientists Peter van Tienderen, director of the Institute for ...

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  • PhD in the Spotlight: Merrin Whatley

    1 May 2014

    The New Zealander Merrin Whatley (born 1980) will be receiving her doctorate at the UvA on 13 May. Her doctoral research at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) found that the plants and ...

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  • What makes birds of a feather flock together?

    25 Apr 2014

    The co-existence of hundreds of bird species is still a mystery to evolutionary biology. A new study led by Daniel Kissling of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) and his French colleague ...

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  • One of the last dodos survived long sea voyage to Japan

    17 Apr 2014

    Intended as a business gift for Japanese royalty, one of the last living dodos survived the trip from Mauritius to Japan in 1647. Up until now, it had been assumed that the dodo was unable to withstand long sea ...

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  • An interdisciplinary look at afforestation management in the Mediterranean

    31 Mar 2014

    A new interdisciplinary research project led by Dr Estela Nadal-Romero will study the effects of afforestation in Mediterranean ecosystems. Nadal-Romero was awarded an FP7 Marie Curie People fellowship and will be ...

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  • Romans reason for massive deforestation of the Dutch landscape

    11 Mar 2014

    Researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) have reconstructed the impact of Roman occupation on the environment near Utrecht using ancient river sediments. Such sediments hold many ...

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  • Workshop climate-vegetation interactions on Mauritius

    10 Mar 2014

    Three researchers of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) travelled to the isle Mauritius last weekend to host a workshop on the isle’s vegetation and climate history for local stakeholders. ...

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  • MEERVOUD grant for Isabel Smallegange

    18 Dec 2013

    Dr Isabel Smallegange was awarded the MEERVOUD grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The MEERVOUD programme aims to increase the number of female researchers in the position of ...

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  • Likelihood of death doesn’t always increase with age

    11 Dec 2013

    Different species of plants and animals age in very different ways. In fact, in some species, the likelihood of death actually decreases the older they get. These findings, made by an international team of ...

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  • New generation of flame retardants more hazardous than previously thought

    11 Dec 2013

    Following the ban on a number of brominated flame retardants, compounds used to mitigate incendiary risks of a wide range of consumer products, halogen-free flame retardants have been proposed as alternatives despite ...

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  • STW technology foundation and businesses invest in Green Defence Against Pests programme

    5 Dec 2013

    Coordinated by University of Amsterdam (UvA) biologist Michel Haring, the Green Defence Against Pests, or GAP, programme is one of the five 'Perspective Programmes' receiving funding from the STW technology ...

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  • Andreas Bonn Medal awarded to Sebastiaan de Vet

    29 Nov 2013

    Once every 5 years the Society for the promotion of Natural Sciences, Medicine and Surgery (GNGH) awards the Andreas Bonn medal in the fields of natural sciences, exact sciences and medicine for original PhD ...

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  • Non-stick coating substances found in drinking water

    18 Nov 2013

    The presence of perfluoroalkyl acids in drinking water in the Netherlands indicates that current water purification methods are inadequate in preventing exposure to these possibly harmful substances. This is the ...

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  • Explore and download spatial data with the new ‘UvA Geoportal’

    7 Nov 2013

    A new web-based ‘UvA Geoportal’ allows educational and academic users to explore and exchange spatial datasets. The web portal is an initiative of the GIS-studio at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem ...

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  • IBED researchers take a leading role in European radar network for monitoring airborne animal movement

    7 Nov 2013

    ‘European Network for the Radar surveillance of Animal Movement’ (ENRAM) is a new European Cooperation in Science and Technology (EU-COST). During the official kick-off on 21 October scientist Judy Shamoun-Baranes of ...

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  • 'Vogel het uit!' wins Academic Year Prize 2013

    24 Oct 2013

    The ‘Vogel het uit!’ project has won the 2013 Academic Year Prize for the best communication plan for scientific research. The project aims to involve people who enjoy the outdoors in a high-tech study of bird behaviour.

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  • Sponge faeces as the driving force behind tropical coral reefs

    3 Oct 2013

    How can coral reefs, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth, survive in nutrient-poor tropical waters, like an oasis in a marine desert? That question, also known as Darwin’s Paradox, seems to be ...

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  • 'Vogel het uit!' finalist for prestigious Academic Year Prize

    1 Oct 2013

    For the first time, a team led by researchers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) has made it to the finals of the Academic Year Prize. The ‘Vogel het uit!’ project was proposed by an interdisciplinary team led by ...

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  • Piet Verdonschot, professor by special appointment of Wetland Restoration Ecology

    22 Aug 2013

    Dr P.F.M. Verdonschot (1955) has been appointed professor by special appointment of Wetland Restoration Ecology at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science. The chair was established on behalf of the ...

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  • The art of IBED’s science

    8 Aug 2013

    Science is sometimes closer to art than one may think. Three new art projects were opened this summer at the Science Park Amsterdam. ‘Steps of knowledge’ by artist Nienke Korthof features images of scientific studies ...

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  • Mussel beds are ‘as strong as steel’

    2 July 2013

    Mussel beds are not a random clustering of mussels, but they contain patterns that resemble the arrangement of molecules and atoms in materials like bronze, steel or polymers. Post-doc Quan-Xing Liu of the University ...

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  • Marino Marinković wins Joep van den Bercken Prize 2013

    25 June 2013

    Marinković received this prize from the Dutch Toxicology Society for his PhD thesis ‘Gene expression in toxicant-exposed chironomids’, which he prepared at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) ...

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  • “Vogel het Uit!” in the finals for the Academic Year Prize 2013

    14 June 2013

    A multidisciplinary team led by Prof. Willem Bouten and Dr. Judy Shamoun-Baranes of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam reached the finals of the Academic Year Prize ...

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  • Giant viruses over the dike

    11 June 2013

    “We cracked the DNA-code of a giant algae virus; this is the first algae virus that belongs to the ‘Giant Viruses’”, concludes prof. Dr Corina Brussaard of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the ...

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  • Dubbeloratie Gerard Muijzer & Corina Brussaard

    7 June 2013

    Gerard Muijzer stelt, in het eerste deel van deze dubbeloratie, dat het bestuderen van microbiële levensgemeenschappen met behulp van een systeembiologische benadering ons volledig inzicht kan geven in de interacties ...

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  • Human epidemiology in sewage research received European Marie Curie ITN grant

    11 May 2013

    The European Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) grants €4.2 million to research entitled ‘A new paradigm in drug use and human health risk assessment: Sewage profiling at the community level’ (SEWPROF). Prof ...

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  • Rice cultivation does not cut atmospheric CO2

    20 Mar 2013

    Rice cultivation does not cut levels of atmospheric CO2. Yet, rice cultivation has been approved for use to compensate CO2 emissions from sources such as coal-fired power stations.

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  • PhD in the Spotlight: Gillian Kopittke

    20 Mar 2013

    On 3 April, Gillian Kopittke of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) will obtain her doctorate degree. Her research has revealed that the soil of the heath at Oldebroek (the Netherlands) is ...

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  • Rice cultivation does not lead to reduced atmospheric CO2 concentrations

    19 Mar 2013

    Rice cultivation does not lead to a reduction of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the atmosphere. Rice cultivation is nonetheless used to compensate CO2 emissions from other sources such as coal fired power plants.

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  • More New Species in Geologically Dynamic Region

    7 Mar 2013

    Mountain formation stimulates increased biodiversity. This is what Carina Hoorn of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and colleagues from the Senckenberg (Germany) and Gothenburg Botanical Garden (Sweden) propose in a ...

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  • Prof. dr. C.P.D. Brussaard Special Chair Viral Ecology

    22 Feb 2013

    Dr C.P.D. Brussaard (1964) has been named Professor by Special Appointment of Viral Ecology at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of its Faculty of Science ...

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  • Prof. dr. J.C. Biesmeijer Special Chair Functional Biology

    21 Feb 2013

    Professor J.C. Biesmeijer (1964) has been named Professor by Special Appointment of Functional Biodiversity at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of its ...

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  • Common swifts make mysterious twilight ascents

    18 Feb 2013

    Common swifts climb to altitudes of up to 2.5 km both at dawn and dusk. This unexpected behaviour was discovered by geo-ecologist Dr Adriaan Dokter of the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Institute for Biodiversity ...

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  • Exhibition of André Kuiper’s photos from Space

    30 Nov 2012

    During his record-breaking stay on board the International Space Station, Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers took several photos of Earth that are being used for education in the GIS studio of the Institute for ...

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  • Scientists map climate change in a new way

    29 Nov 2012

    An international consortium of scientists developed a new way to map long term climate change. On 29 November 2012 the group that includes scientists from Utrecht Univeristy, the KNMI, the University of Amsterdam and ...

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  • Tomatoes going wild: cultivated tomato pimped with resistances of a natural species

    26 Nov 2012

    Researchers of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) and the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) gave cultivated tomatoes back some of their primal natural powers.

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  • Three ERC Advanced Grants for IBED scientists

    19 Nov 2012

    Three scientists connected to the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), André de Roos, Gerard Muijzer and Hal Caswell, each acquired one of the very prestigious Advanced Grant of the European ...

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  • Vacancy Professor of Conservation Great Apes.

    12 Nov 2012

    The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) currently has a vacancy for a Professor (by special appointment) of Conservation of the Great Apes.

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  • Volendam uses more drugs than London, Paris or Milan

    8 Nov 2012

    On request of the television program Spuiten en Slikken, IBED researcher Pim de Voogt studied the use of cocaine and XTC in the Volendam, Edam, Monnickendam region. In the 11 November 2012 episode of the show, he ...

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  • Sponges: the heroes of the oceans

    30 Oct 2012

    In the popular scientific television show Labyrint, marine biologist Jasper de Goeij of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) explained how mimicking coral reefs may help develop sustainable ...

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  • Wide Range of Applications for Sea Bacteria

    25 Oct 2012

    Scientists at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) are going to try to find and win previously unknown micro-organisms from the sea. These micro-organisms may ...

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  • Prey take revenge on their childhood enemies

    16 Oct 2012

    Rates of predation by an adult prey on juveniles of a predator species are greater when the adult prey has been exposed as a juvenile to adults of this predator species. This is the outcome of a study of three mite ...

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  • Follow marine biologist Katja Peijnenburg

    11 Oct 2012

    Marine biologist Katja Peijnenburg of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics currently participates on a marine expedition on the Atlantic to study marine zooplankton. Follow her life blog here to ...

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  • UvA scientist looks back at record-breaking space flight

    12 Sept 2012

    Dutch ESA-astronaut André Kuipers enjoyed a national welcome at the beach of Noordwijk on the 30th of August. His homecoming followed a successful and record-breaking stay of 193-days on board the International Space ...

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  • IBED scientist secures prestigious VENI grant

    27 July 2012

    IBED’s Aquatic microbiologist Maayke Stomp has been awarded with the prestigious VENI grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). She will use the grant to analyse the costs and benefits of ...

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  • Analysis of sewage samples proves reliable method to monitor illicit substance use

    26 July 2012

    Analyses of sewage samples from 19 European cities reveal trends in the use of illicit substances across the continent. Results show that Amsterdam has the highest per capita cocaine use in Europe.

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  • Now hiring: five scientists with a passion for studying biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics

    12 July 2012

    To further strengthen its research, the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics is currently seeking five scientists at assistant, associate or full professor level who share its passion for the study of ...

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  • IBED MSc student warns about plastic pollution of the marine environment

    18 June 2012

    In an article in Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, MSc student Jort Hammer assesses the problem of lastic debris polluting the marine environment.

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  • UvA researchers show abrupt climatological effects of a solar minimum

    7 May 2012

    In a recent publication in 'Nature Geoscience', a team of researchers including Bas van Geel of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) show new evidence pointing to an important role of the ...

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  • Erosion lab simulates heavy rain fall

    17 Feb 2012

    As a result of climate change, the frequency of extreme rain showers is expected to increase. How will this affect the soil? The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) studies the effects in its ...

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  • 'Secret Signals: odors of plants in distress' visualized by Rogier Arents

    20 Jan 2012

    A phenomenon called 'indirect plant defense' is an important research topic investigated by the population biologists of IBED together with the plant physiologists of SILS at the Faculty of Science. The research has ...

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  • Gullies evidence of water on Mars? Microgravity experiments say perhaps not

    23 Dec 2011

    Gullies on the surface of planet Mars are often interpreted as evidence that water must have been present at its surface at some point in time. However, microgravity research by researchers from the University of ...

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  • New Year’s Eve no cause for celebration for birds

    2 Dec 2011

    Researchers of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) used an operational weather radar to quantify the reactions of birds to the thousands of tons of fireworks set off on New Year’s Eve every ...

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  • Stealthy feeding: why do host plants allow it?

    15 Nov 2011

    The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded a TOP-grant to the IBED Population Biologists Maurice Sabelis, Martijn Egas, Arne Janssen en Merijn Kant to answer this question.

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  • Migratory whales track the phytoplankton spring bloom

    9 Nov 2011

    It is commonly believed that the world’s largest animals, baleen whales, are fasting during their spring migration towards the summer feeding grounds in the Arctic Ocean. However, a new study by Fleur Visser and Jef ...

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  • Climate brochure presented to members of the Dutch Parliament

    18 Oct 2011

    On 4 October 2011, the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) presented the document ‘Climate change, science and debate’ to the Permanent Committee for Infrastructure and the Environment of the Dutch ...

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  • IBED scientists test new theory to explain declining biodiversity

    3 Oct 2011

    Paul van Rijn and Maurice Sabelis of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) acquired a grant from the ‘Biodiversity Works’ programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) ...

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  • Putting plankton on the map

    15 July 2011

    Maayke Stomp and Jef Huisman of the University of Amsterdam and colleagues at Michigan State University have been the first to map phytoplankton biodiversity across the USA. Data from 540 lakes show a decrease of ...

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  • Donath medal for Jasper Vrugt

    7 July 2011

    Dr Jasper Vrugt has won the very prestigious Donath medal of the Geological Society of America (GSA) for his work in Geohydrology. He is the first Dutchman to win this prize that consists of a gold medal and a ...

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  • Sex sells, but does it also select?

    7 June 2011

    Sexual attraction is the first step in determining who mates with whom. The evolution of sexual communication thus plays a pivotal role in the process of speciation. It also forms the core of the research of Dr. ...

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