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Staff members with discipline Environmental Sciences

Academia develops at the interface of different fields. This is one reason why the University of Groningen is home to a wide range of fields, each with a great number of subject specialists. The overview below, which is based on a standard categorization of fields, will help you find the right expert for each field. If you cannot find the expert you are looking for in this list, try searching via a related field or faculty; you may find him or her there.

Overview of all disciplines

Modelling energy and environmental items from a systems perpective. Examples: National electricity production, Household energy (direct & indirect) consumption, Decentralized energy storage, Energy analysis
No picture available
Contact
r.m.j.benders rug.nl
+31 50 36 34604
Function
Researcher Energy and Environment
My research is dedicated to facilitate the energy transition process. I investigate this process from a system perspective with a sharp eye for detail. I am especially interested in solutions to effectively integrate the power, heat, and passive energy systems. My expertise ranges from long term investment planning to short term strategies to balance the power system.

My experience encompasses energy systems models like power system simulation models, bottom-up technology-oriented models based on linear programming, top-down macro-economic models like computable general equilibrium models, agent based models, and geographical explicit models. With my expertise, I know how to combine (softlink) the strengths of different models, and interpret their results in the light of their weaknesses. Models I am familiar with include Plexos, MARKAL, TIMES, TIMER, WorldScan, and ArcGIS at national, European, and global scale.

I supervise European and national research projects. Topics of recent projects:
wind and solar power integration in the European power system (based on hourly modelling); impact of energy efficieny on electricity and heat demand patterns; identification of optimal placement of photovoltaic systems and wind across Europe; demand response at a large scale steel plant; combining energy efficiency measures, bio-based technologies and CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in the industry.

As supervisor of PhDs and Master Students I can explore new ideas in the energy efficiency and energy systems modelling research.

I am always interested in discussing cooperation and future opportunities.
prof. dr. ir. M. A. (Machteld) van den Broek
Contact
m.a.van.den.broek rug.nl
Function
Adjunct Hoogleraar
Toxicology and public health studies in ethnic communities. César Yanko Cervantes Benavides is a researcher of Latin American origin, focused on vulnerability studies in indigenous groups. These vulnerabilities include social and racial segregation, the consequences of climate change, genotoxic and neurotoxic effects on human health due to the consumption of water contaminated with heavy metals, as well as the analysis of public policies developed for ethnic minorities. He is currently working at the Campus Fryslan, designing a research project on the vulnerability faced by ethnic groups in arid areas with water scarcity, following exposure to contaminants such as arsenic, due to the consumption of water contaminated by effluents from mining and agricultural activities. His study also focuses on the analysis of public health policies more oriented to the worldview of the ethnic minorities themselves. The main objective of his research is to characterize the perception of environmental risk in the Yaqui ethnic group in southern Sonora, Mexico, and to determine, through biological screening, the level of exposure to heavy metals and malnutrition experienced by ethnic minorities such as the Yaqui ethnic group.
C. (Cesar Yanko Cervantes Benavides) Cervantes Benavides, MSc
Contact
c.cervantes.benavides rug.nl
Function
PhD student
Atmospheric measurements of greenhouse gases and related tracers
Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model simulations
H. (Huilin) Chen, Prof Dr
Contact
huilin.chen rug.nl
Function
Associate Professor
Expertise in skin reactions to external chemical, biological and physical agents. Expertise in dermato-epidemiology.
prof. dr. P.J. (Pieter Jan) Coenraads
Contact
p.j.coenraads01 umcg.nl
Function
Professor, Occupational & Environmental Dermatology and Dermato-allergy
Dr. Arjan Conijn has an interest in the interaction of people and water. He mainly studies this interaction from a landscape perspective he developed during his interdisciplinary studies Landscape Architecture (BSc at Wageningen University) and Landscape History (MA at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen). Arjan wrote a dissertation on the changing mentalities on flooding in the Upper Rhine valley at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. After finishing his dissertation he was curious to understand the practice of flood management and started working at a engeneering consultancy firm. As for today he combines work in the field of flood management with elaborative research in the Living dikes project at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
 
Arjan has a particular interest in topics:
- Flood and water management;
- Water related heritage;
- Interdisciplinary landscape approach;
- European landscapes;
- Interaction between practice and academia.

Living dikes
NWO financed project led by dr ir Bas Borsje from Twente University. Together with dr. Mans Schepers, I investigate how the history of coastal landscapes can be used for new coastal defence strategies.
dr. A.M. (Arjan) Conijn
Contact
a.m.conijn rug.nl
Function
Postdoc researcher Living dikes
Field / Discipline
Aerosol Science
Air pollution 
U. (Ulrike) Dusek, Prof Dr
Contact
u.dusek rug.nl
Function
Associate Professor
Field / Discipline
Ongoing research covers energy system integration questions, modelling, transition processes towards low carbon energy systems and related innovation and policy questions. Main key words: Biobased Economy, renewable energy technologies, energy system and scenario analysis and modelling, sustainability assessments of energy systems, alternative transport fuels, decarbonisation of fossil fuels, capture and storage of CO2, hydrogen economy, waste treatment, material & energy efficiency, technological learning and innovation in energy systems, greenhouse gas balances & accounting, energy and research policies.
prof. dr. A.P.C. (André) Faaij
Contact
a.p.c.faaij rug.nl
Function
Distinguished Professor Energy System Analysis
Green Chemistry
T. (Thomas) Freese, MSc
Contact
t.freese rug.nl
Function
PhD Candidate Chemistry
Citizen Science, Social Innovation, Public Participation, Water and Environmental Governance, Smart Cities, Impact Evaluation
M. (Mohammad) Gharesifard, PhD
Contact
m.gharesifard rug.nl
Function
Assistant Professor of citizen science
dr. B. (Bert) Groenewoudt
Contact
b.groenewoudt rug.nl
Function
Professor of ecological landscape history 
Input - Output Analysis
Material-Flow Analysis
Network Analysis
K. (Kaan) Hidiroglu, MSc
Contact
k.hidiroglu rug.nl
Function
PhD Student
Environmental Management System, Industrial Ecology, Circular Economy, Biogas
D.L. (Linh) Hoang, MSc
Contact
d.l.hoang rug.nl
Function
PhD student
Persuasive Communication
prof. dr. J.C.J. (John) Hoeks
Contact
j.c.j.hoeks rug.nl
+31 50 36 37443
Function
Full Professor of Communication and Information Sciences
Klaus Hubacek is a Professor in Science, Technology and Society at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He is chair of Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES) and chair of the board of Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG). Klaus is currently also a visiting professor in geographical sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously he worked or held visiting positions at the University of Leeds, UK, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Normal University, China, the University of Cambridge, UK, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria. His research focus is on conceptualizing and modeling the interactions between human and environmental systems. Klaus has been recently involved in building an integrated climate assessment model funded by Horizon 2020 and on forecasting carbon emissions funded by NASA. Klaus has published over 200 research articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, participatory modeling, management of ecosystems services, land use change and governance. He is recognized as a highly cited researcher with multiple papers in the top 1% by citations. Klaus conducted studies for a number of national agencies in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the U.S., and international institutions such as the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank (IADB).  Klaus was a lead author of the most recent 6th assessment report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) leading chapters on Behavior and Consumption-based Emissions.
K.S. (Klaus) Hubacek, Prof Dr
Contact
k.hubacek rug.nl
+31 50 36 34269
Function
Professor
Atmospheric research, technician
B.A.M. (Bert) Kers
Contact
b.a.m.kers rug.nl
+31 50 36 37144
Function
research assistent
Arctic/Antarctic climate, atmospheric sciences, physical oceanography
M. (Marlen) Kolbe, MSc
Contact
m.kolbe rug.nl
Function
PhD Student
Field / Discipline
Energy Modelling
Biobased Economy
Land use systems
Bioenergy
Integrated Sustainability Assessment
No picture available
Contact
t.lap rug.nl
Function
dr. P.W. (Winnie) Leenes
Contact
p.w.leenes rug.nl
+31 50 36 34872
Function
Land use change
Ecosystem services
GHG emissions
Carbon sequestration
Biodiversity
Peatland use
Forest management
W. (Weier) Liu
Contact
weier.liu rug.nl
Function
Palaeoecology
Climate science
Holocene climate and environments
Water quality assessment 
Hydrochemistry / Biogeochemistry of wetlands
Ecological refugia of northern wetlands
G. (Gunnar) Mallon, Dr
Contact
g.mallon rug.nl
+31 50 36 32830
Function
Assistant Professor in Physical Geography
energy system transtion, multi-level perspective, industrial symbiosis, agent-based modelling
dr. A.S. (Amtul Samie) Maqbool
Contact
a.s.maqbool rug.nl
Function
Atmospheric greenhouse gases, isotope physics
prof. dr. H.A.J. (Harro A J) Meijer
Contact
h.a.j.meijer rug.nl
+31 50 36 34760
Function
Full Professor
My research involves the environmental impacts of food production and the options to reduce the impacts. It includes both the production (agriculture) as the consumption patterns (diets). The research line on sustainable food issues was initiated 25 years ago. In those times very limited number of scientists (20 globally) were interested in this subject. We developed methods to determine environmental impacts of individual food items (Kramer et all, 1999 and Gerbens Leenes & Nonhebel 2000).  A recent overview (Pure and Nemacek, 2018) showed that since then 40.000 scientific papers on this issue have been published globally using methods based on the ones we designed long ago. In the meantime this scientific knowledge have reached the public. People know what (carbon) footprints are and that food production has a large environmental impact. There is a lot of interest in society for this issue. The present nitrogen issue in the Netherlands makes that many organizations are interested/worried and I obtain many requests for interviews and talks. Besides the food issue I also pay attention to biomass production for other purposes, bioenergy, biogas and bioplastics. And of cause the competion beteen food and fuel. I teach in the Msc programm Energy and Environmental Sciences and I am guest lecturing on this subject in a large number of courses at various faculties within our university, at the University of Applied Sciences, and at other universities in The Netherlands and abroad.
dr. ir. S. (Sanderine) Nonhebel
Contact
s.nonhebel rug.nl
+31 50 36 34611
Function
Associate professor environmental sciences
Ecology, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Conservation, Nature Conservation, Sustainable Landscapes
prof. dr. H. (Han) Olff
Contact
h.olff rug.nl
+31 50 36 32214
Function
Professor of Community and Conservation Ecology
Carbon cycle, CO2, greenhouse gases, emissions, numerical modeling, methane, fossil fuels, climate, meterology, data assimilation, isotopes in greenhouse gases, ocean, biosphere, atmosphere, air quality
prof. dr. W. (Wouter) Peters
Contact
w.peters rug.nl
+31 50 36 38637
Function
Professor Atmospheric Composition Modeling
F. (Frank) Pierie
Contact
f.pierie rug.nl
+31 6 5106 7674
Function
Researcher
drs. C.M. (Karin) Ree
Contact
c.m.ree rug.nl
+31 50 36 34132
Function
Coordinator Science Shop, lecturer Science & Society
No picture available
Contact
b.d.roorda umcg.nl
Function
Life Cycle Assessment
D.Y. (Dora) Ruiz Mendez
Contact
d.y.ruiz.mendez rug.nl
Function
PhD student

My research interests and expertise include:
Monitoring of greenhouse gases and (reactive) organic trace gas species.
The global carbon cycle.
High precision measurements of stable isotopes of CO2 (and CH4).
Atmospheric transport of pollutants and their role in atmospheric chemistry and physics.
dr. ir. H.A. (Bert) Scheeren
Contact
h.a.scheeren rug.nl
Function
Researcher and lab coordinator
Research interests

My research is focussed on the complex interaction between people and the natural environment. Some topics related to this broad theme have my particular interest:

- The present perception (and presentation) of past human behaviour.
- Modelling/understanding the way plant remains end up in different types of archaeological context to facilitate more nuanced interpretation.
- Understanding the interaction between ecological, physical-geographical, and cultural forces in various landscape types
- Improving transdisciplinary cooperation and exchange of ideas.
- The relation between Art and Environment. I am co-supervising the PhD project by Anna-Rosja Haveman on Artistic Approaches to the Coastal Landscape of the Netherlands.

Selection of research projects

Living dikes
A NWO financed project led by dr ir Bas Borsje from Twente University. Together with a Postdoc researcher, I will investigate the way new coastal defence strategies will affect the existing landscape and how this is related to the history of coastal landscapes. 

On suitable grounds
A NWO funded project led by prof dr Hans Huisman, dealing with the introduction of crop cultivation in the Netherlands. I co-supervise the PhD-project carried out by Ana Smuk, dealing with palaeoecological analyses.

Fields of opportunity
In 2015, I was awarded a NWO VENI grant to study early crop cultivation in the coastal salt marshes of the Netherlands and Germany. The project has ended, but some papers are currently underway. The project includes collaborations with Prof Dr Karl-Ernst Behre,  Dr Welmoed Out, and Dr Niek Scheepens.
dr. M. (Mans) Schepers
Contact
mans.schepers rug.nl
Function
Assistant professor
Dermato-allergie, eczemen en arbeidsdermatosen
M.L.A. (Marie-Louise) Schuttelaar
Contact
m.l.a.schuttelaar umcg.nl
Function
Dermatologist
A. (Andrea) Scifo, MSc
Contact
a.scifo rug.nl
Function
AMS Operator
Dr Yuli Shan is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Transitions at the University of Birmingham.

Please visit https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/persons/yuli-shan for more information.
Y. (Yuli) Shan, Dr PhD
Contact
y.shan rug.nl
Function
Affilated Researcher
Climate change ecology
N. (Nomikos) Skyllas, MSc
Contact
n.skyllas rug.nl
Function
Environmental science (Polar regions)
Global mercury emissions
Radioecology and environmental distribution of radionuclides
Spatial analysis (GIS)
Python
Data analysis
F. (Frits) Steenhuisen
Contact
f.steenhuisen rug.nl
Function
Researcher
Ethical and social aspects at the interface of natural sciences (especially the life and environmental sciences) and society.
dr. J.A.A. (Sjaak) Swart
Contact
j.a.a.swart rug.nl
Function
Associate professor Science & Society Studies
Paul Upham is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist specializing in energy supply and demand. He works on the social processes involved in energy transitions, at individual, organisation and system levels, and is particularly interested in connecting these levels to provide an integrated understanding. For this purpose, he draws on the literatures of social psychology (e.g. regarding place and public objection to energy infrastructure); socio-technical transitions theory and innovation studies; science and technology studies; and human geography. Previously, Paul has been Chair of Human Behaviour and Sustainable Development at Leuphana University; researcher at the Sussex Energy Group, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex; Visiting Professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at the University of Utrecht; Visiting Professor at the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE); University Senior Research Fellow in the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds; and Senior Research Fellow in Tyndall Centre Manchester and Manchester Business School. He is an Affiliate of the Centre for Integrated Energy Research at the University of Leeds.
P. J. (Paul) Upham, Dr
Contact
p.j.upham rug.nl
Function
Sustainability Transition Studies
Science and Technology Studies
Public participation
Conversation analysis
No picture available
Contact
roel.van.veen rug.nl
Function
I.M. (Iris) Westra, MSc
Contact
i.m.westra rug.nl
+31 6 1145 5077
Function
Phd in Hydrogen
Nature conservation, energy transition, energy cooperatives, science-society dynamics
H.J. (Henny J) van der Windt
Contact
h.j.van.der.windt rug.nl
+31 50 36 32280
Function
Associate Professor
University-Industry collaboration
E. (Esther) de Wit, MA MSc
Contact
e.de.wit rug.nl
+31 50 36 32705
Function
PhD University-Industry collaboration
A.I.M. Younis, MSc
Contact
a.i.m.younis rug.nl
Function
PhD student
A. (Alessandro) Zanchetta, MSc
Contact
a.zanchetta rug.nl
Function
PhD student
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