prof. dr. ir. M. (Theo) Spek

Prof.dr.ir. Theo Spek (1963) is a full professor of Landscape History at the University of Groningen since 2010. Between 1990 and 2003 he worked as a researcher and project leader in landscape studies at Wageningen University and Research Centre. Between 2004 and 2010 he worked as a programme leader in cultural heritage studies at the National Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. In 2010 he founded the Centre for Landscape Studies at this university, dedicated to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary landscape studies.  Research topics are: 1. Wetland landscapes along the Wadden Sea and Zuiderzee 800-1600 AD; 2. Landscape, society and economy in the Pleistocene sandy areas of the Low Countries; 3. Historical ecology as a tool for the integration of nature and heritage management; 4. The cultural biography of landscape as a tool for communicative planning and heritage management.