 |
|
|
| View this newsletter online |
 |
Research School for Socio-Economic and
Natural Sciences of the Environment |
| SENSE e-News |
|
|
  |
Newsletter April 2018
29 March 2018 |
|
 |
| • |
Pavel Kabat (WUR) new director World Meteorological Organization ›› |
| • |
Models show how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C ›› |
| • |
Frank Berendse (WUR): "Nu nuchter nadenken over een echte oplossing voor de Oostvaardersplassen" ›› |
| • |
Nicole van den Berg (UU): Changing lifestyles for the better: quantifying the ins and outs of sustainable behavour ›› |
| • |
Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period ›› |
| • |
Model training for scenario analysis: River export of nutrients from land to sea, 11 May ›› |
| • |
Utrecht Winter School on Earth System Governance 2018, 31 October - 4 November ›› |
| • |
Overview of PhD / postdoc courses April - June ›› |
| • |
Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses ›› |
| • |
B-Wise: Bioinformatics@Wageningen Seminar Series, 3 April ›› |
| • |
Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Seminars (WEES), 5 April ›› |
| • |
SENSE workshop Transdisciplinarity for the Sustainable Development Goals, 6 April ›› |
| • |
Data quality and data visualisation in sustainability science - PBL Young and SENSE Workshop series, 20 April ›› |
| • |
International Conference Water science for impact, 16-18 October ›› |
| • |
2018 Utrecht Conference on Earth System Governance: Governing Global Sustainability in a Complex World - Key Research Insights & New Research Directions, 5-8 November ›› |
| • |
Overview of upcoming events ›› |
| • |
Vacancies at SENSE Partners ›› |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Editorial |
 |
| Making impact |
As of December 2017 the SENSE supporting team was strengthened by Peter Vermeulen (Wageningen University), who temporary replaces SENSE PhD Education coordinator Monique Gulickx. Some of you already met him during a SENSE course, or received mails from him.
Peter did his PhD research "On the consequences of the competition for light between plants using Evolutionary Game Theory" at Utrecht University, and fulfilled several postdoc positions since his graduation. He is therefore well acquainted with the situation and issues of PhD candidates, and is very motivated to make his contribution to further strengthening and developing the SENSE education and network. Recently he joined the last day of two SENSE courses, and he shares his experiences here. .
While sitting in on the last days of two SENSE PhD courses, Grasping Sustainability and Aquatic Ecology, it was clear that there was at least one overarching theme. On both days discussions took place on the question what the role of a scientist is and should be. It was especially interesting to see that such discussions are a natural way of bringing people together.
The simple fact that discussions took place on the issues that we are all dealing with, including the question of how we can contribute to the greater meaning of it all, acted as a natural binding agent. I hope that the communities that were formed during these courses will stick to our joint promise to keep in touch.
For me, the apparent demand for such discussions that transcend the day to day demands of our research projects also shows the importance of philosophy, something that should remain inherent to the PhD degree.
However, the next step is to be able to take action. Yet, the question remains what collaborations are needed, and what skills we researchers should have to let our science have a meaningful impact on society. Questions that need input from the diverse assembly of the SENSE community in order to solve them. I therefore hope that you all come together on the 6th of April, at the workshop on Transdisciplinarity for the Sustainable Development Goals, organised by SENSE partners from IHE and the University of Twente.
Peter Vermeulen
Temporary WIMEK-SENSE PhD Education coordinator |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SENSE News |
|
| Pavel Kabat (WUR) new director World Meteorological Organization |
 The World Meteorological Organization has appointed Pavel Kabat as its first chief scientist and research director. He will lead the overall strategic direction of the WMO science, and its underlying research activities, including the World Climate Research Programme, the World Weather Research Programme and WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch, which monitors greenhouse gas concentrations, air quality and the ozone layer.
|
|
|
 |
| Models show how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C |
New model-based scenarios show that that there are ways to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C instead of 2.0˚C by 2100. In a research paper published in Nature Climate Change, researchers, among whom several scientists from PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and Utrecht University used several computer models to show that 1.5˚C scenarios will among other things require peaking of greenhouse gas emissions way before 2030, followed by rapid reductions and finally negative emissions.
|
|
|
| Frank Berendse (WUR): "Nu nuchter nadenken over een echte oplossing voor de Oostvaardersplassen" |
Nu de ergste kou het land uit is en de actievoerders met hun balen hooi de Oostvaardersplassen hebben verlaten, is het de hoogste tijd dat we nuchter gaan nadenken over de toekomst van dit prachtige gebied, vindt Frank Berendse, hoogleraar natuurbeheer Wageningen University.
|
|
|
| Blogposts |
|
| Nicole van den Berg (UU): Changing lifestyles for the better: quantifying the ins and outs of sustainable behavour |
 A challenging task – bridging the gap between the qualitative and quantitative disciplines. I have been doing my PhD at the UU researching how sustainable behaviour can be better represented in Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). As I am jumping into the literature, I realize how far and detailed this topic stretches across different disciplines. The enormity of this topic can be overwhelming on the one hand, but also extremely exciting, knowing how much interest there is on encouraging sustainable behaviour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Upcoming PhD Graduations |
|
| Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period |
- Vicente Sedano Núñez
Energy conversion mechanisms and electron transfer in syntrophic propionate-oxidizing microbial consortia
3 April 2018, Wageningen University, Microbiology
- Peerzadi Rumana Hossain
Impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems of Bangladesh
4 April 2018, Wageningen University, Earth System Science
- Maria Fernanda Buitrago Acevedo
4 April 2018, University of Twente, Department of Natural Resources
- Xi Zhu
5 April 2018, University of Twente, Department of Natural Resources
- Zahrah Musa
Satellite - based mitigation and adaptation scenarios for sea level rise in the lower Niger delta
6 April 2018, IHE Delft, River Basin Development
- Mohammadreza Hosseini
Effect of fire occurrence and frequency on topsoil properties and soil (fertility) losses by runoff
9 April 2018, Wageningen University, Soil Physics and Land Management
- Hillary Ndambiri
Economic valuation of air quality in Nairobi, Kenya
10 April 2018, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Environmental Economics
- Jan Willem van Egmond
Alternative application of salinity gradient eenergy systems
11 April 2018, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Dandan Liu
Strategies for Improving Methane Production from CO2 and Electricity in Bioelectrochemical Systems
13 April 2018, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Pepijn de Vries
Targeted selection of existing aquatic in vivo bioassay data in ecotoxicological hazard quantification
13 April 2018, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Ellen Besseling
Micro- and nanoplastic in the aquatic environment - from rivers to whales
16 April 2018, Wageningen University, Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management
- Raquel Vargas-López
Microbial networks for bioremediation of chlorinated ethenes
1 May 2018, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)
- Debora de Block
Entrepreneurship in ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change
7 May 2018, Wageningen University, Water Systems and Global Change
|
|
|
|
| Upcoming Courses |
|
| Model training for scenario analysis: River export of nutrients from land to sea, 11 May |
One day PhD course on the modelling of river export of nutrients from land to sea using the MARINA model and the Global NEWS model. MARINA stands for Model to Assess River Inputs of Nutrients to seAs. Global NEWS stands for global Nutrient Export from WaterSheds. The models aim to better understand how human activities on land contribute to coastal eutrophication at the global and continental scale. The models quantify river export of nutrients by source (Global NEWS and MARINA) and by sub-basin (MARINA) for past and future.
Application deadline: 29 April 2018 |
|
|
|
| Utrecht Winter School on Earth System Governance 2018, 31 October - 4 November |
The Winter School will focus on five themes that form the core focus of the new earth system governance research agenda: 1. Anticipation and Imagination; 2. Adaptiveness and purposeful change; 3. Architecture and Agency; 4. Democracy and Power; 5. Justice and Allocation.
Application deadline: 16 April 2018 |
|
|
|
| Overview of PhD / postdoc courses April - June 2018 |
- Masterclass: Development of rural communities: Evidence for decline and resilience (NEW)
5 April 2018, Wageningen
- Practice based approaches & environmental governance
9-10 April 2018, Wageningen
- ReMaT - Research Management Training for Early-Stage-Researchers
16-17 April 2018, Germany
- PCDI course Employability Outside Academia
20 April, 25 May, 22 June (all Fridays), Utrecht
- Modelling population dynamics with Physiologically Structured Population Models (PSPM)
29 April - 4 May 2018, Ede
- Summerschool: Resilience of living systems – from fundamental concepts to interdisciplinary applications
29 April - 4 May 2018, Lunteren
- Masterclass: An introduction to applied Bayesian Econometrics
30 April 2018, Wageningen
- Advanced Self-organisation of Social Systems
7 May - 3 July 2018, Groningen
- Basic Statistics
8-16 May 2018, Wageningen
- Model training for scenario analysis: River export of nutrients from land to sea
11 May 2018, Wageningen
- Policy and governance theories for analysing water issues
14 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- NCAS Atmospheric Measurement Summer School
14-25 May 2018, Scotland, UK
- STEPS Centre Summer School
14-25 May 2018, Brighton, UK
- Introduction to R for statistical analysis
17-18 May 2018, Wageningen
- Survival Analysis
17-18 May 2018, Wageningen
- Impressions Summer School: Exploring climate change challenges and solution in the real world - From research to practice
21-25 May 2018, Bulgaria
- Advanced Course on Environmental Biotechnology
22 May - 1 June, Delft
- Design of Experiments
23-25 May 2018, Wageningen
- Hands-on Digital Soil Mapping
28 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- World soils and their assessment
28 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- Machine learning for spatial data
28 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- Advanced Course on Economic Regulation (NEW)
28 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- Dilemmas in fieldwork and research ethics: Consent, privacy, and beyond (NEW)
28 May - 1 June 2018, Wageningen
- IIASA Young Scientists Summer Programme
1 June - 31 August 2018, Laxenburg, Austria
- Linear Models
8, 11 and 12 June 2018, Wageningen
- Generalized Linear Models
14-15 June 2018, Wageningen
- 14th Summer School on Toxic Compounds in the Environment 2018
18-22 June 2018, Czech Republic
- Mixed Linear Models
21-22 June 2018, Wageningen
- Conflicting demands in European Forests - a wicked problem?
24 June - 2 July 2018, Wageningen
- Navigating Brussels with ELLS 2018 (NEW)
25-27 June 2018, Belgium
- BioBusiness Summer School
25-29 June 2018, Amsterdam
- Summer school Political Ecologies between Power, Political Economy and Post-Truth
27 June - 3 July 2018, Wageningen
- The precautionary principle in sustainability transitions: Thinking forwards, looking backwards, acting (NEW)
28 June - 4 July 2018, Hungary
- Summer School Unstable geographies of play, ownership and empowerment; An Action Research Event
28-30 June 2018, Amsterdam
|
| Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses |
|
In case you are interested in either participating or teaching a course that is currently not in the programme, please do not hesitate and contact us with your suggestions. |
|
|
| Discussion Groups |
|
| B-Wise: Bioinformatics@Wageningen Seminar Series, 3 April |
In Wageningen, a large number of researchers routinely apply state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools or develop novel algorithms to analyze their data. Through B-Wise, the Bioinformatics@Wageningen Seminar Series, we aim to bring people together on a regular basis to exchange ideas, discuss problems, present our research and learn from each other.
Each first Tuesday of the month we meet over lunch (starting at 12.00), followed by two short scientific presentations on bioinformatics research in various groups. |
|
|
|
| Wageningen Evolution and Ecology Seminars (WEES), 5 April |
WEES is a continuing series of stimulating seminars on contemporary topics in evolution and ecology. We aim to bring together different groups at Wageningen University using a variety of systems, but with a common interest in evolutionary and ecological questions. For this series we invite researchers from all over the world that have leading roles in their field. After the talk there will be drinks for an informal discussion and a dinner in town with the speaker.
This month's seminar: Israel Pagán, Assistant Professor, Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain: Extreme tactics of plant virus transmission: from seed dispersion to parasitic castration |
|
|
| Upcoming Events |
|
| SENSE workshop Transdisciplinarity for the Sustainable Development Goals, 6 April |
How to further transdisciplinarity and co-production of knowledge in progressing the Sustainable Development Goals?
Within the context of a graduate school it is challenging to provide a setting in which post-graduates, focussed on a single PhD topic, can develop the broad, transdisciplinary competencies that are needed to align knowledge with action. This workshop will, therefore, explore how to complement discipline-specific skills with a transdisciplinary approach needed for more sustainable air, land and water management.
The intention of this workshop is to explore tangible next steps for future actions together, whether this be projects, or further exchanges of ideas and opportunities. |
|
|
|
| Data quality and data visualisation in sustainability science - PBL Young and SENSE Workshop series, 20 April |
| With key note lectures on (1) Data Quality: Unlock data possibilities -- How to get more out of data collection, analysis and inference, and (2) Data communication: Data visualisation and infographics at PBL -- From research to design. And with break out groups about (1) Data Quality Issues Anonymous, and (2) Bring Your Own Graph. |
|
|
|
| International Conference Water science for impact, 16-18 October |
Water Science for Impact will focus on water quality and quantity in the broadest sense. The conference brings together leaders in science, policy, and the public and private sectors to examine water science from a multidisciplinary perspective. Water science is crucial to expanding our understanding of water quality and quantity related issues that humankind encounters. Such understanding is key towards identifying critical water-related challenges, developing novel solutions and implementing steps that contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals. We welcome contributions from both the natural and social sciences, as well as from stakeholders and decision makers and from private and public sectors.
Abstract submission deadline and deadline submission proposals for special sessions: 30 April 2018 |
|
|
|
| 2018 Utrecht Conference on Earth System Governance: Governing Global Sustainability in a Complex World - Key Research Insights & New Research Directions, 5-8 November |
In this long-standing event series, the Utrecht Conference will have a special status: in 2018, the Earth System Governance Project’s current Science and Implementation Plan will be replaced by a new 10-year science plan; and new, enthusiastic leadership will take over the helm of our project. This conference will hence focus on harvesting the many findings of our community over the last decade, combined with a bold outlook to the future and the next scientific challenges for earth system governance research.
The 2018 Utrecht Conference will be organized around the core analytical problems that have structured the last decade of earth system governance research, while providing an outlook on emerging themes and new directions. |
|
|
|
| Overview of upcoming events |
| Recently announced: |
|
|
| Full list of interesting upcoming events: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Job vacancies |
|
| Vacancies at SENSE Partners |
|
|
| More vacancies |
| During the month new vacancies are regularly posted on the SENSE vacancy page. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
