Droevendaalsesteeg 10
6708 PB Wageningen
The Netherlands
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About
Chemistry is all around us! With my background in chemistry I assist in ecological research wherever I can.
Biography
Since the end of 2011, Iris Chardon (1987) works as a research assistant within the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.
One of her main drivers is developing and/or optimising analytical methods, gaining and transferring knowledge, and thereby contributing to the development of others. Besides that, she is involved in research projects.
In February 2019, she started as a research assistant within the TTW project ‘SmartResidue’, together with Paul Bodelier, Stijn van den Bergh, Gerard Korthals and Wietse de Boer. The project aims to lower the greenhouse gas emission by turning agricultural soils into sinks of methane after application of bio-based residues. The mechanisms of this residue stimulated methane uptake will be investigated and field trials will be performed to optimize the effect and to engineer residues and their mode of application for optimal performance in agricultural practice. Iris her tasks include field screenings, microbiological work, chemical and physical analyses and molecular assays.
Before she started working in the ‘SmartResidue’ project, her main responsibilities were the chemical analyses of soil, sediment and plant samples, which she performed mostly for the departments Microbial Ecology and Terrestrial Ecology. She advised (PhD-) students and (postdoctoral) researchers about the choice of the analyses and she gave them instructions for performing extractions or destructions. Afterwards, she analyzed the samples with ICP-OES, a TOC-analyser, LC-MSMS, AutoAnalyser or with an Element Analyser. She processed the data and reported them to the scientist. Furthermore, she analyzed data of unknown volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) measured with GC-QTOF.
Feel free to visit her LinkedIn page for more information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ichardon/
Research groups
CV
Employment
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2021–PresentMember of Research Integrity Advisory Board
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2019–PresentResearch Assistant TTW-project SmartResidue
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2011–2019Research Assistant Chemical Lab
Projects & collaborations
Projects
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SmartResidue
This project will investigate residue-stimulated atmospheric methane oxidation, and aims to elucidate its occurrence in field conditions, responsible microorganisms, underlying mechanisms and controlling factors.
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Clever Cover cropping. Synergistic Mixtures for Sustainable Soils
Since recently, Dutch farmers are required to grow cover crops in mixtures of at least two plant species.
In the Clever Cropping Project we investigated whether mixtures of cover crops have beneficial effects on soil microbiology and associated functions.
In long-term field experiments and laboratory incubations, we assessed emissions of greenhouse gasses and the diversity, abundance, and activity of microbial groups involved in environmentally relevant processes.
While in laboratory incubations we could clearly find increased beneficial microbial functioning associated with mixtures of cover crop residues, we could not observe this in a 5-year field experiment.
Overall, the use of cover crop mixtures did not have significant beneficial effects on soil microbial functioning but also no negative effects on for example greenhouse gas emissions.
Featured in
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Impression of the King's visit to NIOO
Earlier this month, His Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander paid a working visit to the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). The visit included a tour, an introduction to NIOO's three major research themes, and a number of hands-on ecological measurements and experiments in which the King took part.