The NIOO possesses high-quality equipment for the analysis of a wide range of chemical and physical environmental factors. It also has well-equipped laboratories for molecular-biological research and many other facilities.

Limnotrons

The NIOO main building houses so-called limnotrons. These are general-purpose incubators where scientists can carry out experiments on a semi-field scale under regulated water quality and quantity conditions. Furthermore, NIOO has advanced analytical equipment, including a number of flow cytometers, which use laser technology to identify, count, and sort algae, bacteria, and protozoa at high speed. 

Experimental ponds

36 experimental ponds are situated on the grounds of the water board Waternet along theLoenderveense Plas (a lake). Aquatic ecologists use these ponds for the study of the effect of water plants on other aquatic organisms such as algae and zooplankton. Part of the ponds have been enriched with nutrients and are grazed by water fowl. The results of the experiments are of course of great interest for Waternet itself and other water boards.

Bioinformatics unit

NIOO has a bioinformatics unit that aims to enable NIOO researchers (from senior staff to students) to do their own bioinformatics analyses. We have two linux based servers with a large amount of storage and memory, mainly used for sequence analysis but also available for other types of heavy computing (such as R simulation modeling). The unit provides pipelines, tutorials and various webservices (e.g. R studio, gitlab and galaxy). The unit is comprised of two bioinformaticians, who have a NIOO-wide support task.

Greenhouses, an avian complex and labs

There is an extensive molecular-biological lab with facilities to work under enclosed circumstances with high-risk organisms (so called ML II en III level). Our chemical analytical lab is well equipped with systems for chromatographic analyses as well as for wet-chemistry, which enables us to perform many different analyses. We own a Phytotron: a complex with greenhouses and climate chambers. The aviary complex offers good facilities for bird research with a.o. 36 climatised aviaries. The facilities of the NIOO can be used via exchange programs by other (Dutch) researchers.

Bird Ringing Scheme

The NIOO is home to the Dutch Bird Ringing Scheme: the Centre for Avian Migration & Demography. The centre studies avian population-dynamic processes and movements by using large-scale bird ringing and the application of state-of-the art tracking devices. It does this by coordinating bird ringing, issuing of ringing permits and bird rings, and organizing projects for citizen scientists. Most of the data is collected by volunteer bird ringers. All data on ringed and recovered birds is stored in a unique database containing more than twelve million records that are available for analyses.