King Willem-Alexander to visit NIOO on 6 July

On 6 July, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander will pay a working visit to the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Wageningen.  The visit includes a tour, and an introduction to the three research themes NIOO focuses on: biodiversity, climate change and the sustainable use of land and water.

NIOO is one of the largest research institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences (KNAW). King Willem-Alexander is patron of the KNAW.

The royal visit will start with a meeting between His Majesty and Marileen Dogterom, who took over as president of the KNAW on 1 June. 

NIOO's director Geert de Snoo will then outline the work of the institute, its roles and three research themes: biodiversity, climate change and the sustainable use of land and water.

Tour highlights

The subsequent tour of the NIOO-building and facilities will include:

• A 'remote' measurement of the water quality at NIOO
• The new Calibration Centre for the Soil ('IJkcentrum voor de Bodem'), which assesses soil health and offers advice on how to improve it
• NIOO's chemical analytical lab, where the King will hear about greenhouse gases, and carbon storage in the soil and its possible role in mitigating climate change
• Limnotron research, with a.o. the research group on cyanobacteria, which recently started its own forecast of cyanobacterial bloom risks for swimmers and others ('Meerbericht')
• A round table on the interfaces between ecological research and public health, with a presentation by NIOO's Centre for Avian Migration and Demography ('Vogeltrekstation') on finding out which infectious diseases are present in the Netherlands that could be transmitted by mosquitoes

More information:

• Science information officer Froukje Rienks, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), tel. +31-6-10487481 / +31-317-473590, f.rienks@nioo.knaw.nl