Prof Dr Marcel E. Visser (1960) graduated from Leiden University in 1987, and continued there as a PhD student in the Animal Ecology Group for four years, working on the life-history of insect parasitoids.

After his PhD he obtained an EC Science Programme Fellowship to continue his parasitoids research at Imperial College (UK). In 1993 he shifted systems when he became a post-doc at the NIOO-KNAW, working on seasonal timing in great tits. In 1996 he was appointed as a Senior Researcher and in 2002 as Head of Department.

His main interests are the interaction between ultimate and proximate aspects of timing, particularly in the Oak - Winter Moth - Great Tit/Pied Flycatcher system.  In January 2007 he obtained a personal VICI grant from NWO and in January 2014 his ERC Advanced grant started. From 2015 - 2017 he has been included in the Thomson Reuters list of Highly Cited Researcher and in 2017 he was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) . He has been subject editor for Global Change Biology (2006-2018) and on the Editorial board of Philosophical Transactions B (2012-2018). He is co-founder and the president of the Netherlands Society for Evolutionary Biology (NLSEB). 

In June 2005 he was appointed as Professor on Seasonal Timing of Behaviour at Groningen University and in April 2012 Professor on Ecological genetics at Wageningen University but he remains based at the NIOO-KNAW.

 

Visser Group
The research in the Visser Group focuses on seasonal timing of growth and reproduction. We aim to understand the causes of variation in timing and the...Read more

Timing of growth and reproduction: ultimate functions and proximate mechanisms

An important part of this research has been funded by a NWO-VICI grant (2007-2013) and is currently funded by an ERC Advanced grant (2014-2019). 

See the Visser-lab page for more information.

 

 

Songbird genomics in wild passerines

This project is carried out in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Martien A.M. Groenen from the Animal Breeding and Genetics department of the WUR, Dr. Kees van Oers of the NIOO, Dr. Jon Slate (Univ of Sheffield) and Prof. Dr. Ben Sheldon (University of Oxford). The Dutch component of the project has been funded by the NGI Horizon program and by my ERC Advanced grant.

Impact of light at night: preventing habitat loss and habitat fragmentation by adapting night-time illumination

This project studies how we can reduce habitat fragmentation by reducing light at night along roads. It is funded by NWO-TTW, Philips, RWS, ZIUT and Nobralux for th eperiod 2019-2024. The project leader is Dr. Kamiel Spoelstra and the PhD student is Claire Hermans. The project is a follow-up of the Light on Nature project (with Prof. Dr. Frank Berendse and Dr. Elmar M. Veenendaal from the Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology department of the WUR).

Studies on Populations of Individuals - SPI-birds project

In this project we aim to make long-term data on populations of individually known birds more accessible. We collect meta-data on these populations accross their distribution range, focussing at hole-breeding passerines.The SPI-Birds Database is a searchable, publically available overview of hole-nesting bird research conducted across Eurasia. The associated SPI-Birds Network came together to create a community-defined, standardized method for formatting data on hole-nesting birds and describing the attributes of hole-nesting bird populations. In this way it becomes much easier to exchange data, ideas, and other news within and beyond the network. See https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/spi-birds

Predicting evolution -  one of the game changers of the Origins Center

Within the Game Changer Predicting Evolution of the Origins Center, which I coordinate together with Jacintha Ellers, we run an experimental evolution experiment on nematodes where we collaborate with seven Dutch and Belgian institutions. We explore which factors determine the predictability of evolution. https://www.origins-center.nl/

My ResearcherID is A-9151-2009, see http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-9151-2009
My Orcid is 0000-0002-1456-1939, see http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1456-1939
You can also find my publications on ResearchGate, see www.researchgate.net
 
See  for a complete literature list (updated on 21 October 2019)
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I am professor at GELIFES of the Groningen University: http://www.rug.nl/staff/m.e.visser/

I am professor at the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre of the Wageningen University: http://www.wur.nl/abgc

I am subject editor of Global Change Biology (IF 6.9): http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/GCB/

I am on the Editorial board of Philosophical Transactions B (IF 6.4): http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/

I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD) of the University of Trondheim (Norway): https://www.ntnu.edu/cbd

Teaching:

Master Class A master course "Ecology of animal life histories: the interactions between ecology and life history from an evolutionary perspective" at the Wageningen University - 20 February - 17 March 2017 Schedule

Public outreach:

TV interview at the Copenhagen UNFCCC climate meeting 2009: http://www.climate-change.tv/component/content/article/47-inside-climate-change-solutions-interviews/291-marcel-visser-december-2009

Klokhuis TV-program (17 March 2015) Klokhuis, a Dutch TV program, featured our research on the great tit:http://www.hetklokhuis.nl/tv-uitzending/2911/Koolmees

Klokhuis TV-program (31 March 2009) Klokhuis, a Dutch TV program, featured our climate change research on the great tit: http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=9213208

Opening Darwin year 2009: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dFXLhE6NWQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Opgewarmd Nederland (Book (2004) on climate change in the Netherlands, with a chapter by M.E. Visser & F. Rienks on Ecologische relaties lopen stuk op warmere lentes): http://www.opgewarmdnederland.nl/

De nieuwe mees, aflevering van het TV programma Jota: http://www.wetenschap24.nl/video/bekijk/de-nieuwe-mees.htm
 
Ecologische relatieproblemen, interview voor HoeZo Radio (video opnamen van het ronde tafel gesprek over de ecologische gevolgen van klimaatverandering, in de tweede helft van de uitzending): http://www.wetenschap24.nl/video/bekijk/ecologische-relatieproblemen.htm