Nature's Inventions: Open Day on Ecology
1 October 2016 11:00-17:00, NIOO-KNAW Wageningen
On Saturday 1 October, NIOO opens its unique building and grounds to visitors for a big Open Day on ecology. Let our staff tell you all about our research, as well as its many practical applications. It's an opportunity you only get once every three years...
What makes some algae so toxic and some soil organisms so useful? And how does climate change affect all this? Just a couple of the questions you can fire at our NIOO-researchers about nature's inventions and what we can learn from them.
Doing experiments
So what topics can you expect to come across on our Open Day? Golden poop, cheeky birds, DNA, bird flu, toxic algae, soil creatures and exotic plants. And that's just for starters! You can choose how you'd like to explore: by taking a tour, going to lectures, joining a treasure hunt or performing your own science experiments.
Whatever you choose, at the end of the day you'll know what a scientist's life is like. You'll have visited labs, strolled through greenhouses, peeped in nestboxes and maybe even tracked bird rings, deciphered smells using a big machine or sawed wood looking for rot.
And if you'd rather take it easy, that's fine too: our guides know all the best spots for you to take a load off. Or you can sit back and listen to a lecture. About the role of bacteria in our daily lives, for instance.
Finding solutions
If you think about it, nature's had its own line in research & development for four billion years. Ecologists look at how nature does it, and what we as humans can learn: making our economy 'circular' and our world more sustainable.
Issues we focus on include light pollution, pharmaceutical residues in water, making agriculture more environmentally-friendly and discovering new antibiotics. So join us on the NIOO Open Day and come give us - and nature - a hand!
- Free entrance
- Questions? Send us an e-mail!
- Keep watching our website as more information becomes available in the run-up to 1 October
- The NIOO Open Day is part of the National Science Weekend (website in Dutch)
From micrOlympics to ducking for caterpillars and our famous 'Poop = Gold' display: there will be no shortage of activities on the NIOO Open Day. Regardless of whether you're young or old, an amateur ecologist or just an interested member of the public.
Here's a sneak preview of some of things you can expect on 1 October:
Water quality is essential. Our water scientists will show you how to do your own research!
Join a tour of the NIOO grounds and discover the ecotechnology in, on and around our building.
Imagine you're a songbird and join our game: are YOU fast enough to catch the caterpillar?
The real champions are to be found in the microscopic world! Can you guess who's the best?
Enter our ‘black box’ if you dare. There's more alive in the soil than you might think!
Curious? Here's a taster of our previous Open Day (2013):
