NIOZ EN > Services > PR & Communica... > News Archive
A A A

News Archive

14/02/2013 13:50

Researching the smallest organisms in the ocean

Interview with prof. Lucas J. Stal (NIOZ and UvA), MaCuMBA coordinator

Can you explain to a wider audience, whose knowledge of marine microorganism may be limited, why a project like MaCuMBA is important?
Most people when they hear about microorganisms think of dirt, of illness, or at best they know that microorganisms make our beer, wine, yoghurt, cheese, antibiotics, etc. Few people realize that the total biomass of microorganisms on earth is many times higher than that of all other organisms together, including man. Few people know that the genetic diversity of microorganisms is overwhelmingly larger than that of all plants and animals together and that the number of species is unknown but must be in the many tens of millions.

Read more …

28/12/2012 12:27

Chance of survival of young molluscs determined by their size

Even small differences in body size have a significant impact on the chances of survival of young molluscs. This is the conclusion Ms Henrike Andresen draws in her PhD thesis. Ms Andresen studied predation by crustaceans on bivalve molluscs during their early bottom-dwelling stage. She will defend her thesis at the VU University Amsterdam on 8 January 2013.

Read more …

10/12/2012 12:48

Linking climate, humans and abrupt vegetation changes

Northwest Africa and Southeast Australia are regions which are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In her thesis, Raquel Lopes dos Santos of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, investigate organic compounds in marine sediment cores, in order to reconstruct past environmental conditions in these areas. She found that vegetation changes were large and abrupt over the past 150,000 years in these regions and were caused by climate change as well as indirectly by humans. Lopes dos Santos will defend her thesis at the Utrecht University, on 17 December, 2012.

Read more …

10/12/2012 11:02

Alina Stadnitskaia (NIOZ, BGC) elected as president ‘Biogeosciences’ EGU.

In order to continue the bottom-up structure of the European Geosciences Union, the EGU Election Autumn 2012 for the next Treasurer and Division Presidents was held. 

Read more …

28/11/2012 14:52

Dr. Katja Philippart appointed as board member 'Waddenacademie-KNAW'

As of 1 January 2013, Dr. Katja Philippart (NIOZ-MEE) is appointed as the new board member 'Ecology' at the Waddenacademie-KNAW. Katja will replace prof. dr. Peter Herman, who held this position until 1 September 2012. Following the appointment by the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW) , the board will gain a plenary status again.

Read more …

26/11/2012 12:56

New possibilities for discovering importance nitrogen in the past

A new way has been found to investigate past changes in the marine nitrogen cycle. Darci Rush of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) found that although it is difficult to find the biomarker molecules of the nitrogen-processing bacteria, there is the potential to detect the transformation products of these molecules in sediments up to 1 million years old. Rush will defend her thesis on December 3th at the Utrecht University.

Read more …

22/11/2012 17:11

Europe must not lose momentum in marine biodiversity research

Marine Board LogoMarine biodiversity research and its role in supporting maritime policies and management is the subject of new Future Science Brief from the European Marine Board, entitled: “Marine Biodiversity: A Science Roadmap for Europe.”

Read more …

09/11/2012 09:03

Food quality matters in the deep

“Organic matter will be  consumed by the ocean floor organisms if the ‘quality’ is good enough”, stated Lara Pozzato in her PhD Thesis. The quality is more important than, for example, the amount of oxygen in the environment. Pozzato studied the interactions among organic matter and organisms at sea floors in different settings. She will defend her PhD thesis on November 16, at the Utrecht University.

Read more …

19/10/2012 09:13

Wide Range of Applications for Sea Bacteria

Scientists at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) are going to try to find and win previously unknown micro-organisms from the sea. These micro-organisms may subsequently be used for the development of new medicine, biofuel or other applications.

Read more …

19/09/2012 09:18

Saharan dust influences global warming?

Could Saharan dust potentially compensate for the ongoing global warming by fertilising the oceans? A €2-million ERC starting investigator grant will allow Jan-Berend Stuut at NIOZ, Texel, the Netherlands, to test this hypothesis. This five-year research project shall start October 1st of this year.

Read more …