News
Monday 21 November 2022
Giving land back to the sea: it sounds scary, but results in a safer, more biodiverse coast
It has taken more than 30 years of talking and arguing, but by the end of this month the excavators will have finished removing the dykes of the Hedwige and Prosperpolder on the Dutch-Flemish border. On the rhythm of the tides, seawater once again…
Wednesday 16 November 2022
New modular AUV for Dutch marine research community
This week, the contract has been signed for the manufacturing of an autonomous underwater vehicle. After delivery in 2024, the AUV will greatly enhance Dutch scientific research in oceans and on the sea floor. The device can be deployed autonomous…
Wednesday 16 November 2022
Tree reefs become oases of life in the subtidal Wadden Sea
Researchers from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the University of Groningen, and Utrecht University have constructed artificial reefs made of pear-trees in the subtidal Dutch Wadden Sea in a novel experiment as part of the…
Monday 07 November 2022
Spectacular skate returns to North Sea
The skate is a ray that can easily reach a meter in length, up to almost three meters from head to tail. This spectacular fish is returning to the North Sea. An analysis of historical data, by NIOZ researchers Anieke van Leeuwen and Roeland Bom,…
Monday 07 November 2022
Coasts, seas and oceans play a crucial role in climate
The sea is fundamental to the Earth's systems that regulate our climate. But this delicate balance is increasingly at risk from human activities. All plans to stabilise the Earth's climate also depend on the ocean continuing to remove CO2 from the…
Tuesday 18 October 2022
Microphytobenthos in the Dutch Wadden Sea feeds on ‘left-overs’ in the bottom
The Wadden Sea is an extremely productive ecosystem whose food web is supported by benthic organisms, feeding on primary producers. In a recent publication in Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution, NIOZ marine biogeochemist dr. Philip Riekenberg and…
Friday 14 October 2022
Understanding the journey from salt marsh seed to seedling
Restoration of salt marshes on a global scale is urgently needed. This is because of the rapid intensification of climate change and human influences combined with the slow natural recovery of salt marshes. "I dissected the processes associated with…
Friday 14 October 2022
Salt marshes tend to cover larger areas
Greg Fivash defends his PhD research on salt marshes in Zeeland. His study into landscape changes in the intertidal flats was initially forced by climate change. “We wished to know if intertidal nature could provide ‘nature based’ solutions for flood…
Wednesday 12 October 2022
Inaugural lecture Rob Middag 28 October 2022 | 'We need to gain ocean literacy'
Not only do the oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface, they also hold nearly 95% of all actively circulating carbon. Despite that huge importance, we still know very little about the oceans, "let alone about the place of metals like iron or…
Tuesday 11 October 2022
Delivery of first undersea robots
To facilitate highly detailed research in ocean waters over longer periods, NIOZ is acquiring autonomous and remote-controlled equipment for the Dutch marine research community. This advanced research equipment is funded via NWO-GWI funding for…
