Dr Martin Scholten has been appointed General Director of the Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR, effective 15 September. He succeeds Prof. Dr. Ruud Huirne, who will now lead the Social Sciences Group. Besides his position as General Director of the ASG, Scholten will remain Director of Wageningen IMARES, the institute for coastal and sea research of Wageningen UR. There will be no change in the independent status of this institute.
Since the institute was founded in 2006, Martin Scholten (49) has been Director of Wageningen IMARES and has been the driving force behind its successful development. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as director of the predecessor of Wageningen IMARES, the fisheries institute RIVO, which was part of the Animal Sciences Group. From 1986 to 2002 he worked in various positions at TNO, including researcher and supervisor of the Ecological Risks unit.
Martin Scholten studied Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), where he graduated cum laude in 1984. In 2004 he earned his PhD at the VU for his thesis, "Ecotoxicological effects on zooplankton-phytoplankton interactions in eutrophied waters".
In addition to being director of Wageningen IMARES, Scholten is a member of the Fisheries Innovation Platform, the scientific advisory council of “Building with Nature” and the Executive Committee of the Zeeuwse Tong foundation. He also chairs the European Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Organisation (EFARO) and is vice-chair of the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Due to his new appointment, he will step down as a member of the municipal council of Wieringen.
The Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR comprises three business units – Animal Husbandry, the Central Veterinary Institute and Products – and the Department of Animal Sciences of Wageningen University. The ASG has approximately 1000 members of staff.
Wageningen IMARES is part of van Wageningen UR and focuses on strategic and applied coastal and sea research. Its spheres of activity are aquaculture, ecology, environment and fisheries. The institute has branches in IJmuiden, Yerseke, Den Helder and Texel and has 180 members of staff.