Gert van Duinkerken appointed Business Unit Manager Wageningen Livestock Research

After studying Animal Sciences with a specialization in animal nutrition at Wageningen University, Gert van Duinkerken worked for various precursors of Wageningen Livestock Research, first as a researcher and later as a team leader. In 2011 he completed his dissertation entitled: "Nitrogen efficiency of dairy cattle: from protein evaluation to ammonia emission".

Gert van Duinkerken has been head of the Animal Nutrition department since 2008. He is co-founder of the Center for Animal Nutrition, in which WUR and Utrecht University have combined their expertise in the field of animal nutrition. From 2013 to 2016, he was chairman of the Animal Nutrition Committee of the European Association of Animal Production (EAAP) and a member of the scientific committee of that organization. He is also program leader of the public-private partnership "Feed4Foodure", focused on sustainable animal nutrition.

‘With Gert van Duinkerken, Wageningen Livestock Research gets a connecting leader, who is substantively strong and operationally sound and has a good sense for issues and current discussions’ says Martin Scholten, general director of the Animal Sciences Group of WUR. ‘We know him as decisive, but at the same time focused on well-considered and supported decisions. He has an eye for different perspectives. And partly because of that, he also has a good reputation, both within our organization and with other stakeholders. In view of the current discussions and developments concerning livestock farming and the associated challenges for livestock farming research, Gert van Duinkerken is the designated person to lead Wageningen Livestock Research.’