News
Martha Bakker and Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano appointed as chair holders
Martha Bakker was appointed Professor and chair holder of the Land Use Planning Group by the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research on 1 June. The Executive Board also appointed Professor Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano as chair holder. As of 1 September he is chair holder for the Meteorology and Air Quality Group.
Martha Bakker Professor appointed as chair holder Land Use Planning
After studying Physical Geography at the University of Amsterdam, Martha Bakker (Amsterdam, 1974) gained her PhD in 2004 at UC Louvain (formerly Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve) in Belgium. She then worked there for a while as a postgraduate researcher. After three postdoctoral positions she started her tenure track at Wageningen University in 2009. Since 2012 she worked as assistant professor in the Land Use Planning Group. Some time ago, she took on the position of interim chair holder for the group. She is therefore a very suitable candidate to hold this chair position.
As part of her new position as chair, Professor Martha Bakker focuses on planning for environmental change. Together with her team she explores complex issues on both the design and management of landscapes where spatial pressure is high. Circular agrofood system, climate adaptation, energy transition and biodiversity restoration are leading themes. By combining empirical research, model-based scenarios and theoretical reflections, her team will lay the foundations for sustainable land use and spatial design.
Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano appointed as chair holder Meteorology and Air Quality
Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano (Barcelona, Spain, 1962) gained his PhD in 1992 from the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU). His PhD research dealt with the influence of atmospheric turbulence on chemical reactions. He then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Météo-France in Toulouse and as an assistant professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. In 2000, he started to Wageningen University & Research as an assistant Professor, where he has since combined teaching with research. His main task was to bring together the fields of meteorology and air quality. He is also currently working as a senior researcher for the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, in subjects related to the Amazonian rainforest.
Professor Vilà-Guerau de Arellano researches, among other topics, on the interaction between clear and cloudy air layers atmospheric boundary layers and the land, and more specifically on the coupling between clouds and vegetation. In the Meteorology and Air Quality Chair Group, he will encourage the development on new educational methods to transfer efficient the results of the forefront research in atmospheric sciences. His main aim is to improve the understanding and representation of the atmosphere above land and how it affects life and the environment.