What do you do at the VU and how long have you worked there?
I have been an Assistant Professor in Marine Geology and Paleoclimatology since September 2022. This means that I research fossils to learn more about the climate of the past. I look very specifically at the fossils of shellfish such as oysters, cockles and snails. The special thing about these shells is that they grow layer by layer and thus record very detailed information about the environment in which the animal lived and therefore about the climate. You can think of them as the tree rings of the sea, and we can use them to get a very precise picture of the variation in weather and climate millions of years ago, for example in times when it was much warmer than today. This information helps us to better understand the climate and better predict the warmer climate of the future.
What is the best thing about working at the Faculty of Science?
I really enjoy working in a faculty with such diverse research topics. I am an Earth scientist, but I enjoy working with colleagues in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. This is also necessary if you want to understand how shellfish build shells, but at the same time you also need to investigate how those shells become fossils and what the composition of the shells says about the climate. Consulting with colleagues in other fields always produces new and interesting ideas and insights. For example, this summer we conducted an experiment together with colleagues from Biology in which we bred pond snails in the basement of the W&N building to investigate how differences in water temperature influence their growth and the composition of their shell.
What could be improved at the faculty?
I think we could do something more together. I have only been working at VU for a year, but I have noticed that some researchers within the faculty are more concerned with their own subject and less likely to look beyond the shadows. I also had to actively contact colleagues outside my department, because I didn't meet them often. Perhaps we can make a better effort to get in touch with each other, for example by organizing joint lectures.
What book, movie or album (or something else) do you think your colleagues should read, see or hear?
I like to read, so it is difficult to choose just one book, but one of the books that had a great influence on the way I view the world is the book “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. It is a very good book that uses facts to dispel the classic way in which we divide people in the world into groups ("First", "Second" and "Third" world). The books “Enlightenment Now” (Steven Pinker) and “Animal Liberation” (Peter Singer) make you think in a similar way. I highly recommend them all!
What did you do last weekend?
Last weekend I went for a two-day walk with my girlfriend around the Lauwersmeer in Friesland. We spent the night in a “Cabiner”, a kind of log cabin in a nature reserve without electricity and with a water pump and a wood stove for cooking. Very relaxing!
Who will you hand over the baton to?
I would like to hand over the baton to my colleague Joris Koene from the Ecology and Evolution department.
Dilemmas
Are you beta or alpha?
I feel more like a science than humanities scientist at work, but in my spare time I also like to delve into “alpha” subjects such as psychology, anthropology and philosophy.
Online meetings or on location?
Both. It depends on the type of meeting: Some things are easier to discuss when you have someone physically in front of you (or spontaneously in the corridors), but online meetings are very useful if you want to speak to people with a busy agenda. Moreover, they are more inclusive, because not everyone has the opportunity to travel (far) to get to the meeting location.
Elevator or stairs
Almost always the stairs. We are on the third floor, so that is not really a problem. I only take the elevator if I have to take a lot of (heavy) stuff with me.
Spar or mensa?
Neither. I actually always take my own lunch to work.