Photo by Perro de Jong
Jasper Wubs writes the Macroscope blog. The views expressed in this blog are my own.
He is a soil ecologist and Research Group Leader at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Wageningen. His research focuses on the interplay between soil biodiversity and soil functions in the context of environmental and management variation. To stimulate soil biodiversity Jasper has worked extensively with soil inoculation and demonstrated its use as a tool to restore nature and enhance crop yields.
Soils as complex adaptive systems - supporting nature and society
The Wubs Group investigates the interrelationships between soil biodiversity and the multiple functions of soils and how this relates to the sustainable use of land. We view soils as complex adaptive systems, where dynamics result from the multitude of actors in play, with the community constantly reassembling in response to internal and external drivers. Given this complexity, we aim to understand the causal linkages, predict the dominant behaviour of soils, and ultimately optimize functioning across landscapes. We use Big Data tools, focussed experiments and causal inference to do this.
Bio
Jasper Wubs was born in Kampen, the Netherlands, in 1985. He grew up in Steenwijk and went to high school in Meppel. There his teacher Henk van Netten got him interested in the science of biology - through direct engagement with experimentation. After a gap year working in a handicraft workshop with mentally-challenged individuals in Hungary, he started his biology studies at Utrecht University and specialised in plant ecology. For his MSc-degree he researched the mating systems and colonisation processes of ferns with dr. Heinjo During, dr. Roy Erkens and dr. Arjen de Groot. His second thesis was on the effects of snow-lie differences on summer carbon cycling in montane moss heath ecosystems in Scotland with dr. René van der Wal and dr. Sarah Woodin (both University of Aberdeen).
After graduating (cum laude) he taught biostatistics and ecology as a teaching assistant and was a junior researcher in the Ecology and Biodiversity group at Utrecht University. In March 2012, he started his PhD-research on plant-soil interactions with a special focus on plant-soil feedback and nature restoration supervised by prof. Martijn Bezemer and prof. Wim van der Putten at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), which he defended in 2017.. For his research and public outreach he received the ‘Zilveren Parnassia’ in 2016 - an award given annually to a socially engaged young scientist in the field of natural science, nature conservation and nature education.
Next, he obtained an NWO Rubicon (2018) grant to study how soil microbiomes can be used to improve soil restoration in degraded arable soils in the central Kenyan highlands (with Prof. Johan Six and Dr. Martin Hartmann at ETH Zurich). In 2021 Jasper returned to the Netherlands to coordinate data collection and analysis within the new IJkcentrum voor de Bodem. The centre aims to map and benchmark the soil biodiversity and functioning of the Netherlands to provide action perspectives for land managers.
Recently, Jasper received a EU MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship to study soil multifunctionality in relation to the stoichiometry of plants, microbes and soils (MultiSol) and launched his own Research Group on Soils as Complex Adaptive Systems. He currently supervises 4 amazing PhD candidates.
Jasper lives with his two amazing daughters, Hanna and Elin, and his emphatic partner Ruth in the beautiful City of Deventer. He enjoys cycling, hiking, sailing, reading, guitar playing, discussing, gardening, mountains, the sea, forests and wide open spaces. Playing with his kids is the joy of his life.
Elly Morrien and Jasper Wubs at the Reijerscamp field site. The righthand side is inoculated with heathland soil, the left is not.