4 lamas and 46 goats Are we ‘one world’? Homeless no longer

WUR lab animals not just chickens ‘It’s more of a tossed salad than ‘Unitas can be a cornerstone of and mice | p.6 | a melting pot here’ | p.22 | Wageningen again’ | p.24 |

RESOURCEFor everyone at Wageningen University & Research no 16 – 18 April 2019 – 13th Volume

The cargo container ship Zoe lost at sea WUR scientists are studying the effects | p.12 2 >> tools of the trade Jasper + book lift Jasper Mons, stacks worker at Forum library

FORUM UNDERWORLD If you don’t want to use the stairs, you take the lift. And books do the same. Stacks worker Jasper Mons sends books daily up and down between the stacks in the base- ment storage area of Forum and the world above. The Ergo Trans lift can take up to 25 kilos. ‘Forbidden for per- sons’ says the sign, just in case. But these days the lift is not that busy. ‘Almost everything is digital now.’ Mons spends most of his time processing digital requests, so scanning articles and books. RK, photo Guy Ackermans

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 PHOTO COVER: MARLEEN ZORGDRAGER/DE PRAIRIE >>CONTENTS no 16 – 13th volume

>> 8 >> 18 >> 28 YDE GIRL SMART NETS DIARY OF A CARETAKER She was close to home when Pieke Molenaar is helping fishers ‘The cleaner was almost in tears she was ritually strangled to catch fully-grown sole only on the phone’

FIRE AWAY… Two days to go to the deadline. Three different covers for this edition are pinned to the wall in AND MORE... front of me. Behind me the sound of keyboards clicking as the correspondents type the last 4 Louise Fresco appointed pieces. Now and then someone calls out a question from behind a screen. The magazine editor to Syngenta board is still reading through everything, deep in concentration. Next up: sharpening headlines. 5 ‘WUR bees not resistant’ Welcome to Resource, my new work place. I made the switch from Radboud university medical 6 ‘New timetable affects centre to Wageningen on 1 April. So far I’ve been doing a lot of listening and meeting people, teaching’ but it was immediately obvious that there’s no shortage of stories: about what WUR people 7 Student discovers are up to, here and all over the world. Stories about committed people who are good at what unusual wasp they do: in science, education and support roles. There’s plenty of food for daily news and 8 Good intentions help in-depth articles. energy saving I’ve now worked on two numbers of the magazine with journalists who produce articles that 9 Indonesian biodiesel are topical, relevant and, where necessary, critical. Together with the Resource and not ‘green’ Wageningen World team I hope to produce high quality magazines, tell good stories, signal 10 Why does food turn developments, and spark discussion with staff and students. And by the way, if you have ideas brown? or opinions or just want to find out more about me, send an email to [email protected]. 11 Habitats for introverts 27 Meanwhile in Iran Willem Andrée, editor-in-chief, Resource and Wageningen World

>> Washed ashore after MSC Zoe accident | p.12

De Prairie horse stables on Terschelling has taken in the My Little Pony ponies that washed up on the shores of the island after MSC Zoe lost its cargo (see cover). Brought in by beachcombers, after being washed and groomed the ponies are ready for adoption (please collect them personally as they have been traumatized by their travels). The proceeds will go to By the Ocean we Unite, a non-profit foundation that works to prevent more plastics ending up in the sea.

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 4 >> news

New ‘gateway’ to LOUISE FRESCO WUR research APPOINTED TO Research@wur, the portal for all SYNGENTA BOARD Wageningen research, is now open to the public. The portal provides access to pretty much Louise O. Fresco was appointed on 12 April to the everything that Wageningen board of directors of Syngenta as an independent scientists do. non-executive director. She will also advise the plant breeding company on making food WUR employees have been able to production more sustainable. HOFMAN JEROEN PHOTO: use Research@wur since the  As a member of the Syngenta board of directors Louise beginning of December. The past Members of the WUR Executive Board are permitted Fresco plans to work towards more sustainable food production. few months have been used to add to hold a limited number of additional offices missing information and to seek subject to approval by the Supervisory Board. and solve teething problems. As President of the WUR Executive Board, Fresco concern that has arisen in response to the ‘We’ve also spent a lot of time has previously held paid advisory positions with announcement. There is absolutely no question of presenting the new portal to the Rabobank and food company Unilever. Her work our scientists’ independence, or that of WUR as a researchers themselves so we can for the latter ended in 2017. whole, being compromised. I stand one hundred per learn from their experiences,’ says cent behind our position as an independent and Anna Besse-Lototskaya of WUR ‘I stand one hundred per cent critical institution. WUR’s aim will continue to be to Library. provide insight and understanding for the benefit of The new portal makes it much behind our independence’ influential organizations that are working hard to easier to find information on create sustainable solutions for food production. scientists and their research. Fresco’s appointment has not gone unnoticed, By working together in this way we can take big steps Graphics show at a glance who is both at WUR and beyond, and questions have been which are urgently needed.’ working with who in the scientific raised about the independence of the organization Syngenta is one of the largest plant breeding world, not only within WUR but she heads. Fresco herself has responded. ‘As a non- companies in the world. It develops and sells seed also worldwide. Many scientific executive member of the board of directors I have and crop protection chemicals. Several days prior to articles are online and available for the opportunity to work towards more sustainable Fresco’s appointment, Syngenta announced that it free. The portal can be accessed via food production and thus reduce the environmental would be accelerating innovation, seeking solutions research.wur.nl. RK impact of one of the biggest players in agriculture, for climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss based on the latest scientific insights. I am aware of and addressing changing consumer expectations and understand the confusion and potential and views on agricultural technology. AS, WA

MEET ROBOTTI

WUR’s Agroecology and Technology test location in Lelystad has acquired a new worker this week: AgroIntelli Robotti. About the size of a small tractor, the field robot is capable of working inde- pendently. One of its jobs is to take measurements in the crop fields. It will also prepare seedbeds and do hoeing and fertilizing. Robotti has cameras that enable it to detect weeds in strip cultiva- tion and mixed cropping. The idea is that the field robot will lend support to the nature-inclusive farming done at the test location. Robotti will be in action for the public on 28 May during the In- novation Day at the WUR test location in

PHOTO: OANEVENTS PHOTO: Valthermond. AS

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 news << 5

‘WUR BEES ARE NOT OLUMN|VINCENT RESISTANT TO VARROA’ ©

An advert placed by WUR in the national mean 100 per- Fear Of Missing Out newspaper NRC Handelsblad on 6 April sug- cent resistance Never mind the stress of too many things gests that researchers selected bees that are under all condi- to choose from and the pressure to per- resistant to the varroa mite. This is mislead- tions, according form. At this time of the year there’s a far ing information for readers and beekeepers. to Brascamp. greater danger lurking, and it’s claiming Wageningen bee researcher Tjeerd Blac- quite a few victims around me. It’s a form Beekeeper and emeritus WUR professor Pim quière, who performed the study discussed in of FOMO, Fear of Missing Out, but the Brascamp has written a letter on the matter to the advert, admits that ‘his’ bees do not have kind that affects nature lovers. Resource, which has been posted on the web- 100 per cent resistance. He did manage to ob- In fact it’s the same story every year. site. Brascamp explains that WUR selects bees tain ‘a considerable increase in their resist- Spring starts off being manageable – the that have increased resilience, but they are not ance’. Blacquière also mentions that the in- first buds burst open and the first birds resistant. WUR combines this with a tried-and- creased resistance is not related to the method start to sing, one species at a time. But tested beekeeping method of splitting beehives of splitting beehives. AS then it all explodes and you can’t keep up. in spring, which disrupts the varroa mites’ de- Insects buzzing in your ears, trees coming velopment. This is not strictly speaking ‘resist- Brascamp’s letter and Blacquière’s response into leaf all at once and suddenly you ance’ – a term that most readers understand to (in Dutch) can be read on resource-online.nl. don’t know where to look.

Soon the cranes will fly overhead while you’re IN BRIEF watching a couple of toads mating.

>> NEW NIOO DIRECTOR >> HEALTH WEEK It can get pretty stressful – there’s a good Ex WUR professor Geert de Snoo Now for staff too chance you’ll miss something and then Former WUR professor Geert de Snoo has been Student sports association Thymos is organiz- you’ll have to wait a whole year for before appointed the new director of the Netherlands ing its fifth Health Week from 23 to 26 April, you can see it again. Imagine, the cranes Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). He will take with activities relating to nutrition, mental fly over without you noticing because over from Louise Vet, who has held the posi- health and exercise. This year for the first time you’re on your belly watching a couple of tion for the past 20 years. De Snoo was profes- the activities are also open to staff. ‘We are toads mating. sor of Nature Conservation on Farmland in Wa- seeing burn outs and high stress levels more Of course, nature’s irrepressible out- geningen from 2003 to 2009, after which he and more often among students and staff,’ says bursts can’t last forever. In two months was appointed professor of Conservation Biol- Daan Krekels, a member of the Thymos Board. the days will start to get shorter and the ogy and Dean of the Faculty of Science at Leid- ‘During the Health Week we showcase what the pressure will gradually decline. Until then en University. De Snoo starts his new job on 1 university offers to people in the way of help, though it’s a question of feverishly keep- November and Louise Vet will like meditation classes in Orion. But we also ing a lookout to miss as little as possible. retire nine months after that. organize special activities such as talks about If only I had studied medicine or law… As director, Vet was responsible green therapy for young people with a burn out for NIOO’s move to the Wagen- and about the anti-aging effects of exercise ingen campus, where the insti- and nutrition.’ Thymos organizes the Health tute is housed in one of the Week together with Sports Centre de Bongerd Netherlands’ greenest build- sports centre and Human Resources’ vital@ ings. She will remain work. All activities are free, but for some professor of Evolution- you need to register in advance. For the ary Ecology at WUR. whole programme go to wur.eu/ Vincent Oostvogels (22) is exploring the delicate inter- RK health-week. LZ face between nature manage- ment and food production through his two Master’s pro- grammes, Forest and Nature Conservation and Animal Sciences  Geert de Snoo will succeed Louise Vet as director of the NIOO.

PHOTO: MONIQUE SHAW MONIQUE PHOTO: 18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 6 >> news

‘NEW TIMETABLE IS AFFECTING EDUCATION’

The extended saytime schedule is done after course period 2, and quality has declined. But the ques- affecting the content and possibly was completed by 35 per cent of tionnaire will now be adjusted so also the quality of teaching, the lecturers who taught during that the second survey reveals how according to a survey carried out that period. lecturers are adjusting their class- among WUR teachers. Half of the es, what content they are leaving teachers have adjusted the con- out and why some of the teachers tent of their lectures and one in Half of the feel quality has declined. The sec- three say that the quality of edu- teachers have ond survey will be held in May, af- cation has declined. altered the ter period 5. content of their The new timetable was de- The university wants to know lectures signed to absorb the growing stu- whether the extended daytime dent numbers. Teaching sessions ‘The timetable does schedule (EDS), introduced last were made five minutes shorter in what it’s supposed to’

September, is affecting the quality The survey doesn’t provide hard September, and lectures start earli- Two members of the EDS evaluation of education. The WUR Council set information on the nature of the er and finish later, which has re- committee and a WUR policy officer up an EDS committee to carry out adjustments teachers have made sulted in a capacity increase of 12 comment on the extended daytime two surveys among teachers this to course content, or why the hours per week per lecture room. schedule teachers’ survey on page 14-15. academic year. The first survey was teachers think that educational AS, LZ

WUR LAB ANIMAL NUMBERS DOWN AGAIN

The use of laboratory animals at WUR continues to decline. The most Number of lab animals used at WUR Number of lab animals used at WUR recent figures, for 2017, show a decrease of 20 per cent compared 70 with the previous year. 70 Wageningen University WageningenWageningen Research University 60 Wageningen Research The figures come from Zo doende 2017, the Netherlands Food and Con- 60 sumer Product Safety Authority’s annual overview of lab animals, and 50 from WUR’s own statistics. In that year WUR used a total of 24,284 lab an- 50 imals, three-quarters of which were used by Wageningen Research. 40 The university is one of the smaller users among Dutch universities, ac- 40 counting for 6080 animals. WUR as a whole, on the other hand, is the sec- 30 ond biggest user of lab animals after the University of Leiden. If the fish 30 that Wageningen Marine Research catches for monitoring fish reserves Number x 1,000 20 are included, WUR is the biggest user of animals for scientific research Number x 1,000 20 and education in the Netherlands. The fish monitoring is a statutory re- 10 search task. 10 0 The list includes 17 dogs, 9 frogs, 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 6 horses and 4 lamas. 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 17 6 The animals that WUR uses most for its research are chickens, fol- Wageningen 17 6 18,204 lowed by rodents (mainly mice), fish and pigs. The list also includes 46 ResearchWageningen goats, 17 dogs, 9 frogs, 6 horses and 4 lamas. Research 18,204 The downward trend in the university’s numbers probably reversed in 2018. Preliminary figures for that year are higher than those for 2017, ac- cording to lab animal expert Rob Steenmans. But this doesn’t mean the Wageningen start of a rising trend. ‘There happened to be slightly more projects last 9 4 University 6080 year, several of which involved large numbers of animals.’ 9 4 Wageningen In the country as a whole the use of lab animals rose by 18 per cent in University 6080 2017, to 530,568. The increase is mainly due to the use of genetically mod- ified mice and zebra fish for cancer research. RK

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 news << 7

STUDENT DISCOVERS UNUSUAL WASP

The insect in the photo is a braconid wasp, never radio programme, Vroege Vogels, on 14 before seen in the Netherlands. Biology student April. Eva Drukker was the lucky finder. As far as is known the braconid wasp is found in Sweden, Germany, Czechia, Drukker found the Idiasta dichrocera last August on top Russia and China. The Dutch specimen of the 25-metre high roof of the Erasmus University is a female and she has been added to Medical Centre in Rotterdam, while doing her internship the collection of the Natural History at Bureau Stadsnatuur (Urban Nature Bureau) Museum in Rotterdam entitled Dead Rotterdam. ‘I was looking at what insects can still be animals with a story. found on green roofs 100 metres up.’ Because there are By the way, Drukker did discover that no green roofs that high in the Netherlands, Drukker there was a relationship between the had to do things differently. ‘I managed to find one height of buildings and insect biodiversity. ‘On sedum building that is 70 metres high. Then I looked for roofs the number of insects declines with altitude. On roof buildings of different heights in order to make a gradient that could be extrapolated to 100 metres.’ In the ‘I looked at what insects end she managed to make an inventory of the flora and fauna on 21 green roofs. are found on green roofs’ ‘At one point I was looking at the insects I’d found and I noticed this braconid wasp,’ she says. ‘But I had no gardens with trees and lots of vegetation there was no idea what it was.’ The insect was identified a few months correlation. What is clear is that insects are perfectly  Biology student Eva Drukker ago by biologist Kees van Achterberg who works at capable of colonizing roofs up to considerable heights. found the braconid wasp on a Naturalis research institute for biodiversity. The And that’s good news given the current decline in insect roof in Rotterdam. discovery was first aired on the Sunday morning nature populations.’ RK

EMERITUS WRITES BOOK ON USES OF SHELLFISH 4 June | 2019 Molluscs have much more to be no human intervention in the offer than their edibility. Emeri- area. I don’t agree. Human influ- tus professor Aad Smaal has ence is unavoidable and using the compiled a book that highlights sea sustainably can have bene- the many functions of these fits.’ organisms. Some of the 23 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the book Smaal had ‘had the idea of list- were written by scientists at Wa- ing all the uses of shellfish for a geningen Marine Research. The long time’. And now Goods and book launch takes place on WeWeDay Services of Marine Bivalves has Thursday 18 April at HZ Universi- Register from been published, a weighty vol- ty of Applied Sciences in Middel- 15 April thru 28 May ume on the wonders of these ma- burg, during Smaal’s inaugura- rine animals. Smaal: ‘Shellfish tion as professor of Aquaculture. are not only a valuable source of The book is published by Spring- food, but can also be used for er and costs €54.99, but can be coastal defence and water treat- downloaded for free. RK ment. They are of cultural value We Day 2019: Don’t miss this year’s edition of the afternoon fi lled with sporty activities for all employees! Try kickboxing, follow a trail too: think of pearls and other leading through buildings on the WUR campus or chill out at the collectables.’ music workshop by WUR’s very own orchestra. Check the We Day According to Smaal shellfish  intranet page for more information and sign up. Aad Smaal: could do with some positive pub- We Day location: Wageningen Campus, Sports Centre de Bongerd ‘Sustainable use licity. ‘Take the heated discussion of the sea can about whether shellfish should have benefits’ be cultivated in the Wadden Sea. Some people think there should

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 8 >> science

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN GOOD INTENTIONS HELP THE HOME UNDERESTIMATED PEOPLE SAVE ENERGY People in the Netherlands underestimate the amount of alcohol they consume, according to a If you want to save more energy, make a devices had study done in the Human Nutrition and Health deal with yourself. That can help, Danny not done so division. We tend to fill our glass more than con- Taufik of Wageningen Economic more often than sumer researchers assume. Research discovered, as long as carry- the control ing out your good intention costs some group. ‘But when we If people say they drink seven glasses of wine a effort. looked more closely at week, how much alcohol do they consume? Myrthe the results, it turned out that this was de Beukelaar, who is doing a master’s in Nutrition Taufik looked at the influence of ‘private probably because it cost little effort to and Health, wanted know the answer. So she com- commitments’ on people’s behaviour as switch off those devices. Only among the pared the amount of wine and spirits people drank part of an energy-saving campaign con- people for whom switching off devices in- at home with the Dutch standard, which says that ducted by Ouwehands Zoo. 342 partici- volved considerable effort did the com- one glass of wine contains 100 millilitres and one pants were randomly divided into two mitment result in a stronger sense of glass of gin or whisky contains 35 millilitres. But in groups and given information on energy moral obligation and more energy-saving reality De Beukelaar observed that at home we pour saving and its impact on the environment. behaviour.’ 130 millilitres of wine into a glass and 47 millilitres Then half of the people were asked to sign If policy makers want to encourage of spirits, if the habits of 200 adults in and around a document in which they declared they green behaviour, they would do well to fo- Wageningen are anything to go by. would not leave equipment such as lap- cus on things that require more effort Her findings and conclusion, that the amount tops and televisions on stand-by when not such as switching to green electricity, that is drunk in the Dutch home is underestimated, in use. Taufik thinks. There is a limit though. are published this month in the scientific journal A month later, to Taufik’s surprise, the ‘Getting rid of the television is probably Public Health Nutrition. AS group that had comitted to switching off too difficult for most people.’ TL

THE YDE GIRL WAS NOT FAR FROM HOME

It is possible that the Yde girl, the Nether- peat bogs, grassland and dales. People lived lands’ most famous bog body, lived no more in the higher areas to keep dry.’ One of these than fifteen minutes’ walk from the spot raised areas lies about a kilometre from where she was ritually strangled. Wagenin- where the girl was found. ‘This could be the gen research has revealed this. place she came from. It’s only a quarter of an hour walk from the bog where she was found. The 16-year-old girl was found by farm work- On the way she would have had to cross a ers in 1897. She was lying in a peat bog and small stream.’ had a cord around her neck. Her reddish blonde hair had been shaved off on one side of her head. But until recently we knew noth- ‘She came from an ing about who she was, where she came from egalitarian society with and the society she lived in. Some of this in- formation has now been supplied by a multi- few status differences’ disciplinary team of scientists led by WUR ar- chaeologist and peat bog expert Roy van Beek. Van Beek thinks that she was strangled at Through soil and pollen analysis, and oth- this spot and sacrificed to a higher being. An

er archaeological methods the researchers re- alternative explanation is that she was execut- ASSEN MUSEUM, DRENTS PHOTO: constructed the girl’s world in minute detail ed. Whatever the circumstances of her death,  A reconstruction of how the Yde girl probably and their findings have been published in The Van Beek believes that not many people were looked. She was strangled and her body thrown Holocene. ‘You could say it’s a snapshot of life present. ‘She would have been from an egali- into a peat bog sometime around the beginning of the Common Era. 2000 years ago,’ says Van Beek. tarian society with few status differences. I The reconstruction has revealed that the imagine that the decision to kill her was tak- The girl’s body must have entered the bog area around present-day Yde was remarkably en at a low level, say by a couple of villages. It almost immediately after her death, around densely populated. Van Beek: ‘It was a rela- was undoubtedly a significant event, but it the beginning of the Common Era. Her body tively open landscape with hamlets, fields would not have involved large numbers of can now be seen in the Drents Museum in As- and heathland. A mosaic of ridges, low-lying people.’ sen. RK

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 science << 9

INDONESIAN BIODIESEL – VISION MOST IS UNSUSTAINABLE ‘Manufacturers Biodiesel produced from oil palm plan- If this debt is more than 10 tonnes of car- tations on peat soils in Indonesia do bon per hectare, plantations cannot meet of meat not comply with European climate crite- the requirements, says Indonesian substitutes ria, says Wageningen PhD graduate Khasanah who works at ICRAF, an inter- Nima Khasanah. She obtained her PhD national institute for agroforestry re- deserve support, on 9 April and was supervised by Meine search. According to the current EU rules, not ban’ van Noordwijk, endowed chair of Agro- a second-generation plantation does not forestry. have a carbon debt and can meet the cri- Veggie burgers and soya yogurt: naming vegan and teria. vegetarian products after their meat-based originals Khasanah examined the carbon balance Khasanah first measured the above is misleading and should be banned, the European of 20 oil palm plantations in Indonesia. ground carbon storage on the 20 planta- Parliament agricultural committee has decreed.

Only five of them met the current Euro- tions. She included the amount of CO2 re- ‘They are making a mountain out of a molehill,’ says pean Union requirements. The EU will leased when establishing a plantation sociologist of consumption Hans Dagevos. only import sustainable palm oil. The and the amount stored in the palms. She criterion is that biodiesel made from also measured the amount of carbon What’s your opinion of the committee’s decision?

palm oil releases 60 per cent less CO2 stored in the soil. From the data she col- ‘It smacks of politicking. It’s an irritating setback for than do fossil fuels. Next year the thresh- lected, Khasanah formulated a number this branch of the food industry. There have already old will rise to 70 per cent. of rules of thumb. The more rainforest is been MPs here in the Netherlands who suddenly com- converted into plantation, the greater the plained about “chicken style” kipstuckjes. It all boiled chance that the plantation does not com- down to nothing, and in the end the Vegetarische Slager ply with EU requirements. The combina- and Vivera (vegetarian meat substitute manufacturers, Mixed cropping of tion of a large proportion of peat soil and Ed.) actually benefited from all the publicity. Consum- oil palm with cacao high fertilizer use reduces the likelihood ers’ reactions were also at odds with the MPs’ demands. and black pepper of a company complying with the norm. I don’t believe in the argument put forward by the agri- gives better results Khasanah also compared the climate culture committee, that consumers are being misled. scores of farmers who grow oil palms on- What’s more important is that, as far as I know, there is ly with those of mixed farmers. Growing no scientific evidence of this, so it’s not evidence-based The emissions from oil palms grown oil palms in combination with cacao and policy.’ on peat soils are too high, Khasanah black pepper results in much better per- found. And palm oil of mixed origin – formance, in both economic and envi- Does it have anything to do with the meat lobby? from sandy and peat soils – doesn’t meet ronmental terms, than the monocul- ‘That’s difficult to say. There’s an ongoing discussion in the 60 per cent norm either. When forests tures. Farmers get higher returns from Brussels about the origin and protection of products, are cut down for oil palm cultivation, the mixed cultivation, and so need less land such as cheeses or wines with protected names. It’s pos- plantations start off with a ‘carbon debt’. and therefore cut down less forest. AS sible that the remarks on meat names stem from this, and they are sincerely meant. But in that case I think that the agriculture committee is sending the wrong message. The makers of plant-based meat substitutes could really do with a bit of support, as they are contrib- uting to changes in our diet, in line with policy.’

Do you think the ban really will be imposed? ‘I hope that the European Parliament realizes that this will create a problem that many con- sumers are unaware of. Most manu- facturers of meat substitutes started out with the idea of imitating meat and are transparent about this. So it’s logical that they refer to their products in this way. And consum- ers have got used to these names too. It would be strange – and ex- pensive – to reverse this.’ TL FOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK FOTO:

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 10 >> science

NEW Jean-Paul Vincken is the new professor of Food Chemistry PROFESSORS WHY DOES FOOD TURN BROWN? How exactly does this process work? And can we use polyphenols as natural preservatives? These are questions that Jean-Paul Vincken, professor of Food Chemistry, intends to find answers to.

The role of polyphenols – substances found in plants – in food discoloration is one of the research fields of the chair group that Vincken has officially headed since March. ‘Brown discoloration is mostly an unwanted side effect,’ says Vincken. It’s when pieces of apple go brown or meat turns greyish. ‘But there are some products, such as tea, where a colour change is desirable. For example to make green tea turn black.’

BITTERNESS An important new aspect of the research is the use of computational tools to map the characteristics of various substances and make predictions. Vincken and his group are gathering data on the properties of molecules, ‘The trend is such as bitterness and their antibacterial activity. Computer models enable them to food that is determine the properties of an extract based less processed, on its composition, and in the future they may but it must be able to do the same for a complete food. remain safe’ Polyphenols, for example, are often bitter.

‘Once we understand better which part, or ACKERMANS GUY PHOTO: parts, of the molecule are responsible for this, we’ll be able to figure out how to manipulate of a plant’s natural immune system and can be them so that tea, say, is less bitter or has a used to conserve foods,’ Vincken explains. ‘The different colour.’ Vincken is proud of the chair trend is towards food that is less processed, group’s achievements. ‘Before I started here like food that has been heated less. But it has there was no research done at all in this field.’ to remain safe. It may be possible to use these natural antibacterial substances for this. But GOOD FRIEND we still need to show that they are also safe to JEAN-PAUL VINCKEN Vincken has mixed feelings about his eat.’ (Weert, 1962) appointment as chair. His predecessor, Harry Gruppen, had to retire two years ago because of NO FORMULAIC RECIPES 1980-1988 Studied Food Technology in illness. ‘Harry is a good friend, and I’d have Vincken also wants to consolidate the chair Wageningen preferred that he could have stayed on until group’s research on redox reactions, the 1996 PhD in Food Chemistry retirement age. He is much appreciated, both chemical reactions that cause brown 1997-2006 Various postdoc positions, within the chair group and throughout WUR, discoloration. ‘This is important because we including one at Plant Breeding in especially for his vision on educational don’t understand enough about these, despite Wageningen innovation. On the other hand, I know he these reactions often being key to food quality.’ 2006-2018 Senior lecturer in thinks it’s important to continue to build on As well as his research, Vincken is also working Phytochemistry in the Food Chemistry chair what we have already achieved.’ on education innovations. ‘We already make group use of digital teaching aids for active learning 2019 Appointed chair of Food Chemistry He is not planning on big changes in direction and students increasingly have to work out for the chair group; it’s more a matter of ‘a themselves how they are going to investigate Vincken is married and lives in Renkum. shift in emphasis’. For example, he wants to something. Practicals where you simply follow In his free time he enjoys walking, cycling focus more on studying the use of polyphenols a formulaic “recipe” are a thing of the past.’ and photography. as a natural preservative. ‘Polyphenols are part RK

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 science << 11

NEW PROFESSORS Weekly updates about studying and working at WUR?

Subscribe to the newsletter now! www.resource.wur.nl/newsletter

PROPOSITION ‘Introverts need more habitats on ‘Can we also delay the campus’ mowing for people?’

Introverts can have a hard time surviving in a world of extroverts. change of ideas and information, Mirja Michalschek would like to see more room on the campus for but for me working in them was people like her. quite draining at times. When students and colleagues wanted to go out after office hours, I wanted to go home instead. I needed to re- ‘In the realm of my research, we often talk about habitats, natural charge after spending my whole day in a group. Being in groups ex- spaces for plants and animals. But you can also think about habitats hausts me. for people. I would like to claim a little bit more space for people like However, I’m very attentive and good in one-to-one conversations. me. I’m an introvert, and wish there were more quiet spaces on cam- That inspired me to take a six-month coaching course at the pus. During the summer, I found a good habitat for quiet lunch breaks university of Cologne while I was doing my PhD; I’m a certified coach in the high grass in front of Forum – that is until it got mowed. I know now and work with young PhD researchers and postdocs like myself, that mowing of grass can be delayed in order to protect birds or other providing space for self-reflection and support for good deci- species. Maybe we could also delay mowing for people? sion-making. Many parts of the cam- I hope that my proposition piques people’s curiosity and raises their

Mirja Michalscheck received her pus seem to be de- awareness about the differences between extrovert and introvert peo- PhD on 6 March for her research signed for extroverts. ple. I hope to encourage people who feel the same as me to take the on smallholder farm and farmer Open office spaces, for space and the breaks that they need. Being introvert comes with a dif- diversity. instance. I recognize ferent set of valuable qualities and these can be supported by provid- that they foster the ex- ing adequate working spaces and habitats on campus.’ JB

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 12 >> features How hazardous is Zoe’s lost cargo?

On New Year’s Day, 342 containers fell off the container ship MSC Zoe into the North Sea. The incident will keep marine ecologists at WUR busy for a while as they try to assess the ecological effects of the lost cargo for the Dutch government.

text Roelof Kleis photo Kees van de Veen/Hollandse Hoogte

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reat!’ was Martin Baptist’s first reaction when he as well open them up. That heard on 2 January that the container ship MSC Zoe way we don’t need to kill more had lost some of its cargo to the north of the Wad- animals than necessary.’ den Islands. ‘I live on Texel,’ Baptist, a scientist at In order to assess the Wageningen Marine Research, says apologetically, effects on seals, the University ‘So beachcombing is in my blood.’ His next reaction of Utrecht will examine in ‘Gwas the more ‘professional’ one of a marine ecologist. He exam- detail the bodies of 15 dead ined the facts and quickly ascertained that ‘fortunately the inci- seals that washed up on the dent could have been much worse’. eastern Wadden islands. ‘We  Martin Baptist of Wageningen ‘The rest of the world was talking about a container disaster. will be given the stomachs Marine Research is the coordinator of the Zoe research. But it wasn’t an ecological disaster. If that had been the case, and intestines so we can study there would have been wide-scale ecological effects on flora and the digestive tract. And the effects fauna, and we were spared that.’ At least, that’s the current think- of the Zoe disaster on birds should become clear from the ing. Baptist and his colleagues will do more research in the com- research on stormy petrels that Jan Andries is conducting from ing months, which should make things clearer. Franeker. Baptist: ‘We’ll step up the collection of birds by volun- teers on the eastern Wadden Islands. In addition, sea ducks (com- mon scoters) are also being collected.’ ‘We’ve become aware of the enormous amount of stuff we INCREASED AWARENESS The Zoe accident has not only created extra work; in Baptist’s view ship all over the world’ it has also resulted in increased awareness. ‘It’s made us aware of the enormous amount of stuff we ship all over the world’s seas. 130 million containers every year! And as far as I’m concerned, BLEACH there’s definitely a lesson to be learned here: we need to have MSC Zoe lost 342 containers, a small proportion of the estimated access to a detailed list of the cargo much faster. It’s now sixteen 8000 containers that were on board. The ship can carry up to weeks since the accident and the details have still not been 19,000 containers. Of those that sank, two were carrying toxic released. If you want to assess the ecological risks, you have to materials: one contained lithium batteries and another bags of have the information much more quickly. The containers could Perkadox, a bleach powder containing organic peroxide. contain anything.’ Baptist is concerned about the latter. ‘The container has been located in German waters, but it is still unclear whether it can be salvaged completely. Most containers have broken open because ZOE INCIDENT IN FIGURES of the fall they sustained. One bag of Perkadox has already washed up in Germany. Of course the stuff gets diluted in the sea and it breaks down, but how quickly that happens in waters of 8 That’s about 14 times as many degrees? We don’t know.’ containers as fall overboard in Dutch coastal waters each year (25) and a We’re talking about three tons of dibenzoyl peroxide in total. fifth of the total number of containers ‘The contents of the packages are enough to pollute an area of that are lost at sea each year (1700). water equivalent to a third of the IJsselmeer, to a concentration at About 130 million containers are which effects would be found in 10 per cent of all invertebrates. 342 sea containers shipped over the world’s seas annually. On top of that, the stuff is very toxic to fish.’

Of this amount, 1100 tonnes have now SHOES AND TOYS been salvaged. Worldwide, between In addition to the toxic cargo, most of what went overboard was 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic consumer goods. Shoes, clothes, mattresses, flat screens, fleece disappear into the sea each year. blankets, plastic toys, car tyres, garden furniture, freezers and The Zoe cargo – much of which was more. Baptist: ‘A small amount of goods have washed up on the 2736 plastic – represents 0.02-0.06 per cent beaches, but there’s much more lying on the sea floor and most of tonnes (plastic) goods of that. that is plastic. So far we don’t have much detail about the cargo. The bills of lading that we have obtained only list broad catego- ries.’ One container that sank was carrying The Ministry of Agriculture and the Public Works directorate 280 bags of Perkadox, a bleach that Rijkswaterstaat have commissioned Baptist and his colleagues in 3000 contains this toxic substance. Den Helder, IJmuiden and Yerseke to make an inventory of the kg dibenzoyl peroxide effects of all the debris on marine life. They will do so mainly by intensifying ongoing research. For example, the distribution of plastic will now also be included in the studies on the shellfish The containers are made of steel. population in the North Sea and Wadden Sea. And in the ongoing The salvage operation is still underway. study of fishery by catches, some fish will be checked for plastic. So far just under half have been lifted. Baptist continues: ‘In the course of a year we collect nine 700 tons steel thousand fish. Given that they’ve been caught anyway, you may

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 14 >> features ‘The new timetable does the job’

 Teacher Julia Diederen, timetabler Fred Jonker and student Aniek de Winter are involved in evaluating the new schedule.

RESOURCE — 18 Aprilapril 2019 features << 15

The extended daytime schedule (EDS) is affecting the quality of our education, say one in three WUR teachers (see p.5). Resource asked Julia Diederen and Aniek de Winter of the EDS complaints committee and timetabler Fred Jonker what can explain this unfortunate outcome. text Albert Sikkema and Luuk Zegers photo Aldo Allessie

More than half of all the teachers have had to The survey results also show that work shorten the gap between the morning and adapt their lesson plans to the new timetable, pressure among teachers has gone up. afternoon classes.’ reveals the first questionnaire about the EDS. Jonker; ‘That is no surprise, because more than Quite a lot, isn’t it? half the teachers have adapted their courses Is the introduction of the EDS a success? Diederen: ‘A lot of teachers have adapted their and that is time-consuming.’ De Winter: ‘We De Winter: ‘People were not keen on the material because each class is now five minutes expect that the other teachers will make extended schedule. It was necessary because of shorter. They have started talking faster, taking changes next year and work pressure will go up capacity problems, and we can see that it really fewer coffee breaks or requiring more inde- for them. The big question is: is that extra work helps with capacity. It does the job it is meant to pendent study. When teachers have shortened a one-off thing?’ do, in spite of the teething troubles.’ Jonker: the class, we don’t know what impact that has. ‘We can now plan an extra 18 classes per week We want to find that out in the next survey, at People were also afraid that concentration per room. To compensate for the shorter the end of period 5.’ would go down at the end of the day. What do classes, we need about six extra classes per the teachers say about that? week. So we gain a capacity of 12 classes per De Winter: ‘More than 40 per cent of the teach- week per room.’ ‘A lot of teachers don’t ers say their concentration is poorer in the 11th realize they can ask for and 12th time slots of the day. The same goes Do you want to lodge a complaint or ask a question about the more class time’ for half the students, say the teachers. But there extended daytime schedule? You can do so at the WUR Coun- weren’t very many respondents to this ques- cil’s EDS desk, student party VeSte and the department of Education & Student Affairs. tion. That is partly because not many late The quality of the education has gone down, classes or practicals are scheduled yet.’ say 35 per cent of the teachers. Diederen: ‘Of course your concentration is not Diederen: ‘We’d like to know more about that. as good at six o’clock in the evening if you are WHAT IS GOING ON WITH The teachers I’ve talked to say: I have shortened used to having dinner at that time. We also THE TIMETABLE? the class by five minutes and then you can sac- notice that the late classes are less well rifice quality.’ De Winter: ‘You might leave out attended. But then if you teach at 8:20 on a Fri- The extended daytime schedule (EDS) was an example in your explanation, or you shorten day morning, at least half the students are introduced last September to cater for the the coffee break, which the students use to ask absent too. So how problematic is that class at increase in student numbers. Lectures and the teacher questions. That is the issue, in that the end of the day?’ Jonker: ‘Students especially practicals now start at 8:20 instead of 8:30, case.’ hate long days of classes, so when we timetable lecture time slots have been reduced from 45 to 40 minutes, the last lectures go on till 19:00 we look for ways of shortening the waiting time instead of 18:00 hours, and students no longer So how could teachers compensate for those between morning and afternoon classes. Next all have their lunch break at the same time shorter classes? academic year, we are going to schedule more every day. Jonker: ‘Some of the teachers teach less overall courses late morning instead of early morning, The change was controversial. Students and now than last year, but that was never the idea. to make the day shorter.’ teachers feared the EDS would be detrimental to A lot of teachers don’t realize they can ask for student association life and the quality of the education. The WUR Council and the Student more class time now. That means they can There are two lunch breaks a week when Council eventually agreed to the measure with teach just as much material, or even more, or everyone stops at the same time, so study certain conditions. WUR was to keep a finger on give a generous coffee break after all. We are associations can plan lunchtime meetings. the pulse using surveys, and evaluate the now setting up an open office hour in the Does that create any difficulties? timetable thoroughly one year after introducing Forum, partly so as to point out this option to Jonker: ‘Teachers would prefer a short it. An EDS complaints committee of four teachers.’ Diederen: ‘I still teach the same vol- lunch break, starting later and ending earlier. students and three teachers was set up to ume of material as last year, my teaching goals There are various options for that. We are collect complaints. MSc student of Biotechnology Aniek de Winter and teacher of and reader are the same. I just tell the students currently looking at the first-year practicals, Food Chemistry Julia Diederen are on this a bit less because the classes are shorter. Is that for instance. They last four and a half hours committee. They hold regular consultations with a bad thing? I am using this year as a kind of and start at 8:20, but you can also give a policy advisor Fred Jonker of the Education & test to see whether I should change anything. I practical from 8:50 to 12.30, because you’ve Student Affairs department. might ask for more class time next year.’ got half an hour to play with. That way you

18 Aprilapril 2019 — RESOURCE 16 >> picture

COLOMBIAN CHARM Aradiant Diana Rojas Gutiérrez parades in her tradi- tional Sanjuanero dress on the catwalk in The Spot. She explained that the dress represents the richness of the Colombian culture and the charm of Colombian women. Rojas Gutiérrez was taking part in the festive fashion show that opened One World Week on 4 April. WUR students from countries including Indonesia, India, Pakistan and China displayed their traditional costumes. The weeklong annual event celebrates the international character and cultural diversity of WUR and Wageningen. But how ‘one’ are we really? Read more on page 22. LZ, Photo Sven Menschel

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18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 18 >> featuresreport

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 report << 19

Researchers and fisheries develop selective fishing nets Smart sole fishing

The common sole is a slippery customer. Like a true Houdini, it can slip through fine mesh, leaving the fisher with a net full of bycatch. WUR scientist Pieke Molenaar is now working with fisheries on developing ‘smart nets’ that trap the sole and keep the rest out. Resource went to sea with him for a day.

Text and photos Tessa Louwerens

t is cold and foggy at seven thirty in the morning Fishers used to throw the bycatch overboard. But in 2015, as I scan Scheveningen harbour for the TH-10, a the European Commission made it compulsory to land the cotter belonging to the brothers Johan and Albert fish. That means the fishers must land all the undersized Baaij. Fortunately, I had been warned. My warm fish of species for which they have a fishing quota. They clothing and high boots are certainly no luxury as I are allowed to throw other species overboard. The aim of cautiously pick my way across the quay over slimy the landing obligation is to combat waste in the fishing Ifish remains, chains and ropes. industry – the discarded fish do not always survive – and Today I am the guest of Pieke Molenaar, a fishing tech- to provide incentives to fish more selectively. And this is niques researcher at Wageningen Marine Research, and of where Molenaar comes in. fisher Johan Baaij and some Polish crew. At least, I will be if I can find the right boat in amongst the dozens of cotters COFFEE IN THE CABIN moored in front of the fish market. Then I see someone It is half an hour’s sailing from the harbour to the place waving, a man in a dark blue windcheater with windswept where Baaij wants to fish. Time enough for a bread roll brown curly hair. ‘Come on board,’ calls Molenaar. ‘There with Dutch prawns and a cup of coffee in the cabin. ‘Ah, are no steps so you’ll have to come down using this rope coffee,’ sighs Molenaar, ‘I could do with a cup.’ He got and the net.’ back at four o’clock in the morning from a five-day research expedition on the North Sea, so he has only had TRAWL a few hours’ sleep. ‘Do you want to go for a trawl straightaway?’ asks fisher Baaij once I have reached the deck with a less than elegant manoeuvre. Baaij and his brother often fish for sole and plaice in the North Sea for days on end. They do this with a pulse trawl, a net with electrodes on it that shocks flatfish off the sea bed with small electric surges (see inset). But today the fisher is going to come out with us for ‘just’ a couple of hours, for a ‘mini-trawl’. Baaij and Molenaar are developing more selective fishing nets together. There is a need for such nets because besides the marketable sole and plaice, Baaij catches a lot of  Fisheries technol- smaller flatfish and other sea ogy research Pieke Molenaar: ‘I may be creatures. ‘Depending on the fish able to think up species you are fishing for, this something myself, ‘bycatch’, as it is called, can some- but if it doesn’t work for a fisher- times make up 90 per cent of the man, there’s no catch,’ says Molenaar. point.’

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 20 >> report

After downing the rolls and coffee, we’re up the problem of bycatch,’ says Molenaar. ‘We whether something works, but you still don’t on deck listening to how Baaij gives the orders have three baskets full, and about three quar- know why.’ Exactly what went on under water to lower the pulse nets over the side of the ters of a basket is marketable fish.’ was a black box for a long time. Now Molenaar boat. There is some calling to and fro in Dutch The starfish, crabs, shellfish and small fish has found a solution to that. and Polish. The crew, in bright orange waders can be thrown overboard but not the under- and matching gloves, are busy throwing the sized flatfish. Baaij: ‘I must take those along, FILMING UNDER WATER heavy nets overboard. They soon disappear even if they hardly fetch anything at all.’ ‘This is the GoPro’, says Molenaar, pointing to into the dark waters of the North Sea. The boat Because of the landing obligation, human con- a waterproof camera that he has screwed onto hardly rolls at all, but from the whitecaps and sumption of these fish has been banned. This a turquoise PVC base together with a lamp. He the swirling water you can see we’re moving rule was made so fishers don’t start deliber- has attached that base to the net with cable quite fast. ‘To catch flatfish you have to keep ately fishing for small fish. So the undersized ties so he can film during trawling. ‘Underwa- up a good pace,’ explains Molenaar. ‘Otherwise fish are processed into fishmeal, which is not ter filming in the North Sea is quite a chal- they dive back into the sand again.’ very lucrative. Meanwhile, sorting and storing lenge. You have to wait for calm weather. And those fish on board is expensive and labour the net drags along the seabed, stirring up STARFISH AND CRABS intensive. sand that obscures visibility.’ Until recently, After about half an hour of trawling, the nets Molenaar was therefore unable to film in pulse are drawn up and emptied into three large BLACK BOX and bottom trawls. Until he saw the light in orange baskets. ‘Normally everything goes Molenaar has been experimenting for years September 2016 during an expedition on a onto the sorting belt and from there into the with smart nets intended to solve the bycatch German research vessel. hold,’ says Baaij. ‘But the belt has just been problem. Together with the Van Eekelen fish- ‘I was working on that smart net for cleaned.’ Molenaar picks up a couple of fish ery, he has already developed a selective net for langoustines and we were comparing two nets. and puts them on the deck. One flatfish with langoustines, which has made it possible to On one side we got a crystal clear picture and orange spots is an eye-catcher. ‘A plaice,’ says reduce the bycatch by as much as 65 per cent. on the other side it was pitch black. Molenaar. But the less flamboyant long flatfish They achieved this by dividing the far end of Then I realized that the clearer lying beside it is the important catch. ‘Sole. the net (the ‘cod end’) into several compart- pictures That is the most lucrative for the fishery.’ ments. Fish get into the top compartment, where the mesh is larger so small fish can escape. Langoustines go through a sorting grid Of the three baskets of fish with flaps into a different part of the net with on deck, only a quarter of finer mesh so they can’t escape. the catch is marketable Molenaar aims to develop similar sorting mechanisms for flatfish fisheries. He has had modest success to date, but he hasn’t And then there is a colourful collection of given up hope. ‘Up to now, most of the experi- sea life wriggling around in the basket. Not ments were a question of trial and error. You just flatfish, but also a lot of small fish, star- let down the adapted net on one side, and the fish, crabs and the odd mussel. ‘This illustrates standard net on the other. Then you find out

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 report << 21

were taken in a cod net, which is a different Molenaar hopes the footage will help the team shape because the end hangs a bit higher outsmart the sole after all. ‘Now we can see BAN ON PULSE FISHING above the seabed.’ Back in the Netherlands, he exactly where the fish swim in the net and how tested his cameras again in the flatfish net, but they behave. That enables us to pinpoint far The efforts of fisheries researcher Pieke Molenaar this time he pulled the end up a bit higher. more precisely where we should position at Wageningen Marine research to develop And that worked. those sorting grids.’ selective nets for sole fishers are aimed at pulse trawl fisheries, which are popular in the Netherlands. However, the European Parliament TEAMWORK ‘Plaice get stuck in the decided in February to ban pulse trawling from Fishers are enthusiastic about the underwater 1 July 2021. Dutch fishers will then have to switch net like cardboard, while footage too, says Molenaar. ‘Because they see to the traditional beam trawl. That doesn’t sole are as mobile as what is going on in the net, they get inspired render his experiments redundant, though, says tissue paper’ and come up with new ideas. It is nice to put Molenaar. The camera images with which he our ideas together and work towards a solution studies fish behaviour in the net could prove together. I could think up something myself, useful in developing smart beam trawling nets. But the challenge is growing. Beam trawls have ESCAPE ARTIST but if it isn’t workable for a fisher it chains that drag over the ground, increasing the Thanks to the underwater footage, Molenaar is pointless.’ bycatch. Exactly what Molenaar aims to can now see how the flatfish behave in the net. For Molenaar, collaborating with the fishers reduce with the smart nets. ‘Then the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. is one of the nicest aspects of his work. ‘I’ve When developing those smart nets we first never really been a landlubber; even as a child I focused mainly on plaice and dab. But on the was always fiddling about with rods and fish- footage we saw that a plaice shoots through ing nets.’ He says the culture in fishing com- the net at high speed, and doesn’t have time to munities varies a lot. ‘The people in Urk are a find the sorting grids.’ Molenaar also saw that bit reserved; they want to check you out first. sole were much better swimmers and naviga- Whereas Texel people are very direct right from tors. He thought they stood more chance of the start.’ getting through and decided to concentrate on After a few hours at sea and a good dose of these fish. Now he wants to design a sorting fresh air, we return to the harbour as feeble grid with which the sole are channelled into a sunshine starts to break through the fog. We specific section of the net that traps larger fish chat a while in a beach café where Molenaar and allows the smaller specimens to escape. gets a well-earned second cup of coffee. I guess That turns out to be a major challenge. he can go home and rest now? ‘Well, I’ve got to ‘The sole is a real escape artist,’ says Molenaar. go to another cotter first to pick up some stuff ‘Where plaice get stuck in the net like bits of and consult some other researchers.’ The cardboard, sole move about like bits of tissue life of a fisheries researcher involves long paper. But just when we try to separate them days without much sleep. But on the plus by making them slip through something, they side, the office is in the fresh sea air, with stop wriggling.’ an unlimited supply of fresh fish.

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 22 >> point of view HOW ‘ONE WORLD’ ARE WE REALLY?

One World Week has come and gone again. An annual event in which Wageningen University & Research celebrates its cultural diversity. But do we truly form one world? Or do we live alongside each other in separate worlds? text Luuk Zegers, Tessa Louwerens, Gina Ho illustration Henk van Ruitenbeek

Xun Yuan Lizzie Freed MSc student of Organic Agriculture, MSc student of Organic Agriculture, from China from the US ‘I feel that I’m in parallel worlds that don’t ‘Instead of a melting pot, I think we’re necessarily overlap, at least in day-to-day more of a tossed salad here. Since we’re life. A big part of it is down to me coming only students here for a limited period of from a very different culture – I wasn’t time, the mindset is less geared to inte- brought up to be outspoken, but opin- grating with the dominant Dutch culture ions are definitely valued much more here than in China, so it than it would be if we moved here permanently. But having can be hard for me at times, both inside and outside the class- said that, the university is doing a great job of making people room. But I’m finding my voice – I guess being exposed to new from different cultures feel welcome and I’ve definitely had cultures does change people in ways I haven’t thought about great conversations in class when we were discussing problems before. from different global perspectives.’ Before I came to Wageningen, I wasn’t aware of the many “shades of green” in the sustainability movement. It also really Gert-Jan Hofstede opened my eyes to see so many vegetarians or vegans around Personal professor of Artificial Sociality, me, who are trying to do what’s good for the environment in from the Netherlands their own way. So, on another level, maybe we are One World ‘Compared with other universities, Wa- after all: despite our different cultural quirks, we’re all doing geningen is quite strongly ‘one world’. I our bit for the planet.’ think it’s because we have a rich mix of students from all sorts of backgrounds Iris van Hal here, spread over various degree pro- MSc student of Forest & Nature grammes. It would be very limiting for foreign students if they Conservation and Development & only socialized with people of their own nationality. Of course Rural Innovation, from the Netherlands there are smaller groups that communicate with each other in ‘To me, Wageningen is very much ‘one their own language, but that’s no problem. It makes people feel world’ because of the highly diverse inter- secure. I think the Wageningen culture has always been very national classrooms and group work. tolerant, but that it took a bit of getting used to. Last year I was I have many international friends, both at a drinks do at one of our study associations, which was once within and outside my degree programme. So I interact with peo- a bastion of Dutch students. Twenty years ago, you got little ple from all over the world when I study, as well as when I play cliques there that didn’t want anything to do with people who sports or take part in activities. I really like the way you get in- spoke other languages. But that probably came from fear of troduced to so many different cultures. For example, if you go having to speak English, and not from intolerance. Now you to a potluck, you can try all different kinds of food from all over see people from all around the world there, and they are com- the world.’ pletely at home.’

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 point of view << 23

Joshua Wambugu Suzan van de Rijt On the Student Council and the vice president and secretary at One World Week team, from IxESN, from the Netherlands Kenya ‘At IxESN, I see so many cul- ‘Wageningen is certainly one tures and nationalities. We try world. There are over 100 na- to make everybody feel at tionalities here. This shows that home here, no matter where Wageningen is willing to wel- they come from. It is a real come different nationalities. One World Week is a ‘One World’ community. Even the Dutch students platform for students and employees to learn from contribute to that community, especially after each other, get to know each other’s cultures, and they’ve been on an exchange. Look at the Dutch stu- have fun. But even without this week, Wageningen dents who become buddies for international stu- ‘I think it’s more would still be a One World environment. You can dents, for example. Buddies show new international of a tossed salad see this in the international classroom and the so- students around, and they participate in fun activi- than a melting pot’ cial interaction of students outside the classroom.’ ties together. Close friendships are formed this way. After my own exchange in Reading, England, I became a buddy as well, and since then, my group of friends has been a lot more international.’

Watch the video on resource-online.nl.

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 24 >> student Unitas has a home again After 10 years without a roof over their head, youth club Unitas has its own building again. The members are relieved. ‘If you suddenly decide you want to have a disco this evening, you can do that again. Unitas is easy going like that.’

text Luuk Zegers photo Guy Ackermans

ong hair, where you can’t tell from – and women are sitting at the bar chatting on before their new home is ready. behind whether it’s a man or a this club evening. There’s laughter and glasses Serious renovation work needs to be done and woman. And beards. That’s the Uni- are raised. At a table in the corner the role-play- permits applied for so that a decade on, open tas image.’ Joram Verhoeven (21) is a ing game Dungeons & Dragons is being set up. parties can be held again in their own home base. fourth-year member of Unitas and Old rock music is being played, interspersed on this Monday evening one of the with Rammstein’s new single. Someone’s going GO WITH THE FLOW few clean‘ shaven L men in ‘H31’. This building around offering cherry tomatoes. But despite the fact that work is still going on, in the Heerenstraat, right in the centre of ‘They’re left over from supper,’ says first-year there’s already a feeling of having their own Wageningen, for years housed cafe ’t Gat and member Jodie Boogerd (18). ‘Because our party cafe Luca. Now it’s Unitas’ new home. kitchen isn’t ready yet, we usually eat at Vreemde Streken cafe, but this evening we ate outside on ‘Now Unitas can once more be DUNGEONS & DRAGONS our own terrace.’ Along with fitting the kitchen the cornerstone of Wageningen Men – most indeed with long hair and a beard there’s a long list of jobs that need to be done that it always was’

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 student << 25

 Unitas members in their new home on the Heerenstraat. ‘’Now we’ve got a real meeting place again,’ says chair Thijs Stegman (centre).

UNITAS HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

‘The Wageningse Studentenbond (WSB, the Wageningen Stu- dent Union), the predecessor of Unitas, was founded in 1907,’ recounts Unitas chair Thijs Stegmann. ‘It was the first student association not to have any initiation rites and where everyone was welcome, regardless of religious beliefs. The WSB merged with the Wageningsch Studenten Corps when they also got rid of hazing in 1921. Just under a decade later, however, initiation rituals were reintroduced and in response the students with WSB ideals founded another association in 1935: Unitas. Its first home was a villa on the Generaal Foulkesweg. In the 1960s the villa was demolished to make way for a new building, which is where Unitas grew to become an important pop music venue. But at the start of the new century the club ran into financial difficulties. In 2009 we gave up the building to save the associ- ation. Since then we’ve been looking for a new place and after nearly 10 years of no base we finally found one: Heerenstraat 31, right in the centre of Wageningen.’

WHEN NIRVANA GOT TURNED DOWN AND OTHER LEGENDS

• Nirvana in Wageningen: it almost happened. Two years before their breakthrough album Nevermind was released the legendary band Nirvana wanted to play at Unitas, but the treasurer wasn’t prepared to fork out 500 guilders. • The Unitas tipple is Schelvispekel, a bitters drink. The club claims to be the biggest consumer in the world after the British royal family. • Stiekem Gedanst, a number by the Wageningen nederpopband Toontje Lager, was a big hit in the Netherlands in 1983. Rumour has it that it’s about a girl at a Unitas party. • In the noughties a rumour circulated that Unitas held an orgy every Friday evening. A new member was so disappointed when he learned that there was no truth to the rumour that he resigned his membership.

building, says chairman Thijs Stegmann. going like that.’ were a real niche in Wage- ‘We’ve got a real meeting place again.’ Some- It’s that laid-back approach that prompted ningen,’ says Stegmann. where members can organize spontaneous Jodie Boogerd to become a member last sum- Now they’re hoping that the new activities, which is typical of the youth club. mer. ‘I can’t stand the forced jollity of most stu- building will see a revival of the old days. ‘Once ‘Unitas members are often pretty laid back, dent associations. I noticed that Unitas was the permits have been sorted out we want to they tend to go with the flow. In the period that different. Nothing is compulsory, but if you feel start booking bands again.’ we had no building of our own everything had like good company you can find it. People are All in all, the new building represents ‘an to be organized more tightly: is that cafe availa- approachable and you can be yourself here.’ enormous resurgence of hope,’ says the chair. ble on that date? Now we finally have our own ‘It gives us the base we’ve missed for 10 years. place again, members can just turn up with an POP VENUE All the time we had no roof over our heads we idea and carry it out on the spot. If you sud- In its heyday, when Unitas still had its own were in survival mode. Now we have a building denly decide you want to organize a disco this building on the Generaal Foulkesweg, the asso- again, Unitas can once more be the corner- evening, you can do that again. Unitas is easy ciation was an important music venue. ‘We stone of Wageningen that it always was.’

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 26 >> student

CHOLERA The oldest preserved cholera Pleun wins vegetarian cookery competition bacteria did not cause an out- break, researchers at the Well- come Sanger Institute discov- Pitta bread with oyster ered. The bacterium was isolated from a British soldier who fought in the First World War and after mushroom shawarma nearly a century its DNA has now been sequenced. The genetic code does not resemble that of modern cholera bacteria strains, which do cause disease. Inter- esting stuff for virologists. COLOUR OF SOUND Some people with synaesthesia see colours when they hear sounds. But ‘normal’ people also have a ‘feeling for the colour of sound’, according to research done at the Radboud University. For most people ii sounds green; aa red and oo blue. Funnily enough we seem to be pretty unanimous in this, and many synaesthetes have the same asso-

ciations. The only difference is BERENDSEN HANS PHOTOS: that ‘ordinary’ people have to  Dishes cooked by the chefs in the final included Taiwanese rice dumplings, pumpkin curry, and fried rice with vegetable tempura. think about it, whereas synthaes- thetes have no choice. Master’s student Pleun van concerned the WUR restaurants mushrooms give it the right Iersel (21) is the winner of could do to offer more vegetarian structure. All you have to do is BRAIN GROWTH WUR’s first vegetarian cookery and vegan food. If WUR wants to add paprika, onion and shawar- Chinese scientists have competition. You’ll be able to be a trendsetter in terms of sus- ma spices.’ ‘enriched’ rhesus monkeys with a taste her oyster mushroom tainability and health, it’s got a Inge Buitink from Facilities and human gene that promotes brain shawarma soon in the canteens. way to go.’ Services is pleased with how the growth by introducing the gene Bioinformatics student Sausan first edition of the cookery com- into monkey embryos via viruses. During the Week Without Meat, Nafisah (29) cooked Indonesian petition went. ‘We’ve agreed with Five of the eleven monkeys sur- students and staff were invited to fried rice. ‘Usually the dish the caterers that we’ll do the vived but their brains were no send in their favourite vegetarian includes egg and chicken, but I same thing again next year. For us bigger than normal. Their short- recipes. Facilities and Services a competition like this is a great term memory improved, though. and the four WUR caterers select- way to have contact with students ed five finalists from the entries. ‘WUR could do and staff, and to inspire each PEAK POO On Thursday 11 April the finalists to offer more other to make meatless dishes.’ Mount Everest will soon have the assembled for a kind of Great vegetarian and All of the finalists’ recipes will highest toilet in the world. Chi- WUR Bake-Off. The winner was vegan food’ soon be available in a new digital nese climbers will place an ‘eco- Pleun van Iersel’s oyster mush- WUR cookbook. LZ toilet’ on the north face at 7028 room shawarma because it was a metres. Bags are available for ‘simple dish’ yet ‘tasted wonder- used cauliflower in beer batter your droppings, which will be ful’, in the jury’s opinion. Other and deep-fried vegetables in- collected and taken down the contestants made Taiwanese rice stead. I’m not vegetarian, but I mountain. Rubbish, including dumplings, stir-fried mush- love cooking. Good cooking poo, is a big problem on the rooms, pumpkin curry and makes people happy, and that busy mountain. The tempo- Indonesian fried rice with makes me happy.’ rary toilet for those caught deep-fried vegetables. short will be removed again WUR COOKBOOK at the end of the climbing TRENDSETTER? Van Iersel is studying Food Tech- season. Luc Roefs (25), who is studying nology and Nutrition and Health. Business and Consumer Scienc- ‘I didn’t expect to win. I thought es, made the curried pumpkin. the Taiwanese rice dumplings He welcomes the initiative. ‘I’m were the most special. The secret vegetarian and as far as I’m to my shawarma is that the oyster  Winner Pleun van Iersel. student << 27

An evening out for a good cause

Wageningen’s cafes and restaurants will take part in the Night of the Tip for the sixth year running. On 11 May all participants will donate their tips to the good causes chosen for this year. ‘There’s no better reason to go and relax on a terrace.’

Nearly all of the restaurants and cafes are taking part, says Hannah van Dijk, who is on the Wageningen Nacht van de Fooi (Night of the Tip) com- mittee. ‘Everyone thinks it’s a great initiative and is enthusiastic about it.’ The committee will publish the full list of participating establish- ments later this month. ‘The Night of the Tip is one of the easiest and most fun ways to sup- port a good cause,’ says Van Dijk. ‘You can do something to help the world while enjoying yourself in a café.’ The committee is also organiz- SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO: ing a second-hand clothes market in the centre of Wageningen, local  The Night of the Tip is an easy and fun way to donate money, to good causes bands will perform and there will be a bouncy castle. The hope is that like clean drinking water in Uganda or a hospital in Papua New Guinea. these and other activities will raise more than the amount collected last year: five thousand euros. among four good causes. This year the money will go to projects for clean The Night of the Tip is an annual event organized by students and is drinking water in Uganda and Gambia, solar panels for a Brazilian school held in 11 cities. The amount of money raised nationally is doubled by and an extension to a hospital in Papua New Guinea. Wilde Ganzen, a non-profit organization that then divides the proceeds For more information visit the Facebook page of Nacht van de Fooi. IC

MEANWHILE IN... IRAN ‘The US sanctions make it hard to give aid’

Record rainfall in March and April has flooded over 1900 cities and villages in Iran, bringing the death toll so far to 70 across 13 prov- inces. Roads, bridges and agricultural land have been destroyed and many people have been forced to evacuate their homes. According to Ali Tafazoli, the current sanctions against Iran are hampering the rescue efforts.

‘We have different climate zones in Iran: around my hometown Isfa- NEWS LIVE BRE/ALAMY AMIN PHOTO: han it is semi-arid, and in the north there are more forests. The floods now are mostly in the eastern and southern part of Iran. could’ve alerted people sooner. Karkheh is one of the big rivers there and because of the heavy rains Countries like Germany and Switzerland do provide aid, but with the it overflowed and the water rushed into cities. current US sanctions it is hard for more countries to give aid, and The mainstream Iranian media say that the state is doing its best therefore peaceful organisations like Hilal Ahmar, the Iranian Red with rescue efforts. However, social media also plays a huge role in Cross, are struggling to work effectively. Iran these days. Although Facebook, Twitter and so on are filtered by In the 1950s, the US helped to overthrow the Iranian democratic gov- the state, censorship doesn’t work so well because people use VPN to ernment and supported a monarchy for 26 years until it was over- get past the firewall. So they have access to different sources of news thrown by the people in the Iranian revolution. This conflict and dis- and they are not trust of the US are part of our history and the nuclear deal was the very happy about first step towards breaking the ice. But under Trump, the US simply Ali Tafazoli, an MSc student of Biotechnology from Iran, reflects how the govern- pulled out of the deal because the president regards it as “defective”. on recent affairs in his home ment is handling The key political players in Iran had agreed on a deal with the inter- country. the crisis. They feel national community, but now we’re back with US sanctions. This is that the authorities affecting our people, especially during times of need like this.’ GH

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 28 >> student

ON YOU CAMPUS

Columbia, Norway, the Netherlands, France. 15 euros a week each and that covers all of Edd Colbert gets around. And everywhere our food. We take it in turns to shop, usual- he goes, the British student doing an MSc ly from the market. People take on differ- in Agroecology tries to grow vegetables. ent roles in the house, kind of spontane- ously. Edd was living in Bogota, Columbia before he spent five months in Ås, Norway for the first part of his double-degree programme last ‘I have filled my room year. ‘Ås was very quiet. It’s smaller than Wa- at Droevendaal with PHOTO: ANNE VAN DER HEIJDEN geningen and there’s even less to do, but I en- seedlings’ joyed the peace and quiet. Now I feel almost vested potatoes and squash. Since my arrival ready to take on another city like Lyon in in Wageningen I have filled my room with France, where I’ll go in September for the fi- I bake a lot of bread and do some gardening, seedlings and I’m starting to plant them out- nal part of my degree.’ other people bake lots of cakes. We all share side now. The main harvest will begin in July cleaning tasks, and we eat together most when I leave, but I hope my housemates will While he was in Norway, Edd heard about the nights, which I think is important.’ enjoy the food. As I’m moving every few community in Droevendaal from other stu- months it’s hard to see a whole season dents who really enjoyed living there. And Edd and his housemates also started growing through. But I like to stay connected. In Lyon, now he’s the one enjoying it. ‘In my house vegetables in the garden. ‘I really enjoy that. I’ll see if I can find another garden. there are six of us, plus two cats, and four The people who lived in my house in Norway If not maybe I’ll just grow a chilli plant in chickens. We live quite communally: we pay before me left their crops in the soil, so I har- my room!’ GH

The mystery of the exploding crisp packets

The cleaner sounds as though he’s about to burst envisaged quite a different future for myself. DIARY OF A into tears on the phone. ‘This is just not normal,’ I thought I would be conserving the rainforests, CARETAKER he says in a trembling voice. ‘It is one big mess.’ saving pandas from extinction, and ultimately saving Only yesterday, he had mopped the stairs of all the world with my knowledge. The reality: since Christoph Janzing is a 15 floors. Reluctantly, I get on my bike. I can think graduating I have looked after great tits, built ponds, caretaker with Idealis. of nicer ways to start the day, but off we go. worked in a herbarium, inspected trees, supervised He writes about his refugees and been a tour guide. After leading a experiences for Resource. On arrival I see the cleaner was not exaggerating. wonderful mountain bike tour of Kirgizstan, I found This is his first story. The stairway at Hoevestein is full of empty beer cans myself broke. A friend emailed me the vacancy for a and it looks as though packets of every possible caretaker. The rent needed paying and I thought flavour of crisps have exploded here. You have to keep working with students would be fun. I decided to moving about, otherwise you stick to the beer and give the caretaker job a go. wine stains on the floor. DETECTIVE SAVING PANDAS Instead of saving the world, my duties now include At moments like this I do sometimes wonder finding out who used the stairwell as a party venue why I took a job as caretaker at Idealis student last night and ‘forgot’ to clean up afterwards. All the accommodation last year. When I was a student at different hats I have to wear – those of a policeman, a Wageningen I would have considered it likelier that I social worker and an agony aunt – are what I like would start menstruating than that I would ever work about this job. Today I’m a detective and I won’t sleep for Idealis. I lived at Droevendaal and, as an MSc until I have solved the mystery of the exploding crisp student of Forest and Nature Conservation, I packets…

RESOURCE — 18 Aprilapril 2019 student << 29

Wageningen Master’s students do internships and thesis research all around the world, getting to know their field and other cultures. Here they talk about their adventures. THE Stared at in WORKS Bangladesh

‘I didn’t really choose Bangladesh myself. I where you went. And they didn’t speak any Who? Maaike Visser (24), MSc student of Nutrition was at an interesting presentation about the- English, so there was a big language barrier. & Health sis topics related to micronutrient deficien- Being at the centre of attention without be- What? Thesis research on a new cies in low-income countries. Then I submit- ing able to communicate wasn’t always rice variety ted my top five and I was allocated this one: very nice. Where? Parbatipur, Bangladesh a study on the health effects of a rice variety Now I’ve got all the data and I’m analys- with raised zinc levels. ing it. I hope to be finished in a couple of months. I enjoyed having a project about VIOLENCE micronutrients in low-income countries, I spent two months in Bangladesh for the because I’ve been interested in that since my  Maaike (left) spent two months in study, together with another Wageningen Bachelor’s. Hopefully I can carry on with Bangladesh doing research for her thesis. student. I wanted to travel around the coun- the topic.’ AvdH try for two weeks with my boyfriend, but be- cause of the elections it was rather unstable, so we went to Nepal for two weeks instead. The people I talked to in Bangladesh about the elections said they had gone relatively peacefully. In other years there was violence for months beforehand, whereas this time it was only in the week before the elections that people were murdered. But I still felt less free to go anywhere I wanted. Bangladesh is very beautiful and the peo- ple are kind and fair. But there isn’t much nature, I thought. A lot of rice is grown and the land is used efficiently for farming. It is densely populated too. I had expected that, but it really is extremely full of people. Even in the countryside, there are people every- where.

TRAILED BY A CROWD My fellow student and I compared children who ate regular rice with children who ate ‘biofortified’ rice. We visited little villages and people’s homes, places you don’t usual- ly get to see as a tourist. In this rural area, people obviously weren’t used to foreigners. We were openly stared at and you sometimes had a crowd of 20 children trailing you every-

More interviews on resource-online.nl

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE 30 >> service

In memoriam Announcements script of records, together with an abstract of the contribution you’d Sebastian Hoenen Student Council 2019/2020 elec- like to present during ISS (maxi- Our former cessfully defended his PhD thesis tion - candidate lists mum 400 words). Ideally, appli- PhD student on 17 April 2018. This is what he On 29 April 2019 the Student cants have already finished their and col- wrote about his experience as a PhD Council Election Committee will BSc thesis and obtained a high league researcher: ‘The research allowed publish the lists of candidates, af- grade (your thesis would be a Sebastian me to present my work in many ter the lists have been validated. good choice for being presented), Hoenen places, such as Philadelphia, Zurich Students who are entitled to vote are very independent in their passed and Turin. My work was well re- away on ceived; I won the Best Paper Award will receive an email from WebE- work, have an excellent command 31 March at at high-level scientific conferences, lect verkiezingen (info@webelect. of English and are very good pre- the age of only 31. Sebastian is sur- such as the Academy of Manage- nl) about the candidates who senters. vived by his wife Silva and one-year ment and DRUID. Those were very might represent them in the Stu- old son Pascal. rewarding experiences.’ From 1 Jan- dent Council during next academic SHOUT: Out Now discussion group Sebastian was an exceptional stu- uary 2018, Sebastian worked as a year. The lists will also be availa- on gender identity dent before starting his highly post-doctoral researcher at the Rot- ble for inspection at the Student Do you think you might be LHBTQ+ promising academic career. His terdam School of Management. Council office, or via the Student or do you know you’re not straight/ Bachelor’s thesis was published in We will remember Sebastian as an Council election Team Site. Any- cisgender? Meet people with simi- an academic journal. His MSc thesis excellent PhD student and, above one may register an objection to lar feelings or who are seeking an- won the Best Thesis Award for the all, as a great colleague and dear the validity of a published list of swers to questions. In May SHOUT Social Sciences at WUR and he was friend. He will be sorely missed. awarded a competitive grant to con- candidates up to 6 May 2019. To will start a new Out Now group, a duct his PhD research in our group. Professor S.W.F. Omta, emeritus do so, contact the Student Council safe setting in which participants His doctoral dissertation presented professor in Business Management & Election Committee Secretary, can talk about all kinds of subjects ground-breaking research, won Organization Hermijn Speelman, Droevendaal- to do with being LHBTQ+. A series multiple awards and was published sesteeg 4 (Room B.103), PO Box of seven to ten weekly meetings, in leading academic journals in Eco- Dr Christos Kolympiris, Associate 9101, 6700 HB Wageningen or Out Now is organized twice a year. nomics and Management. He suc- Professor, Warwick Business School [email protected]. For more information and to regis- ter go to the website: WUR student representative: SHOUTWAGENINGEN.NL International Students Summit (ISS), Tokyo, Japan The search is on for the 100 most All 3rd or 4th year BSc students sustainable young high-fliers 2019 Students who have followed basic courses The search for the most sustaina- on agriculture, food or the envi- ble young highfliers in the Nether- Language Courses ronment are invited to apply for lands runs from 18 March to 26 the position of WUR student rep- April. Are you a young busi- resentative to the 19th ISS, organ- nessperson, professional or stu- ized by Tokyo University of Agri- dent, under 32? Share your story culture (NODAI) at the NODAI Set- and enter the running before 26 agaya Campus in Tokyo, 15-23 April on dj100.nl. Do you know September, 2019. All costs for par- others who are working hard on English Skills ticipating in the ISS will be cov- sustainability and deserve a place ered by NODAI. The theme of this on the list of 2019? Tip us off and year’s summit is ‘Youth Transform- we’ll get in touch with them. Be- ing Thoughts on Sustainable Agri- tween us, we’ll show that sustain- culture and Resource Management ability is possible. As a DJ100 to Connect Local and Global Com- member, you’ll be part of an ac- Other languages munity’. If you are interested, tive network with a whole range please send your application by of ways of drawing more attention email to the ISS advisor of Wagen- to your story. ingen University, Rico Ihle (rico. DJ100.NL [email protected]) before 1 May 2019. Your application should consist of Exhibition Forum Library: A selec- an application letter of 300 to tion of artwork by five WUR librar- 500 words (justifying why you ians would like to attend this event In their free time, librarians are and why you should be chosen for bursting with creativity, trying out this position, as well as outlining new artistic techniques and trend- the benefits you expect to obtain ing crafts. This highly original ex- for your further studies/profes- hibition brings together the art- sional profile), your CV, your tran- work of five WUR librarians: Anita

RESOURCE — 18 April 2019 service << 31

Dijkstra, Charles Leon, Linda Per- Thursday 25 April, 12:30-13:20 debating. Theatre-maker, Emke Colophon soon, Jan Vos and Joke Webbink. LUNCHTIME WORKSHOP Idema will present an interactive Resource is the magazine and news website for On show are one-of-a kind pieces WAGENINGEN WRITING LAB: life-size board game about what students and staff at Wageningen and unique, high quality artwork. CITING AND REFERENCING happens when you see an unknown University & Research. Resource magazine comes out every fortnight on Thursday. Come and admire the exhibition on To avoid plagiarism in academic face. Location: Impulse building. the 3rd floor in Forum Library, writing, it’s essential to cite and ref- Register at [email protected] Address Droevendaalsesteeg 4, which runs until June 2019. Are erence the sources you use. But what SPECTRUM-WAGENINGEN.COM 6708 PB Wageningen you an artistic scientist or a scien- sources exactly, where should you (Atlas, building 104, bode 31). tific artist yourself? The Library is put an in-text citation, and how do Friday 17 May, 10:00-17:00 POBox 409 6700 AK Wageningen. Secretariat: Thea Kuijpers, always looking for artwork for up- you make a reference list? These NATIONAL DAY OF COMMUNICA- [email protected], 0317 484020 coming exhibitions. More info: mo- questions will be addressed in this TION 2019: CONTROVERSY & Website: www.resource-online.nl. ISSN 1389-7756 [email protected] workshop, together with different ci- DIALOGUE tation styles and how tools like End- The National Day of Communication Editorial staff • Willem Andrée (editor-in-chief) Bessensap 2019: submit a proposal Note can save you countless hours is organized each year by a different [email protected], 0317 483774 for a research presentation formatting reference lists. Access is communication science-related study • Lieke de Kwant (Magazine editor) [email protected], 0317 485320 Around 350 journalists, press offic- free but be on time, as participant association. Ipso Facto is organizing • Roelof Kleis (ecology, social sciences, ers and researchers will meet at De numbers are limited to 20. Location: NDC 2019. Keynote speakers are: economy),­ [email protected], 0317 481721 Rode Hoed in Amsterdam on Friday Forum Library, room 259. More info: Cees Leeuwis, Hedwig te Molder, • Tessa Louwerens (animals, nutrition), [email protected], 0317 481709 21 June to network with colleagues [email protected]. Rico Lie, Marie Garnier Ortiz (WUR), • Albert Sikkema (plants, animals, organization) and exchange knowledge on science Rens Vliegenthart (UvA), Lisa van de [email protected], 0317 481724 • Luuk Zegers (students and education) and its communication. It’s a gold- Friday 10 May, 14:15-17:45 Berg (RU) and Nicoline de Heus [email protected], 0317-481233 en opportunity for scientists to pre- FLOURISH IN DIVERSITY - (BUAS). In addition there will be in- Others who work on Resource sent their research results to sci- SPECTRUM SYMPOSIUM teractive sessions in which you’ll dis- Guy Ackermans, Ignacio Auger, Juliette ence journalists. Researchers at all The topic of the symposium cover how to implement a dialogue Berkhout, Bregje van der Bolt, Alexandra levels can submit a proposal for a is the ability to recognize the when discussing challenging topics. Branderhorst, Evelien Castrop, Cathy Chen, Inge Corino, Susie Day, Corine Feenstra, presentation that is topical, news- opportunities of social and cultural Host for the day is Emma Holmes. Marijn Flipse, Stijn van Gils, Eva van der Graaf, worthy and media-friendly, and in- diversity and how to overcome Location: Forum building. Tickets Berber Hania, Anne van der Heijden, Gina Ho, Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau (HOP), Anja cludes recent or soon-to-be-pub- prejudices. Arjen Wals and Ariel (€ 5, including lunch) are available Janssen, Femke Janssen, Anja Koelstra, Piotr lished findings, surprising new in- Ennis discuss transformative via the website. Kukla, Helena Ligthert, Clare McGregor, Sven Menschel, Jeroen Murré, Rik Nijland, sights or a new avenue of research. learning and the importance of NDCNL.COM Henk van Ruitenbeek, Inge van der Wal, You can register up to 19 April via Pascal Tieman, Clare Wilkinson bit.ly/2OrXZf0. Bessensap is organ- Design Geert-Jan Bruins, Alfred Heikamp ized by the national research organ- ization NWO and the Association for Translators Clare McGregor, Susie Day, Clare Wilkinson, Science Journalism and Communica- Sara Butler tion Netherlands (VWN). More the type Printer Tuijtel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam NWO.NL Subscriptions for likes, A subscription to the magazine costs €58 (overseas: €131) per academic year. Agenda shares, ­Cancellations before 1 August. Advertising Thursday 18 to 30 April External: Bureau van Vliet, T 023-5714745 FILM HOUSE MOVIE W comments [email protected] Internal (reduced rate): Thea Kuijpers, That Pärt Feeling: Dutch documen- [email protected]. T 0317 484020 tary on the composer Arvo Pärt. & hashtags? Deadline Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Tur- Deadline for submissions: one week before tles: Spanish animated non-fiction publication date. The editors reserve the right film about the making of Buñuel’s to edit and/or shorten announcements. Follow us on Facebook film about the village of Las Hur- Publisher des. Lazzaro Felice: modern Italian or Instagram for the Marc Lamers, Corporate Communications & Marketing Wageningen University & Research fairy tale about the encounter be- latest news, photos, tween the innocent young tenant videos and more @resource_wur farmer Lazzaro and the nobleman Tancredi. The Beast in the Jungle: www.facebook.com/WUR.Resource klimaatneutraal experimental English love story natureOffice.com | NL-077-434311 told through dance, about how gedrukt people don’t connect. Location: Wilhelminaweg 3A, Wageningen. €6.50/€5. Movie W needs volun- teers. Email us at [email protected] MOVIE-W.NL

18 April 2019 — RESOURCE >>TYPICAL DUTCH ILLUSTRATION: HENK VAN RUITENBEEK VAN HENK ILLUSTRATION:

‘Just a cute little breeze’ The Netherlands is known for having unpredictable and cold weather. However, the Dutch themselves are often surprisingly positive about it. I can feel the optimism from my new Dutch friends when I talk to them about the weather.

I was excited when I arrived at Schiphol Airport because it was my first time in Europe and The Netherlands. I arrived in August, and I expected it to still be summer. I imagined that I would still get the chance to feel hot summer temperatures just like in my country. However, in my ‘The Dutch are often first few days in Wageningen, I felt cold because of the wind. Even when the sun was shining, surprisingly positive I was still cold. So, most of the time I wore a jacket or thick clothes when I went outside. about their weather’ At one point during the Annual Introduction Days (AID) my group and I were watching a performance in the city centre. It was around nine in the evening and I wasn’t wearing my jacket. I felt cold because of the wind and I asked my Dutch friends whether the weather in the Netherlands was always this windy. Surprisingly, they answered: ‘Really? Well, it is not even windy. This is just a cute little breeze.’ So now I am trying to make friends with this cute little breeze in the Netherlands. Siti Widyastuti Noor, an MSc student of International Development Studies from Indonesia

Do you have a nice anecdote about your experience of going Dutch? Send it in! Describe an encoun- ter with Dutch culture in detail and comment on it briefly. 300 words max. Send it to resource@ wur.nl and earn twenty-five euros and Dutch candy.