Record numbers at AID Mobile pig pen Secret history

Six days of partying in New concept: camping at The secrets of a Wageningen. | p.6 | the neighbours’. | p.10 | 2000 year-old mare. | p.18 |

RESOURCEFor students and employees of Wageningen UR no 1 – 13 August 2015 – 10th Volume Farming at sea It will be quite normal by 2050 | p.13 2 >> labour of love >> PAUL + STARLIGHT Paul Gerlach, graphic artist, freelancer at Communications Services

‘The light that reveals secrets’

Paul Gerlach looks far into outer space with his telescope. Back in time, into the history of the universe. In search of the light of distant stars. It is delicate work. He does it from his back garden in Houten, until deep into the night. Tracking pattterns of lines like a surgeon. ‘Everything we know about the universe comes from light. That is really fascinating.’ RK / Photo: Guy Ackermans

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 PHOTO COVER: LEONARD PASSCHIER >>CONTENTS no 1 – 10th volume

>> 4 >> 18 >> 26 IMARES YERSEKE A DARK HORSE STUDENT TEACHERS Zeeland doesn’t want to lose it. The riddle of the Wageningen skeleton. Green further education looks to Wageningen.

LOCAL COLOUR What do oysters and mussels have in common with pigs? Well, marine research centre Imares in Yerseke has had a reprieve and is to carry on in a slimmed-down form. Local research assignments weren’t being followed up. The fisheries sector and the Province of Zeeland have woken up and are not keen on an exit from Zee- land. They have said they are willing to help Imares with assignments and thus with funding. Zeeland is always fearful of a brain drain out of the province, so this is hopeful. Especially if you frame the future research projects as a victory against all odds. AND MORE... As for pigs: just over a month ago I was in Sterksel during the open innovation 6 Crowdfunding platform days at the Pigs Innovation Centre. This is another outpost in trouble. But the under construction turnout was big and I didn’t hear a word spoken against the need for the centre’s 7 Action plan for Alterra. existence. Once again, the problem is the lack of research assignments and fund- 9 Streams should meander again ing from the market. A pig farmer wondered out loud whether they are asleep at 12 Farming seaweed the provincial headquarters in Den Bosch. See, mussels are typical of Zeeland 18 Tracing the ancient horse but pigs are not really typical of Brabant. But any advertising bureau worth its 22 More DLO’ers in education? salt could make them so. Time for a call perhaps? 26 AID in the race to be greenest 29 Meanwhile in Nepal Edwin van Laar

>> In hot pants in the classroom | p.31

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 4 >> news CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM IN ZEELAND AFTER IMARES IS SAVED

could take a look at what goes on are working on a collaborative Scholten gives the example of • Retaining knowledge in in practice, for example, to see agreement between the provincial the ‘Tropical Team’, in which a Zeeland. what requirements the cultivators authority and the regional fishing diverse group of researchers from • Talks still ongoing. have.’ and shellfish industries instead. different locations are jointly The Provincial Executive Mem- The idea is that Yerseke should studying marine ecosystems in ber for Zeeland, Jo-Annes de Bat become a research institute run the tropics. Scholten: ‘Despite the Zeeland sees hope in the plan to (Christian Democrat), also calls by and for the region. ‘An experi- barrier of the departmental struc- keep the Imares site in Yerseke the news ‘promising’. However he ment,’ says Martin Scholten, ture, they have managed to join open. According to a provisional emphasizes that the possibility of managing director at Imares, ‘as forces. It is currently one of the recovery plan presented by Wagen- a collaborative agreement between all the other regional DLO sites are best-performing teams in Imares.’ ingen UR in July, the site will be the Zeeland science institutes, specialist innovation centres.’ The reorganization will lead to down-sized and will focus on re- businesses and government is The organization of the work is the loss of their job for 14 to 15 gional research topics. The aim of still being discussed, and this is a changing at other Imares sites too. people. Others will have to work the plan is to make loss-making precondition for saving Imares. ‘The crux of the reorganization is in a different area: for example, Imares future-proof again. The province mainly has a facili­ that we are doing away with the tra- five fish farming researchers will ‘We’re relieved that closure is tating role by bringing parties ditional departmental structure,’ be relocating to Wageningen no longer on the table,’ says Addy toge­ther, says De Bat. But he does says Scholten. ‘It was hampering Livestock Research. A different Risseeuw, the secretary of the not rule out the possibility of innovation. We’ll be working with solution is being sought for the Dutch mussel culture producers’ Zeeland co-financing relevant flexible, theme-based teams that rest. Scholten: ‘Over the past three association. ‘The loss of Imares projects, for instance. perform market-oriented re- years, Imares has shrunk from would lead to the fragmentation or In the last while, important search.’ These teams will be 205 employees to 160 through even disappearance of knowledge research programmes on subjects formed from the bottom up and natural wastage and by not re­ in the shellfish sector.’ Risseeuw such as aquaculture and coastal staff can be in more than one team newing temporary employment hopes to see close collaboration defence have ended without any at a time. ‘We want to let the re- contracts. Now we need to focus developing between businesses follow-up. That is why people were searchers take the initiative rather on the remaining surplus capacity and the scientific community in talking increasingly seriously than having the teams imposed on and jobs that will have to go.’ the years ahead. ‘Researchers about closing ‘Yerseke’. Now they them from on high.’ RR/LvdN

ART ON BARE WALLS IN ORION

A huge mural now graces the concrete wall of the stairwell in Orion. Over the summer, artist Kim Habers worked on the artwork of 300 square metres with two assistants. They stood on scaffolding to apply a pattern of lines using black markers, tracing over a design projected onto the wall.

About her work, Habers say: ‘It is purely abstract, growing over the concrete like a fibre, but it also contains recognizable figurative elements. That way I challenge everyone to look at the drawing without having to explain exactly what you see. For once, let go of scientific logic and give your fantasy free reign.’ KG PHOTO: WILFRED BERGSMA WILFRED PHOTO:

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 news << 5

WUR LIBRARY INVESTIGATES IMPACT OF BREACH WITH ELSEVIER from accessing all journal is- ing negotiator on behalf of the OLUMN|STIJN • No new contract means sues as of 2016. universities, said in the NRC © no access. The negotiations are not going newspaper in early July that • 1 January is day of well. The aim of the universi- they were even considering a reckoning. ties is for all Dutch articles in boycott of Elsevier. Salad days Elsevier journals to be open ac- Researchers at other universi- Some say student life cess from now on. Anyone ties are also being consulted on revolves around beer The WUR library is asking re- should be able to read the arti- their views. The university li- and sex. Nonsense. searchers in a survey how they cle without paying for a sub- braries will use the results to All memories are a would feel if they were no scription. But Elsevier is not in- help decide what to do if they selective version of longer able to consult Elsevi- terested. On top of this, the lose access to Elsevier. The sur- reality. I can safely er’s scientific journals. This universities do not want to pay vey suggests a few alternative say that I saw more will actually be the case as of 1 substantially more than in pre- ways of consulting articles, rotten cucumbers January unless the universities vious years. such as approaching the au- than naked girls and the publishing company The universities seem deter- thors or colleagues in other during my salad reach an agreement on a new mined not to accept any deal countries, searching online net- days. Not that there contract. If they fail to do this, that does not satisfy their de- works such as Mendeley or pay- were a lot of vegeta- Dutch scientists will be barred mands. Gerard Meijer, the lead- ing for individual articles. RR bles in our student house. But, in contrast with naked girls, I have re- markably few memories of rotten cucumbers. Actually I can only recall one example. That in brief cucumber looked alright until you picked it up. Then it turned out to be a kind of water >> CLARIFICATION >> MANSHOLT balloon. One that could burst at any moment, Parliamentary questions about top sectors Theatre on campus with a fresh green skin. It might have been a Henk Kamp, the minister for Economic Affairs, The play Mansholt, based on the life of the for- courgette, come to think of it. needs to clarify the decision-making process mer European Commissioner for Agriculture When it comes to naked girls, on the other within the top sectors, as Socialist Party MPs Sicco Mansholt, will be coming to Wageningen hand, I have a rich store of memories. Not- Eric Smaling and Sharon Gesthuizen have campus in September. It tells the story of a withstanding the fact that all my attempts at asked parliamentary questions about this. An man and an agricultural sector in crisis in a se- courtship were a dismal failure. Seriously, article in the previous Resource on top-sector ries of short, powerful sketches. This story of- Wageningen’s women students are quite in- policy prompted them to ask questions about fers ways in to debates about agriculture to- terested in the exciting things you can do ‘the message that the allocation of DLO fund- day. After the performance, there will be an in- with Excel. And in holding long discussions. ing via the top sectors is largely an in-crowd formal programme with an opportunity to dis- But this means nothing. Once I was put off thing’. This background article, part of the cuss things with farmers and alumni. The play by email, preventively: ‘I don’t know how you Wageningen UR & Business dossier on will be performed five times in Droevendaal feel about me but I just want to tell you I’m not resource-online.nl, explains how research pro- Farm between 10 and 13 September. Further in- interested in you.’ The high point was when a posals are prepared within the top sectors and formation on resource-online.nl. AS mate was cross with me. At last, someone who how the assessment process works for submit- saw me as a serious threat. He would have ted proposals. The Socialist MPs want to know >> NEW START liked to punch me really, I think. I couldn’t why most of the research funding is being Roosegaarde to open academic year imagine a bigger boost for my ego. granted to consortia of major companies and Designer Daan Roosegaarde will open the aca- In my memory, I just played hard to get. Half scientists who have quite a good overview of demic year at the university on 7 September. Wageningen was after me, but no one dared to the fairly complex assessment criteria used by The event will take place in Orion on campus. ask me. That is the great thing about your stu- the top sectors. KG Roosegaarde is an internationally famous artist dent days. You are vulnerable, life is difficult, and designer. He is involved in New Dutch Digi- and everything is possible. But no matter how tal Design, an artists’ collective which explores lonely and sad you get, you’ll have fabulous the boundaries between people and cyber- memories later. space. He has design studios in the Nether- lands and Shanghai. Roosegaarde is famous for Dune, a landscape of hundreds of LED lights which respond to touch and sound, and the Smart Highway project in which a highway is Stijn van Gils (28) is doing doctoral research lit by means of glow-in-the-dark solar cells in on ecosystem services the road surface. AS in agriculture. Every month he describes his struggles with the scientific system.

Sharon Gesthuizen

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 6 >> news

AID GETS RECORD NUMBER OF FRESHERS THIS YEAR

course be putting • National film première on on parties every Sunday. night throughout • Closing with a festival. the AID. The second day will be all about There will be more students than Crazy88, in which ever — about 2100 —taking part in AID groups have to the Annual Introduction Days (AID) carry out 88 assign- from 14 to 19 August. The busiest ments in Wagenin- AID so far was in 2013, with 2050 gen town centre. participants. There will also be a The freshers will be divided into street theatre festi- groups of 11 to 13 students, with val on that day. two seniors (papas and mamas) in These are annually charge of each group. Then there recurring AID are the more than 125 crew mem- events that are in- bers who will be responsible for tended to let the setting up all the activities and freshers get to making sure they go smoothly, know the centre. while the student societies will Other successful have dozens of volunteers doing elements from previous years their best to give the freshers a are also on the programme this good time. So all in all, about 2700 year, such as the sports day, the students partying hard during Wa- drinking songs and the interna- geningen’s introduction days. tional evening. The AID starts on 14 August There will also be a national with the Campus Games. ‘A fun film première on the Sunday, way for the participants to get to with an open-air screening of the know their AID group and the cam- latest Woody Allen film, Irration- pus,’ says AID chair Koen van Bezu. al Man, at Duivendaal. The film Then of course there will be a big is only due to be released in party on the first evening with the Dutch cinemas four days later. DJ duo 2 Faced Funks. ‘That will go A new element this year is the rant businesses. This festival will crowd-pullers at this event. until midnight, after which you can festival on the final day, with three segue into the big final party in the You will find the entire pro- move on to one of the student soci- music venues and various food marquee on campus. The DJs Gre- gramme at www.aidwageningen. eties.’ Because the societies will of stalls run by Wageningen restau- gor Salto and Carl Tricks are the nl. KG

WAGENINGEN UR INTRODUCES CROWDFUNDING PLATFORM

researchers, says WUF employee A working group is currently initiative, Wageningen is follow- • Joining online trend. Arianne van Ballegooij. ‘If we busy designing the platform. ‘We ing the lead of universities in Gro- • Successful at other have an engaging project, we cur- want to present a mix of projects,’ ningen, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Til- universities. rently send Wageningen alumni says Van Ballegooij. ‘But we do re- burg and Leiden. At the University and former employees a letter or quire a concrete plan that trans- of Groningen, for example, crowd- giro collection form. But Wagen- lates clearly to the target group. funding has been used to acquire In October Wageningen UR will ingen has a lot of socially relevant Say, for example, a researcher funding for new and more sophis- be launching a crowdfunding projects that will appeal to more wants to develop an app to make ticated instruments and materials platform. Here, people can do- interested parties than just for- interesting results of his or her re- for use in teaching at the Faculty nate money online to a Wagenin- mer staff and students.’ Besides, search widely available. Or a of Mathematics and Natural gen project. This move on the crowdfunding is more in line StartHub student wants to build a Sciences. In Utrecht, money can part of the Wageningen Universi- with the current trend for acquir- prototype of his or her latest in- be donated to enabled talented ty Fund (WUF) comes in response ing funding online, via social me- vention. These are things you can foreign students to study at the to demand among Wageningen’s dia. use crowdfunding for.’ With this university. LvdN

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 news << 7

ACTION PLAN TO PULL ALTERRA OUT OF THE RED

the short and long term. leaders but also some guts.’ In addi- longer term. She believes that Alter- • Concerns about financial The consultations were prompt- tion, the team leaders will do more ra’s innovative capacity is still un- shortfall. ed by the shortfall in May. Alterra to share the project overviews with der par. ‘We are seeing that larger fi- • Innovative capacity must and the Executive Board are not dis- one another and will discuss pro- nanciers such as the Ministry of increase. closing the extent of the shortfall, ject staffing more often. Economic Affairs and Brussels are but it is large enough for the Board Secondly, in the short term Al- increasing driven by innovation to insist on an action plan. ‘The Ex- terra is keen to solve a couple of and the valorization of knowledge. As yet this year, Alterra has acquired ecutive Board is worried about Al- problems concerning the financing For this reason, more than used to too few research projects. As well as terra’s results,’ reports Fresco, ‘and of research projects. For example, be the case, Alterra needs to be generating more work, an action we must take action now to prevent the institute wants to intensify its working on concrete ideas, solu- plan has been devised to improve the prospects of this great institute relationship with the Ministry of In- tions, products, models and apps the distribution of work. becoming a matter of concern.’ frastructure and the Environment, that it subsequently launches in The Executive Board is con- One action point is the improved a client of ever-increasing impor- new and existing markets.’ AS cerned about Alterra’s financial sit- distribution of work, explains tance in the field of landscape, wa- uation. This was revealed in the spokesperson Simon de Ridder of ter and infrastructure, especially ‘Summer Greeting’ issued shortly the Environmental Sciences Group now that research programmes un- More news before the summer recess. Presi- (ESG), under which Alterra falls. der the Ministry of Economic Af- every day at dent of the Executive Board Louise ‘Some groups have acquired too fairs are coming to an end and not resource-online.nl Fresco, who is acting as interim much work for their own staff. Now being replaced by new ones. The managing director until Bram de they need to find good people in Netherlands Soil Information Sys- Vos is appointed to the position in other teams who can take on some tem (BIS) research programme is a September, held consultations with of that work. Bringing in people case in point. Alterra’s team leaders in early July. from adjacent specialist areas to But Fresco also spoke with Alter- On the agenda was the issue of im- work on a project requires not only ra’s team leaders about innovation proving the financial results over creativity on the part of the team and market opportunities over the

It is wasp time, so the questions are coming WE ARE in? ECOLOGISTS, NOT ‘Yes, every year I get some phone calls and PEST CONTROL emails. Is there a plague? They never call to PROPOSITION ask where the wasps are this year. And it’s al- OFFICERS ways about what you can do to get rid of wasps. But we are not into pest control, we ‘Girls underestimate girl-power’, are ecologists at Alterra.’ Lenneke de Winter, who graduated with a PhD on 19 June in Wageningen. Do the phone calls annoy you? ‘Oh no, but they do take up time and nowa- days everything is measured in terms of hours and money. It would be nice if the in- terest once led to a research assignment.’

And, is there a plague? Laan der Verenigde Naties 150 ‘It’s hard to say. In July and August a wasp www.cinemec.nl / 0900 - 321 0 321 population reaches adulthood. With the hol- Film Film Art ON SCREEN idays and nice weather, lots of people sit out in their gardens and on terraces and encoun- ter wasps.

Another question for you: can you make wasps angry? ‘Hindering a wasp from eating often makes from wed 12 Aug from thu 13 Aug 11 & 16 Aug Who? Ruud van Kats it agitated and sometimes aggressive. They Vatican What? Researcher at find the tables in no time, no matter how Ted 2 Amy Museums 3D Alterra much people wave and flap at them. Just like Why? The media consult- us, they like everything that’s on offer, from THURSDAYNIGHT €3 DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ART FROM ROME STUDENT DISCOUNT AMY WINEHOUSE ON THE BIG SCREEN ed him about wasps meat to sweet stuff.’ RK

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 8 >> science

PIG IS GOOD MODEL FOR DIABETES PATIENT

gist at Livestock Research, put a and diabetes. If they are on a sug- eating habits eventually lead to a • Effect of diet is measurable. group of pigs on a diet with lots ary and fatty diet over a long peri- shortage of insulin. Koopmans • Process accelerated from 20 of olives and fish oil, he got fat od, the saturated fats accumulate can break down this insulin buff- years to 4 months. but healthy pigs. ‘Their blood in the arteries and the liver, as er in pigs in a few weeks using vessels were perfectly clean, their well as in the pancreas, where in- the substance streptozotocin, he blood sugars were low and their sulin is made. This leads to more reports in the European Journal Not all fat people are unhealthy, cholesterol levels fine.’ inflammation and poorer func- of Pharmacology. suggests Wageningen research In humans you cannot use tioning of these organs, causing This enabled him to become on pigs. Pigs work well as a re- standardized tests to measure metabolic syndrome, the precur- this first researcher to succeed in search model for determining the effects of an unhealthy diet sor to diabetes.’ In the pig we can developing a model of an obese the effect of diet on our on things like hardening of the simulate this process in just 4 pig on the brink of diabetes. wealth-related diseases. This is arteries or diabetes. But you can months by putting the pigs on a These pigs are now being offered because of strong similarities be- in pigs. What is more, in humans sugary, fatty diet.’ Pigs put on different meals in order to study tween the metabolisms of pigs it can take 20 years before the ef- this kind of diet develop high the effect of diet on diabetes. ‘If and humans, says researcher Si- fects of eating habits show up in blood pressure and cholesterol you give the pig a western diet etse Jan Koopmans. They are also the form of diabetes or cardiovas- levels in no time, just like hu- with a lot of sugar and fat, it will similar is size and weight, so you cular diseases. In pigs Koopmans mans. It can take years, however, become diabetic, whereas on a can measure the effect of diet on can accelerate that process. before there is any sign of diabe- healthy diet it will go back to nor- diabetes, obesity and cardiovas- ‘Just like humans, pigs vary in tes. This is because the pancreas mal. This way we test which diet cular disease in pigs. When their predisposition to over- makes far more insulin than the you can use to keep the blood sug- Koopmans, an animal physiolo- weight, hardening of the arteries body needs. Old age and poor ar low in pigs and humans.’ AS

LIVE BAIT

Wageningen researchers have to be prepared to suffer in the cause of science. Entomologist Niels Verhulst visited a sanctuary for chimpanzees in the Congo this year, with the aim of catching mosquitoes which transmit malaria from primates to humans. Verhulst camped out at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center. ‘The two tents we slept in were made of gauze. We served as bait for the mosquitoes, which would then fly into a trap.’ The research aims at finding out which mosquitoes transmit malaria from primates to humans. Verhulst is also collecting skin bacteria and odours from chimpanzees in the centre in the Congo. AS

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 science << 9

ALTERRA AND THE ART OF MEANDERING VISION << Stream Restoration. The main principle • Handbook for stream meander. underlying the approach is revealed by the Return of the sturgeon to • A good stream lets nature do the work. book’s title: geomorphology. The natural the Rhine condition of the terrain is of primary im- portance. The form and dimensions of the Nature conservationists want Today, the course run by very many of our meanders must be appropriate to their en- to see the severely threatened streams is far from natural. As a measure vironment. ‘It’s all about using nature, let- European sturgeon return to to combat flooding, many traditionally ting nature do as much of the work as pos- the Rhine. A good idea, thinks meandering streams were straightened in sible,’ says Makaske. ‘In this way you can Erwin Winter, but lots of the last century. Straight streams carry wa- create a natural harmony that is self-sus- questions remain ter away at a faster rate. But these days taining.’ unanswered. that is no longer what we want. Rapid This is because how a stream finds its drainage leads to drying out and straight- course and behaves can be calculated with Until the 1950s, it swam in ened streams offer few opportunities for a a fair degree of accuracy. Provided you the Rhine: the European sturgeon, which diversity of flora and fauna. With stream know the conditions – the drainage, the measures up to five metres in length and weighs 1000 restoration, we are trying to turn that tide. difference in height, the type of subsur- kilograms. Today its only remaining habitat is the Gi- Bart Makaske and Gilbert Maas of Alterra face and so on. The design process used ronde near Bordeaux but studies are underway to estab- have written a book about the best ways by Makaske and Maas also involves a lish whether the fish can be reintroduced in the Nether- we can let streams meander. clear-cut step-by-step plan. The idea is lands. A valuable endeavour, thinks Erwin Winter, DLO This is trickier that it seems at first that if the form and dynamics of the researcher at Imares. ‘The sturgeon is an iconic fish.’ sight. According to Makaske, much more stream are well chosen, ecological restora- is involved than simply restoring the for- tion will follow. ‘Rather than being about Why did the sturgeon disappear? mer meanders shown on old maps. ‘The returning to the historical situation, resto- ‘This large fish is relatively easy to catch with traditional historical situation is very often not the ration is about limiting human interven- fishing gear. Ever since the Middle Ages the sturgeon has best aim,’ he explains. ‘The natural course tion.’ been heavily under threat from the fishing industry. In of a stream is in harmony with all kinds of And that last point is music to the ears addition, many barriers have been erected in the Rhine, factors, such as hydrology and the condi- of water authority managers. A stream that such as weirs and dams. River pollution was never an is- tion of the terrain. Changes in these fac- is self-sustaining keeps management sue for the sturgeon because it had already disappeared tors can mean that what counted as har- costs at a minimum. This approach is by then.’ mony in the past no longer applies. In ad- completely at odds with taking the desired dition, the dynamics of the stream’s forms ecology as the starting point for stream Now we are going to try to reintroduce the sturgeon. Is must be accurately estimated. Will the lo- restoration, an error which Makaske be- there any point? cation of bends shift due to erosion? Will lieves has been often made in the recent ‘Certainly. The fishing industry no longer poses a heavy sandbanks and embankments be created? past. ‘That leads to artificial meanders threat to river life and many obstacles have now gone. Old maps can’t tell you that.’ and a stream profile that has nothing to Take the Haringvliet Dam, for example. Soon it will be The answers to such questions can be do with the natural forms that arise under left open. And these days the Rhine is less polluted. found in the Handbook for Geomorphic the influence of flowing water.’ RK Moreover, climate change is making the sturgeon’s cur- rent habitat in the Gironde less suitable – the level of re- productive success there is now low – while by contrast the Rhine and Elbe are suitable as future habitats.’

How great is the chance of success? ‘That is difficult to estimate. The severity of some of the problems involved is unclear. Take the fishing in the North Sea. The key questions are in how many fishing ac- tivities is the sturgeon bycatch and can the fish be re- turned unharmed to the sea after the right treatment. While the Rhine is cleaner, its “estuarine character” – a dynamic river mouth where fresh water gradually be- comes salt – has been lost. There are in- dications that habitat of this kind is less es- sential for success than was previously thought, but for the time being it remains unclear.’ RR

The meandering River Dommel near Valkenswaard.

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 10 >> science New housing for pigs in mobile units

Wageningen UR has developed a new kind of housing for pigs, dubbed ‘Camping at the neighbour’s’. It consists of shipping containers with outdoor access, which could be placed on a piece of disused land in a city or on a country estate. One farmer has already expressed interest. text: Albert Sikkema / illustration: Livestock Research

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 science << 11

he ‘Camping at the neighbour’s’ concept was developed in a design studio in collaboration with pig farmers, veterinarians, technicians and researchers. From within Wageningen UR, there were contributions by researchers at Livestock Research, Alterra and CVI. The Tdesign means the pig farmer houses about 300 sows and piglets in a central barn. The units, the size of a shipping container, have an outdoor pen linked to sleeping and farrowing units. The piglets grow up in these containers, which have good climate control technology and sun- light. After about four weeks the piglets are lured into a weaning unit, and this mobile ‘pen’ can then be loaded onto a truck and moved to another location. The design makes it possible to raise 3000 pigs in groups of 200 in mobile units. Each group, housed in seven linked containers, can be moved to any suitable location. Ten pairs of pigs take it in turns to go outside to a patch of ground of at least 200 square metres. When the pigs are ready for slaughter they are transported to the abattoir in their container. Once it has been cleaned, a new batch of pigs can be housed in it. has not yet been established, says Bos. ‘That is why we do Project leader Bram Bos of Livestock Research this kind of innovation research. We want to try out this involved pig farmer Erik Stegink in developing the concept with limited resources first, for example in a con- design. Stegink keeps 50 pigs out of doors on his farm, sortium with a pig farmer, a container company and a Piggy’s Palace. He has even installed a mud pool and a climate technology company.’ Bos was previously slide for his pigs. Stegink is interested in this concept involved developing the innovative Rondeel barn for layer because he is keen to be more in tune with meat consum- hens, the Kwatrijn barn for cows and the Windstreek ers. It also enables him to expand his farm without build- barn for poultry. ‘It never works out exactly the way you ing any more barns, meeting the wishes of local resi- envisaged it beforehand: that is where innovation comes dents. There is already a certain amount of pig farming in. And initially you shouldn’t look at the cost price, where the animals are kept outside at changing locations, because if you do you’ll end up with the conventional says the project leader. Ex-Alterra worker Willem Rienks, barn.’ Bos does not yet know, either, whether municipal for example, founded Buitengewone Varkens and keeps councils will grant licenses for these kinds of mobile pig unusual breeds of pigs out of doors at several locations. pens. ‘Sometimes we have to clear up those kinds of The technical and economic feasibility of the concept bureaucratic obstacles in follow-up projects.’

MORE INNOVATIVE BARNS

In recent years Livestock Research has led a series of inter- makes use of natural ventilation. ‘We ended up with a barn active design projects under the auspices of ‘Design for Sys- with outdoor access,’ explains Bos. The young chicks keep tem Innovations’. The best-known design is the welfare- and each other warm under the innovative breeding hood, and environment-friendly Rondeel barn for layer hens. This in spite of its openness this barn produces little design came out of Livestock Research’s 2004 poultry-keep- ammonia or fine particles. ing project ‘Houden van Hennen’. Three Dutch poultry farm- It also fits into the landscape well. ers have now built a Rondeel barn and the eggs are mar- It is almost always possible to keted under this brand name. Meanwhile, a mini-Rondeel find one or more poultry keep- with 300 chickens has been started at the RAI in Amster- ers who are willing to invest dam. in an innovative barn At the end of May, State Secretary Dijksma opened the design. What do these Kwatrijn barn at Sjaak Sprangers’ dairy farm in Kaatsheuvel. pioneers have in common? This came out of the design project Kracht voor Koeien in Bos: ‘They have a natural 2009. In Kwatrijn separation of manure in the barn reduces urge to innovate. They ammonia emissions and improves the use of minerals, while look ahead, assess social giving the cows more space. trends and have the cour- The Windstreek broiler chicken barn is currently under con- age to take the plunge and struction in Raalte. This chicken barn came out of the Pluim- build a new barn. A barn has to last vee met Smaak project in 2011. This open barn for broilers 20 to 30 years.’

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 12 >> features

Seaweed is the future In 2050 large seaweed plantations could be providing us with food and minerals. Wageningen researchers are conducting research on sustainable seaweed farming in the Oosterschelde estuary. text: Rob Ramaker / photo: Leonard Passchier

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arge bunches of green and brown sea- weed surface when researcher Julia Wald pulls in a few ropes from the pontoon. It is chilly and raining on the Oosterschelde today and you have to watch your step on the slippery Lplatform. Apparently the bright green sea let- tuce has grown fast over the last few weeks so it will be harvested today. Wald simply snips off the seaweed with a kitchen scissors. It is taken off in a garbage bag, in this case to the labora- tory. This sea lettuce grows on the Wierderij, a Wageningen UR test site where researchers are experimenting with sustainable seaweed culti- vation. An idea brought in by Willem Branden- burg, DLO researcher at Plant Research Inter- national (PRI), who sees it as a first step towards a new kind of crop farming. At sea. Brandenburg has a vision for 2050. What he envisages is people growing enormous quanti- Researcher Julia Wald inspects the sea lettuce, which grows fast in the summer. ties of seaweed out at sea, sustainably as well as intensively. To this end, developments which is exposed to the elements and is a lot less guests turn up at the Wierderij. There are sea on land took 10,000 years must be compressed peaceful. The impact of this still needs to be squirts and other creatures on the ropes and into a couple of decades. ‘At sea we are still studied. The water here is very clean and rich in around the pontoons. There are also other hunter-gatherers,’ says Brandenburg. ‘We hunt nutrients, too. weeds such as wakame and Japanese wireweed: fish and dump our waste in the oceans.’ He has And yet there have already been some con- species the researchers do not want and are not a vision of people as farmers at sea. Minerals crete results at the Wierderij since the project even allowed to grow because they are invasive for ‘green chemistry’ can be extracted from sea- started in July 2011. The researchers now know, and are not indigenous to the Netherlands. weed, as well as the proteins which the world for instance, that you can grow seaweed in the Researcher Willem de Visser, who swims hap- population – 9 billion by 2050 – is crying out Netherlands all year round. In the summer you pily in the surprisingly warm water, shows that for. ‘But with just 2 percent of the total ocean can grow sea lettuce, a weed with a long green you have to weed a marine farm too. Between surface – twice the size of Portugal,’ says thallus, a leaf-like organ that feels like plastic. the floats of the pontoon, algae grow which Brandenburg, ‘we can meet the global need for In the winter the researchers grow brown sea- steal the seaweed’s light. De Visser patiently protein.’ And these marine farms can be com- weed species such as oarweed, which thrive in scoops them out by hand. bined with aquaculture and wind farms, for cold conditions. Per hectare the marine farm example. produces about 25 tonnes of ‘dry’ biomass. Cultivating seaweed can help reduce the Brandenburg: ‘This makes the yield compara- negative impact of a growing world population. ble with that of crop farming on land.’ Some- It would diminish the growing demand for what deeper under water the scientists would farmland, for instance. Brandenburg hopes like to grow red seaweeds. There have been no this would mean less destruction of nature. results with this yet, but today a researcher That way biodiversity would be preserved and from Zeeland applied sciences university is biomass would not be turned into the green- hanging ropes carrying a red kelp called light- house gas CO2. The seaweed can also absorb foot. nutrients such as phosphate and nitrate. You The researchers came across some unex- can grow sea lettuce, for instance, in estuaries pected problems and teething troubles here where the water can contain high concentra- too. The current state of the pontoons shows, tions of fertilizer ingredients. ‘Capturing’ these for instance, how much the equipment suffers ingredients in seaweed is a first step towards a from the salt water, wind and waves. The metal closed cycle. parts have rusted away after four years and even Anyone standing on the Wierderij on a grey the stainless steel is stained brown. One of the day can see that there is a lot to be done before supports from which the ropes are hung even Brandenburg’s vision becomes a reality. This is gave way under a researcher. And at the begin- only a small test site. Four pontoons float ning of 2015 one of the ropes broke after having alongside a central platform for the research- weathered all the storms until then without a ers, with ropes of seaweed hanging from them. problem. Brandenburg had estimated in In total the researchers are growing just a few advance that the ropes would last about 10 dozen square metres of seaweed. It is not grow- years. He is not so optimistic now. ‘Five years is ing out at sea here but in a sheltered inlet cre- probably more like it.’ Willem Brandenburg looks out over the Ooster- ated during the flood of 1953. A farm out at sea It is also surprising how many uninvited schelde from ‘his’ marine farm.

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 14 >> features

tion is possible in the North Sea. So De Noord- zeeboerderij foundation did a trial 10 kilo- metres off the island of Texel. They grew a few dozen kilos of seaweed there to test the waters. The big question is whether that can now be upscaled. All sorts of things that are taken for granted in regular agriculture still have to be developed for the sea. Harvesting, for one, is extremely labour-intensive at present. This is too costly and would eventually have to be mechanized. And there is an impressive list of criteria for a harvesting machine to meet, says Branden- burg. It needs to be sustainable, able to per- form several functions, such as harvesting and drying, and suitable for several different spe- cies of seaweed. Techniques are also needed for monitoring the farm from dry land, because The sea lettuce can be harvested again in two weeks. every boat trip makes the seaweed less sustain- able and less affordable.

NEW MARKET FOR DUTCH SEAWEED FUNDING In recent years researchers at the LEI have been But the biggest challenge facing Brandenburg thinking about how a market for Dutch sea- at the moment is very banal: money. Just like so weed could be created. Worldwide there is many DLO departments, the seaweed research already considerable demand for seaweed, is struggling to attract new funding. In the last mainly from Korea, Japan and China. ‘That sea- few years the Wierderij has been funded weed is cheaper and it will probably remain so,’ through two projects financed by Wageningen says Sander van den Burg, DLO researcher at UR and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. ‘Next the LEI. Only if we can produce it mechanically year there will be a gaping hole,’ says Branden- on a large scale in the North Sea will we be com- burg, ‘and it is not at all clear how it should be petitive pricewise. Until then Dutch seaweed tackled in future.’ He is looking for new fund- will only stand out for being sustainable and ing sources and is not pessimistic about this, local. ‘In that case, you should also extract valu- but it can be frustrating to have to spend so able minerals from it which can be added to much time on it. ‘Sometimes you have to animal feeds and cosmetics. The pharmaceuti- choose whether to do research or go looking for cal industry can make good use of them too.’ money. That is a dilemma.’ Van den Burg also sees scope for expanding But Brandenburg does not intend to aban- the consumer market. There is already a niche don his vision entirely. In a couple of years’ market for seaweed at high-end restaurants time he will be retiring but he hopes to have and for specialist food products (see box). To inspired a number of young researchers by expand this market, consumers first need to be then. That is why he is trying to persuade Wage- shown what they can do with seaweed in the ningen University to set up a minor on sustain- kitchen. Van den Burg: ‘Actually you need to get able sea weed cultivation. When he was due to seaweed recipes into Allerhande [a supermarket show a group of students around in June he magazine, ed.]’ was not feeling very well. But once he was Companies are unlikely to invest in seaweed standing in front of the group between the until the researchers have proven that this ponds and aquaria of the research station near works on a large scale too. Brandenburg is well Wageningen, he fired up and outlined his aware of this. He wants to take a big step up vision. ‘You are the ones who must do it.’ from the Wierderij to a test site of one hectare and then to 100 hectares. It is important to study the side effects at each new scale. Try your hand at cooking Research by De Zeeschelp foundation found that the current Wierderij had no negative with seaweed effects on the surroundings. Brandenburg: ‘But check out zeewierwijzer.nl or you can never jump to the conclusion: this is kookboerderijkrommenhoeke.nl fine so we can immediately fill the whole Oost- All the brown seaweed is harvested because it erschelde.’ What is more, an experiment in the stops growing at summer temperatures. sheltered Oosterschelde does not mean cultiva-

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CULINARY SEAWEED BOTTLED SEAWEED

‘Commercial seaweed’ is already being grown off the Dutch coast, by Off-license owner Eva de Boevere thought it was a the company Zeewaar, for instance. Much of that seaweed ends up on pity so many restaurants served whisky with their our plates, or at Zeeland oysters. ‘Why do we need the Scots for least those of that?’ In 2009, she and distiller Rutte from the patrons of Dordrecht created a seaweed-based Dutch gin. This high-end is made from the Japanese seaweed kombu, which restaurants and has the tastiest range of flavours. Now as many as delicatessens. 13,000 bottles of the gin – called Zeeuwier – have What are the been sold. In 2009 there was no commercial culinary uses of seaweed cultivation in the Netherlands and she seaweed? sourced her product from Asia. But in future there may be a truly Zeeland gin. ‘Never say never.’

SEAWEED BURGERS

‘Not a meat substitute: better than meat’: this is how the creators describe their Dutch Weed Burger. This soya-based burger contains 10 percent kombu, a seaweed now being grown in the Oosterschelde. There is sea lettuce and algae in the bread and sauce to go with it too. The burger can already be found in 90 restaurants and has been on offer at several music festivals. The creator Lisette Kreischer emphasizes that the burger has to be not just sustainable but healthy as well. Seaweed contains a lot of nutrients such as omega fatty acids, iron and calcium. Kreischer hope the burger will prove to be more than a hype. ‘That is short-lived; the challenge now is to consolidate.’

SEAWEED IN YOUR KITCHEN

‘Bladderwrack, knotted kelp, Irish moss, sea lettuce, nori, wakame…’ Marieke Hakkesteegt can rattle off the names of 15 Dutch seaweed species just like that. She knows her stuff: she WIN! has been running cookery workshops at A SEAWEED her farmhouse Krommenhoeke in Biggekerke for years. SPECIAL! The participants look for seaweed in the Oosterschelde Resource is offering two themselves, harvest it readers a free workshop at and use it to cook with. Krommenhoeke. Let us You can make tasteless know before 13 August tofu a lot tastier by what you would like to rolling it in sea lettuce. make with seaweed. You can also make crisps into a seaweed The one with the most snack. And don’t make original idea gets to the mistake of seeing put it into action. the saltwater as a problem. ‘I prefer to cook with water from the Email [email protected] Oosterschelde,’ says Hakkesteegt. ‘It is a pity that you sometimes have to use tapwater. If you wash seaweed in that the taste runs right out of it.’ (www.kookboerderijkrommenhoeke.nl)

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NORTHWARD BOUND These canoes and 2200 kilos of research equipment have now been loaded onto the Ortelius. This research ship is already on its way to Spitsbergen. On 19 August 50 researchers will go on board, including quite a few from Wageningen. They will sail from Longyearbyen to the island of Edgeøya, doing research on the way. Hans Verdaat of Imares wants to find out whether, thanks to climate change, porpoises can now be found that far north. Others will look at reindeer and the effects of pollution. There is daylight 24 hours-long on Spitsbergen in August so the researchers can work day and night. And take a break to go canoeing now and then. RR / Foto: Martine van den Heuvel-Greve, Imares

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 18 >> features The secret history of a horse Some news tickles your curiosity. And that sets you off on an investigation that gets a hold on you. This is the story of such an investigation. A story about a long-dead mare, Wageningen heritage and bygone times. text: Roelof Kleis / photo: Guy Ackermans

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n 1 April last year a bulletin in the newspa- land. Did Labouchère per De Leeuwarder Courant drew my atten- make a mistake on the tion. The Frisian Agricultural Museum in label, or is this a false Eernewoude had a mare of 2000 years old. trail? A gift from Wageningen UR, which was get- Meanwhile, ting rid of it after ‘clearing out an attic’. museum director Dijk- OAnd no, it wasn’t an April Fools’ joke. A recent C-14 dating stra referred me to definitively established the great age of the ‘hynderke’ Egge Knol, curator of (horse in Frisian). Great news for the Frisian Agricultural the Groninger Museum, which made much of it in the runup to the Museum. It was Knol national museum weekend. who dated the skele- A gift, an attic clearance, 2000 years old? I wanted to ton. He was preparing get to the bottom of this. My quest began with museum his 2013 exhibition, director Henk Dijkstra. Over the phone he confirmed the ‘Drowned land is fer- origin of the skeleton. Dijkstra was tipped off in 2011 by tile’, about life on the the renowned (and now elderly) Wageningen emeritus dwelling mounds of professor of livestock Rommert Politiek. Was the the northern Dutch museum interested in the (equally renowned) stud bull coast, when he heard Adema’s Athlete. The stuffed head of this bull graced the about the latest acqui- wall of the canteen of Zodiac, which was moving onto sition at the Frisian campus. Management didn’t know what to do with the Agricultural Museum. head, for which there was no place in the new building on ‘That skeleton made campus. After years of good service, the bull was killed in the perfect eye-catcher in our exhibition,’ explained Knol Amanuensis Geurtsen poses 1943 and the head was kept, stuffed and given to the then on a lovely April day last year. But he had one problem: with a horse skeleton in the livestock professor Wieger de Jong. As an honorary mem- nothing was known about the skeleton. Curators don’t ‘livestock museum’. This is ber of De Veetelers study association, Politiek has warm like that. So he decided to do carbon dating, and asked almost certainly the mare from the dwelling mounds. relations with Wageningen, which is why he was so the Centre for Isotope Research at the University of Gro- well-informed about the move and the heritage dilemma. ningen to extract a piece of tissue from the underside of Politiek is also a welcome guest at the Agricultural the skull. ‘Just one cubic centimeter, so that you hardly Museum. So he put Dijkstra in touch with Gesina Noor- notice it.’ The result was a surprise. It showed with scien- dewier, policy advisor at Zodiac, who was made responsi- tific accuracy that the horse lived between 187 before ble for the décor of the new building. until 25 after Christ. This meant it came from the late Noordewier responded eagerly to the interest from iron age or the start of the ancient Roman era. Knol used Eernewoude. She saw in it a solution not only for the the teeth to establish that the skeleton was that of a 23 to bull’s head but also for another thorny problem. Because 25-year-old mare. Its great age and the fact that the mare there was all sorts of stuff up in the attics at Zodiac, including a whole collection of skulls and bones ‘in vari- ous states of decay’. And amongst all the clutter was the ‘Suddenly there were hynderke. On a brass holder at the foot of the frame was a three finds that could yellowing piece of paper bearing the words ‘Horse from be the mare’ the dwelling mounds’. Dijkstra was sold. No matter that these five words on the label were the only written docu- mentation about the mare at that point. Neither Dijkstra was buried and not eaten suggest that she meant a lot to nor Noordewier knew more about it than that. her owner or fulfilled a special role, says Knol. An online search in the Forum library produced a few So, my mare is old and special. But how did she end up leads. On 27 March 1927, a certain Paul Cesar Labouchère in Wageningen? Knol knew more. He had been delving got his doctorate at the then agricultural college in Wage- into the history of Wageningen dwelling mound research ningen for a thesis about the Belgian carthorse. In that for some time. That history started with the interest of thesis Labouchère devotes two chapters to horse skulls Luitje Broekema, a teacher and later director of the from collections in Wageningen and Groningen. Aha! At National Agriculture School, the forerunner of the Col- that time, according to Labouchère’s book, Wageningen lege of Agriculture. Broekema taught livestock among had a collection of 32 horse skulls from Frisian and Gro- other subjects and was interested in the ancestry and ningen dwelling mounds. The majority of the skulls came development of our Dutch livestock. ‘In 1850 scientists from Ferwerd in Friesland. On page 52 of the thesis there found Neolithic settlements in the Swiss lakes, in which is even a photo of a horse skeleton on a frame, which bones had been fantastically well preserved,’ says Knol. bears a striking resemblance to ‘my’ mare. The label ‘Zoologists immediately saw the possibility of using that states that this horse came from the mound at Wierhu- material to get closer to the ancestry of domestic animal izen, which is in Groningen province. Ferwerd is in Fries- breeds.’ Broekema, who was born and bred in Groningen,

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 20 >> features

realized, says Knol, that there were similar locations in student Labouchère devoted part of his thesis to the our country where bones from the past have been pre- horse skulls taken from the mounds by the avid collectors served in large quantities: the mounds of Groningen and Broekema and his successor Dirk Leonard Bakker. But it Friesland. In 1908 Broekema started to collect animal really came to life in the years following Labouchère’s bones and proceeded to publish a small series of articles graduation, thanks to the LEB fund. The LEB (the agricul- about them in the journal Cultura. One of these, in 1909, tural export bureau) was set up in 1926 and still finances was about the horse skulls found in the mounds. But agricultural research to this day. The secretary of the fund Wageningen mound research never really got off the at that time was Professor Bakker, Labouchère’s promo- ground, says Knol. Broekema was overtaken by a young tor. Up until 1945, the fund spent as much as 50,000 guil- biology student in Groningen, who later became Profes- ders on dwelling mound research, calculated journalist sor Albert van Giffen. Van Giffen threw himself into the Leo Klep in his jubilee book about the fund. Under Pro- archaeology of the mounds and became Holland’s most fessor Bakker’s leadership, from the summer of 1928 famous archaeologist of the 20th century. But Wagenin- there were further digs in the Burmania mound at Ferw- gen academics were too busy setting up the Agricultural erd, the village north of Leeuwarden where many of the College, of which Broekema was a founding father. In A glimpse of the collection 1918 he became the first professor of Livestock. from the Livestock depart- ment’s farm at Duivendaal. There was little to show for Wageningen’s dwelling The horse lived Two horse skeletons can be mound research for a couple of decades. Until doctoral between 187 before seen in the background. and 25 after Christ

Wageningen horse skulls that Labouchère was interested in came from. Curator Knol’s guess is that the ‘Wagenin- gen’ mare came from these excavations. This theory gained credibility when archivist Wim ter Beest got involved at my request. Ter Beest is a member of the Wageningen UR committee on preserving academic her- itage, formed a few years ago. At that time he was working on digitalizing Wageningen UR’s photo collection so as to make it available online. He is certain that he has seen photos of a collection of skeletons and bones. As he told me this, he got out a file of photos of the horse of Auzoux which had just come in. This life-sized papier maché model was recently put on display in the library. The pho- tos were taken in the attic of the farm at Duivendaal, home to the livestock department before it moved to Zodiac on the Haarweg. This attic was where the depart- ment kept its teaching materials. One of the photos shows a man in a cloth jacket posing proudly beside the skeleton of a horse, his right arm draped loosely over the creature’s bony neck. The Auzoux horse is next to the skeleton. But Ter Beest had more knowledge up his sleeve. He knew the archives of the LEB fund and thought there must be more information there about the dwelling mound research. A few months later, after getting per- mission to look through the dossiers, Ter Beest handed me a little bundle of papers consisting of annual reports on the mound research written in a shaky hand. Eagerly, I deciphered the handwriting. In 1928 the LEB fund tasked recent graduate T.C.J.M. Rijssenbeek with the zoological research on the mounds. In April of that year, Rijssenbeek travelled to Ferwerd to supervise excavations at the Burmania mound, which were in full swing. Every week that summer, 2000 tonnes of fertile soil were carted off. The Burmania mound proved to be a goldmine in archaeological terms, too. ‘Up to now about 100 bones a week have been found in Ferw- erd, on average,’ Rijssenbeek wrote to Professor Bakker in The ‘mare of the mounds’ as exhibited in the Frisian Agricultural Museum.

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July. The summer of 1928 produced a total of 1600 bones and bone fragments. Rijssenbeek also mentions a mare. Which is striking, because that find had taken place ear- lier, as Bakker reported proudly in his 1931 report on four years of dwelling mound research. According to Bakker the ‘entire skeleton of a pony’ was found in 1928. ‘A find of very great value, since to date only one such specimen –neither as good nor as complete – is known, which is in the collection of the Biological Archaeological Cabinet at the University of Groningen.’ The digs of that summer also produced another horse skull and two pig skeletons, according to Bakker. The success of 1928 encouraged Bakker to carry on published. with the work of collecting. The question was who should When he visited do it now that Rijssenbeek had a real job: he became dep- Zodiac, museum uty livestock consultant to the government. It was director Dijkstra decided to involve the dig superintendent, who then could not take the received 40 guilders a month to retrieve bones as well as mare away with he could and send them to Wageningen. ‘This is not a him straightaway. failsafe system of course,’ acknowledged Rijssenbeek, He had actually but he hoped it would ‘prove to be a good solution under come for the these less than satisfactory circumstances.’ An early mod- impressive bull’s ern form of ‘citizen science’. head, which weighs The dig superintendent worked for Wageningen for over 100 kilos. So two years until 1931, when science graduate Gerrit Gjalt the skeleton was Reitsma took over the work. Reitsma was Rijssenbeek’s first moved to the successor. He was asked by the LEB fund to study and campus where it Group photo of the livestock describe remains of farm animals found in mounds. That stood for months in department of yore, with led to two publications in the years that followed: book- the corridor of the new Zodiac. And on 23 March 2012, (from left) Professors Bakker, lets about the sheep (1932) and the pig (1935). Further Dijkstra drove once again to Wageningen with a trailer Douma, Bosma, Zander and installments about the horse and the cow were planned behind his car. And so the ‘hynderke’, well-wrapped in Reitsma. but never came out. Reitsma moved to Ferwerd in the packing material, moved house again after 84 years. Back spring of 1931 and hit the jackpot straightaway. That very home to Frisian soil. summer, according to Bakker’s report, he found a second ‘practically complete’ horse skeleton. And to crown it all, one year later at the nearby mound at Arum, another ‘largely complete’ skeleton of a pony was found. Suddenly there were three candidates for the identity of the mare at A GOOD CLEAR-OUT the Frisian Agricultural Museum. What has happened to the Wageningen skulls of hornless cattle, says archivist Egge So which of the three is the ‘Horse from the mounds’? mound research material? The best of it Knol of the Groninger Museum. ‘I worked for The mare on the Duivendaal photo looks like a prime found a home at Duivendaal, as the photo Clason for a while, sorting skulls.’ The rest of candidate for the, in Professor Bakker’s view, so ‘extraor- shows. The rest went into storage. But the material went to the Archeon historical dinarily valuable find’ by the young Rijssenbeek in the where, precisely, is not clear. As far as we theme park in Alphen aan de Rijn, recalls summer of 1928 in Ferwerd. The man on the photo turns know, the collection was cleared away in the Lauwerier. ‘A mediaeval street was “cob- out to be amanuensis W. Geurtsen, who held the post spring of 1993. Roel Lauwerier, zooarchaeol- bled” with metapodials from cattle. Everyone ogist from the national Cultural Heritage happy, and Wageningen was rid of its rub- until spring 1932. The first two skeletons were found dur- service, was there. What lay there, he says, bish free of charge.’ ing that period. But there remain serious doubts. The was Reitsma’s collection, in the attic of a But Lauwerier is sure that he didn’t see any frame on the photo does not match the skeleton’s cur- building due for demolition. The university complete skeletons at that time. It is likely rent frame. What is more, the mare in Friesland is miss- wanted to get rid of the bones, but that was that the collection was moved with ing part of the right knee joint, which has been replaced expensive. Because it was chemical waste it everything else to Zodiac on the Haarweg. with a wooden block. On the photo with the amanuensis, was going to cost 300 guilders per cubic This is the stuff Noordewier came across in that joint is whole. Nor do other photos from the attic metre. And there were 25 cubic metres of the attic when she was getting ready for the unsorted piles of bones! Most of them move onto campus. Part of this collection collection at the farm at Duivendaal offer conclusive evi- unwashed and some of them bearing the was still in use for teaching purposes. A dence on the identity of the ‘Horse from the mounds’. I names of the mounds they came from. Useful small collection of pigs’ skulls is on display am probably not going to get any closer to the truth. An pieces were selected and removed with the in two cabinets in the new Zodiac on cam- inventory of former collections at Duivendaal would pro- help of professor of Zooarchaeology Anneke pus. The mare went to Friesland and live- vide answers, but it has been lost. The same goes for Clason of the Groningen Institute for Archae- stock students have taken other bits and Reitsma’s study of the horse, which was written but never ology. Clason certainly went away with 36 pieces as souvenirs, says Noordewier.

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 22 >> IMO MORE TEACHING BY DLO STAFF?

There is a shortage of teachers at the university, while DLO has staff to spare and these researchers have specialized knowledge to contribute. So why not get more DLO staff into the classroom? This idea has been kicked around in several places in the past few months. More collaboration would be good for One Wageningen too. But is it possible to involve researchers in teaching? And is it a good idea? text: Yvonne de Hilster / illustration: Henk van Ruitenbeek

Frans van Alebeek hourly rates. Thirdly, university lecturers are on tenure DLO, works at Applied Plant track and they do a combination of teaching and re- Research search. If a DLOer’s research is recognized by a graduate ‘I have been a process coach for an school, then he or she could focus on teaching for a ACT group and I sometimes give chair group and do research at DLO as well. A lot de- guest lectures at CAH Vilentum in pends on the kind of research: confidential DLO re- Dronten and Almere. The contact search is sensitive and the research is also required to with students is enjoyable and in- expand the boundaries of science. Given the One Wage- spiring. They are eager for knowledge and they ask ques- ningen credo, I would expect the Executive Board to tions I wouldn’t ask anymore, which keeps you on your tackle this problem.’ toes. But you can’t just transfer from a DLO job into teaching just like that. You need teaching skills and Maria Forlenza knowledge about formulating learning objectives and WU, works at Cell Biology and making lesson plans. I am qualified to teach Biology at Immunology, nominated for Teacher High School level, but I am always a partner as well as a of the Year Award 2015 teacher. Besides training, you need an affinity with edu- ‘Teaching is not the same as giving cation. It is not just a solution for DLOers who don’t have a presentation. With a presentation enough hours and projects.’ you aim to impress and you can af- ford to ‘lose’ some of your audi- Tiny van Boekel ence. In teaching you need to draw in as many students Director of the Education Institute as possible, build up slowly from one level to the next, ‘Making use of DLOers in educa- and check whether students can still follow your story. I tion is valuable if their expertise also try, each year, to motivate students who aren’t very contributes to the learning objec- keen. tives and can help cater for rising Whether DLOers can teach depends on the person. I know student numbers. But in practice DLOers who are great teachers. But not everyone has it it’s still a bit tricky. Firstly you need in them. Secondly, it depends on a person’s expertise: to find a way of getting DLOers to get the basic teaching For some subjects it can be a good idea to ask a DLO ex- qualification (BKO), just as university lecturers do. Sec- pert in. And thirdly, a course with EDUsupport can often ondly, the teaching budget is not geared to DLO’s higher help, with learning the Wageningen teaching style too.

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And lastly, there are different forms of learning of ters in the end is the quality of the individual. And of course. Perhaps a DLOer has most to contribute to prob- course you need a teaching qualification to go into lem-centred learning and more applied activities.’ teaching.’ Coen Ritsema Ine van der Fels WU, professor of Soil Physics and DLO, works at RIKILT Land Management, at DLO until 2012 ‘I think it’s a good development ‘I understand that there are DLOers that DLO colleagues at the universi- who would like to be seconded to ty lecture and contribute to devel- the university because their insti- oping course material. You can tutes are not doing too well and the bring in examples from the field market is shrinking. I can see the and I notice that students value the case for arguing that dual appointments strengthen the link with professional practice. I myself have been work- relationship between DLO and the university and the ing a few hours a week at Business Economics for a year passing on of both fundamental and applied knowl- and a half now. They hire me for teaching and research. Do you want to edge. Alterra has been working in mixed teams for years. I am now giving three two-hour lectures on Food Safety respond to this They have just been separated out again, but you can re- Economics. I also give guest lectures on topics such as inforce each other through collaboration. And I gather the safety of insects. I enjoy teaching because it makes a report? many chair groups could use an extra teacher. Because change from the rest of my work. When I prepare lectures Go to the government funding from the ministry is not I also see more coherence between the projects I work resource-online.nl. enough, you can only do that if you have enough external on for clients. Because I didn’t have any teaching experi- funding. Someone who can bring in indirect and contract ence, I took an internal course early this year, and funding is one step ahead. Whether that is a DLOer or learned more about ways of bringing more variety into someone from outside doesn’t really matter. What mat- lectures.’

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 24 >> student Going into green education

The green vocational training (MBO) sector is not a world that is often familiar to people at the university. But there are opportunities there for Wageningen students of Forest & Nature Management, or Plant or Animal Sciences. Such as training to teach on an animal care programme. text: Ton van den Born / illustration: Eva van Schijndel / photo: Sven Menschel

ood, Recreation, Design, Crop farming, work with plants or animals. ic streams, HAVO and VWO. Flowers, Nature, Animal, Environment. Four Bachelor’s students who are going to fol- To teach in an MBO college, a different, less These are key words for green ‘MBO’ low the education minor in the Education and theoretical qualification suffices. The focus here post-secondary (16+) vocational train- Competence Studies (ECS) chair group, will be is on vocational learning, explains Piety Run- ing colleges. Many of these colleges – starting teaching practice in one of these green haar, who coordinates the education minor. ‘As a and there are about 60 of them in the MBO schools in September. Four others are still teacher you are not just dealing with theory but FNetherlands – have tractors, kitchens, a collec- thinking about it. This is new, because until now also with hands-on practice and with career tion of animals and a garden. There is a lot going almost all the students on the education minor guidance for the students.’ on in and around such a college, but the stu- thought in terms of teaching in secondary She thinks it is not very well-known that Wa- dents do a crucial part of their learning on the schools. This includes the 25 students who are geningen students can teach on these pro- job. These are doers, say their teachers. Outdoor now taking the minor and will qualify to teach grammes. A project has now been started with types who love being out in nature and want to the lower secondary classes of the more academ- Helicon, a green vocational training institution

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 student << 25

with both MBO and VMBO (pre-vocational sec- wards arousing some enthusiasm for green ondary) schools in Brabant and Gelderland. The MBO education among students. Runhaar: ‘We THE EDUCATION MINOR organization, whose president Ab Groen worked have been thinking about how to create a link at Wageningen UR until two years ago, posed the with green vocational education at the Master’s More than 50 years ago (in 1964), a question how they could get more Wageningen stage too. By setting up an ACT assignment at department of Pedagogy & Didactics was alumni on their staff. ‘We’ve been in touch about Helicon, for instance.’ ACT stands for Academic established at Wageningen University, offering a teacher training programme for this since September 2014,’ says Guido Voets, Consultancy Training: a course in which Wagen- secondary education. Up until the early human resources manager at Helicon. ‘We hear ingen Master’s students carry out an assignment 1980s, students could qualify for teaching that many students who initially set their sights for a client outside the university, working in through this programme. In 1983 the on scientific research, become interested in edu- multidisciplinary groups. government asked universities to concentrate cation. It the idea of teaching for a few years ap- Runhaar sees the training of Wageningen their curricula more and the teacher training peals to them.’ students to teach in green vocational education programme was stopped. Later the Education and Competence Studies (ECS) chair group as supplementary to the work of Stoas Vilentum. started an orientation programme which IN THE PICTURE This higher education institution, located on the included theory and teaching practice. Twenty Helicon hopes that the baggage Wageningen edge of the Wageningen campus, has been train- students from various Bachelor’s programmes students bring with them can raise the ing teachers for the green vocational colleges for took part in this programme each year. They standard of the education at the college. ‘We 35 years. In her view this could be an ideal mix could go on to a teacher training course expect more depth of content,’ says Voets. ‘In for a green vocational education college: the afterwards to qualify as teachers. The recent years a lot of attention was paid in MBO teaching skills of Stoas graduates and the aca- education minor was launched in 2009. The ministry of OCW, fearing a teacher shortage, to the standard of language and arithmetic, demic knowledge of Wageningen alumni. wanted students to be able to get a fast-track but that pushed the subject matter into the ‘Either way, MBO is another world,’ con- teaching qualification. The minor has been background a bit.’ cludes Runhaar. ‘But that world needs to be running twice a year since 2011-2012. Many The education minor is a first step for ECS to- more in the picture in Wageningen.’ of the students have set their sights on going into teaching and for others it is a way of finding out whether teaching is a good option for them. Students can qualify to teach biology, geography, physics, chemistry and economics to lower secondary school classes. SANNE VAN DEN BRINK (20) Students may qualify to teach the subjects Animal Sciences related to their degree: students of Soil, Water & Atmosphere can teach physics, for instance. Students with degrees in unrelated ‘I’ve been to the college in Velp twice and I liked it very much. It is a small subjects can follow a programme to bring school on a friendly scale, with small classes. This makes the teaching their knowledge up to scratch after the minor. more personal and you can devote more energy to the students. I think This option is rarely taken, but the education that contributes significantly to their development. They don’t have a minor qualifies them to teach at a green lot of animals at the school, but they encounter them in the companies college too. ECS expects this to lead to a they go to for internships. I expect to learn a lot. I expressly opted for a growth in the numbers taking the minor – vocational college because there is more of a link with my field. I could which appear to be stabilizing at the moment. teach biology in a secondary school too, but my main interest is in Students of Forest and Nature Management, animals. I don’t have very firm ideas about the future but if I enjoy it for example, or Plant and Animal Sciences, during these six months, I might go into teaching.’ can easily teach related subjects at a vocational college after completing the minor. ‘We haven’t studied all the colleges, because you have to start somewhere,’ says Piety Runhaar. ‘But I expect there would be opportunities in green colleges after the LARA OLDE BOLHAAR (20) minor for Bachelor’s students of, say, Food Animal Sciences Technology, who can’t go straight into teaching chemistry in secondary schools. ‘When I was still at primary school I visited a green vocational secondary school and spent a day there. I was very enthusiastic about the school, where you could do flower arranging and look after animals. It was great, but I realized the level wasn’t right for me. I know a bit about green MBO from my sister, a friend doing animal care and a fellow intern at an organic pig farm. I think it must be difficult to teach at a vocational college but the practical nature of it appeals to me. I don’t know yet whether I will really go into teaching, but I think teaching skills can be useful anyway. In September I’m going to the Helicon college in Velp. I’m looking forward to that.’

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 26 >> student

BLUE (1) Many alcoholics have blue eyes, Student societies anticipating growth researchers at the University of Vermont have discovered. The In recent months, Cantil, the club- KSV Franciscus. floor in its clubhouse, joined two genes for alcohol addiction and eye house of student society KSV Fran- The litmus test of the new hall rooms to create one larger one and colour turn out to be on the same ciscus, has been renovated to pro- is set to take place on Friday 14 Au- installed a circular bar. ‘This has chromosome. It is not clear what vide space for more members and gust during the AID. The rapper created much more space at the the significance of that is, say sci- visiting party-goers. The hall on Ronnie Flex will be performing. bar without the loss of any floor entists. But it does make you look the ground floor has more than ‘As a rule, the main act at an open space,’ tells the new president Jef- around you with new eyes. Keep a doubled in size. To accommodate party performs in the pub room on frey van den Born. lookout in the pub next time. this expansion, some kitchen the first floor. Now the ground For the time being, SSR-W does space has been sacrificed. ‘The floor is so large that the perfor- not expect to outgrow its premis- SMELL 50-year-old kitchen was originally mance can be held there,’ reports es, but over the past year it has re- No two noses are alike. Our sense built to serve as an open refectory. Vogelzang. vamped the garden, says chairper- of smell is unique, research by the As the subsidy for that facility has Similarly, the other student so- son Jorrit Timmers. ‘The outdoor Weizmann Institute of Science has been withdrawn, we can manage cieties are taking steps to accom- bar has been modernized and the shown. Every nose has about 6 mil- with a much more compact kitch- modate more members and party- surrounding terrace has been ex- lion odour receptors, divided into en,’ explains Marco Vogelzang of goers. Last year Ceres replaced the tended.’ KG 400 different types. No wonder no two people have precisely the same sense of smell. It opens up possibilities for identification with a kind of nose fingerprint. Tell me AID in the race for the Netherlands’ what you can smell and I’ll tell you who you are. greenest intro week

GULP The AID board wants to organize The hermaphrodite flatworm Mac- the country’s most sustainable in- rostomum hystrix inseminates troduction week here in Wagenin- itself through its head, Swiss zool- gen. The competition with other ogists at the University of Basel student cities is intense. ‘Last year have discovered. The penis and we won third prize, I believe,’ says vagina of the worm are physically Koen van Bezu, chair of the AID separated so the self-injection has board. ‘Green’ Wageningen Univer- to be done ‘from outside’. The sity should be able to improve on worm does this by injecting into its that. head with its penis. A kind of DIY For three years in a row the uni- blowjob. versity has already received the Sus- tainaBul – the prize for the most sustainable higher education insti- tution – from the national sustaina- bility network Students for Tomor- row. Now the time is ripe to bring home the award for the most sustai- nable introduction week. ‘Among other things, we’ll be using the Green Man,’ says AID board mem- BLUE (2) ber Lauren Huisman. Dressed in a A drop or two makes you more green Morphsuit, this Green Man attractive, suggests research at the will be giving AID participants green University of Bristol. The scientists tips, for example that it is better to got students to respond to photos drink tap water than bottled water. Two years ago AID participants were already busy separating rubbish. of people who were sober, had had And at lunch time he may turn up a little to drink, or were drunk. The near the waste bins to point out to tain AID activities and a discount by completing assignments. For ea- result? People find you more AID participants that they must se- voucher for a bottle of wine. Thanks ch assignment they are awarded attractive when you’ve have 2.5 parate their rubbish. to the app, the information pack gi- points that they can use to win bags, glasses. Something to do with col- An important weapon in the bat- ven out at the start of the week will a party tent or a bicycle. The new im- our in your cheeks, being relaxed, tle for the most sustainable intro- contain considerably less paper. proved app is more user friendly, that kind of thing... One reserva- duction is a special AID app. This Another useful app is the has a Hall of Fame containing the tion: the sample size was 40 peo- app is new and includes the AID WURpp, which will be relaunched best submissions and provides a ple. Call that science? events programme, assignments during the AID. This app enables ranking, so that students can com- that AID participants must do at cer- Wageningen students to win prizes pete with one another. KG/LvdN

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EPISODE 54 - MORTIERSTRAAT 14B<< Text Rob Ramaker The story so far: For their holiday the Mortier- straat are making a tour of their parental homes. After a couple of visits Filippo is sick of constantly being seen as the foreigner

Home sweet PETERSE KIM ILLUSTRATIONS: home Filippo looked on in fascination as everyone attacked the kale stamppot. This was the last stop on their tour of all their parental homes and they were at the table in Willem-Jan’s parents’ house. They had insisted on making stamppot. Midsummer or not, frozen kale or not, Willem-Jan’s mother could stand it no longer, she declared dramatically, that Filippo had never ‘Yes, I think it’s a fantastic idea,’ nodded Willem-Jan’s tasted stamppot. So now the Italian stared in amazement mother, pointing at Filippo. ‘That way he gets to see a bit at people around him busy making little hollows for the of the country.’ Filippo’s expression was a bit less polite gravy in their mountains of mash. A cuckoo clock ticked now. away in the background. At about 11 o’clock they piled into the minibus, yawning ‘This is actually not bad at all,’ he said politely after the like mad. first mouthful, causing Willem-Jan’s mother to glow with ‘Let me drive,’ offered Filippo, ‘I feel totally awake, guys.’ pride. ‘You are such a positive group,’ she said. ‘We can As the kilometres went by, they nodded off one by one. see why it’s such plain sailing for Willem-Jan.’ First Bianca, then Derk and lastly Willem-Jan after chatting Encouraging nods all around the table. Dutiful son had with Filippo for a while. Nobody noticed him leaving the briefed them to keep mum about how he was doing motorway and changing direction. A little while later, academically. ‘Willem-Jan was always a keen student at Willem-Jan woke up. Disoriented, he rubbed his stiff neck. secondary school too.’ Derk only managed to suppress an Shouldn’t they be home by now? he thought. He looked out attack of the giggles by choking spectacularly on his confusedly, seeing yellow signs flashing past. For one long stamppot. As Vera thumped his back, Bianca quickly astonished minute he stared out of the window. changed the subject. ‘We are in Germany,’ he stated, jolting the others awake. ‘I’m so happy that we get to see so many parts of Holland ‘Why?’ this summer. First Brabant, then Rotterdam, Salland and ‘We are going to my home now,’ said Filippo with a grin. now the Achterhoek.’ ‘To Italia.’

Resource follows events at Mortierstraat 14B

Help required with campus garden

Wageningen Campus is getting a years ago. Now she has been ap- nous flowers,’ says Van Pelt. ‘The me their proposals,’ says Van Pelt. garden. Students and staff can pointed project leader for the start- field has been a building site for a The budget for The Field is limit- help with laying and planting it up phase. Whether a vegetable gar- year so the soil has been disturbed. ed to finding for sowing flowers and out. The garden will be located at den is included depends on the ini- That is why the middle bit has al- laying paths. ‘Eventually I would re- the campus entrance near the Dijk- tiatives submitted by campus users, ready been sown and now we are ally like to see the university mak- graaf block of flats and will be explains Van Pelt. ‘It is a multifunc- going to do the edges.’ In 2016 ing material available for working called The Field. tional field intended for education, about 100 apple trees will be plant- in the garden as well. But that is not The project came out of the idea demonstrations, experiments and ed, with many different varieties. my first concern. The main thing of an edible academic garden (EAT), training.’ ‘There is space for other projects now is that The Field is officially explains Blair van Pelt. She submit- The gardening starts of Friday 14 too. What they will be depends on opened, that people know about it ted plans for an edible garden in August. ‘Everyone is welcome to what people want. Groups eager to and want to help with it, and that it the middle of the campus three come and help with sowing indige- get to work in The Field can send becomes a beautiful garden.’ KG

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 28 >> student

annual AID street theatre festival. You’ll find SSR-W - RAISE YOUR VOICE >> PARTIES something happening wherever you look. Monday 17 August from 23:00 to 05:00 Young and old, students and non -students, Be sure to drop in on the silent disco at this party. The best parties according to everyone is entertained. Some acts start at It’s a really fun and unusual experience. Not that Wageningen Uitgaans Promotie. Check set times and draw a crowd. So if you want to going wild to the tacky hits we all love at the après- www.wageningenup.nl for all parties. get a seat, you will need to arrive on time. ski party isn’t great fun too. Snow machines and Apfelkorn liqueur specials provide the winter- CERES - POOL PARTY sport ambiance. Saturday 15 August from 23:00 to 06:00 Only during the AID can you experience this CAMPUS - AID FESTIVAL water spectacle. And believe us, you don’t Wednesday 19 August from 17:00 to 23:45 want to miss it. Bring nothing but your stu- Even without an AID wristband you can join the fi- dent ID card and money for tokens because nal AID festivities. Admission’s not bad either: by the end of the evening you are bound to just 5 euros. Tickets are already on sale. The clos- WAGENINGEN CENTRE - AID: IDEALIS STREET THEA- be wet and grubby. You might want to bring ing party with Gregor Salto and Carl Tricks will be TRE FESTIVAL a towel and shirt in a plastic bag. At least preceded by a festival starting at 17:00 during Saturday 15 August from 20:00 to 23:30 then you can put on something dry before which Wageningen’s restaurant owners will be Crowds fill Wageningen city centre during the cycling home. selling food. Bands will be providing the music.

>> THE WORKS

‘NO ORGANIC SEED TO BE FOUND’

Who? Lorenzo Locci, Master’s student Organic Agriculture What? Internship, Curacao Edible School Garden(s) project Where? Curacao

‘The idea of creating an edible garden came from a small group of enthusiastic volunteers, most of whom were retired people. Some 25 percent of the children and teenag- ers on Curacao are overweight and they wanted to do some- thing about that. Inspired by Michelle Obama, who created an edible garden for the White House, they came up with the idea of creating gardens like this at schools on Curacao. In order to teach the children something about agriculture and healthy food and to help them change their eating hab- its. My job was to work out the agricultural, financial and management aspects of the project. There wasn’t any kind of proper, formal organi- zation as you would have in an NGO, university or company. Often we The people of Curacao are very relaxed, they do everything at a leisurely held our meetings at people’s homes, which meant in their beautiful, pace. I noticed that their society is also very multiethnic. This is reflect- tropical gardens. ed in the Curacaoans’ language skills. Most people speak no fewer than The agricultural sector on Curacao is not as developed as it is in the four languages: Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento. A tip for Netherlands. Conventional agriculture accounts for most of the farm- future interns: don’t go and live in a student house. During the ten days ing activity. Some people are trying to take a more sustainable that I lived in one, armed robbers entered it three times! I went to live approach, but there is little expertise available. For example, we wanted with a local person. Not only is that safer, but you feel more integrated. to use organic seeds and crop protection agents but they turned out to For the rest, wild animals are everywhere to be seen, from iguanas to be unavailable. At times this made the project rather challenging, but humming birds. The beach was just round the corner. One day I was sit- the team had great dedication. So much so that a plan has now been ting there gazing out to sea when I suddenly saw dolphins leaping out completed. The next step is to raise funds for the implementation. of the water at great speed. That is a moment I will never forget.’ JB

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in memoriam

Diny van Aalderen Henk Croon Our col- We were league Diny very sorry to van Aal- receive the deren sad news passed away that our col- on 26 July, league Henk due to Croon died breast can- of cancer on cer. Diny 31 July. was a great colleague, friendly and Henk was a good, team-spirited and hard-working. She worked for many highly committed colleague. He had years in the media department of the worked in the legal department at PHOTO: THINK4PHOTOP / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / THINK4PHOTOP PHOTO: Library, where her responsibilities the then agricultural college in Wa- MEANWHILE IN... << included ordering journals and geningen since 1976 before being books as well as filing theses and appointed head of the Personnel sec- Wageningen reports in the Wagenin- tor at Animal Production in 1990. In gen UR library system. For the past the years that followed he was the Meanwhile... in Nepal year Diny mainly worked on the li- face of personnel and organizational In the news: Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake in April brary catalogue. This is something matters in the Animal Sciences de- 2015. There was a national action day in The Netherlands to Diny had wanted for a long time, and partment at Wageningen UR. Henk raise funds for Nepal, and Nepalese students and PhD she tackled the job with great enthu- knew the department and all those candidates in Wageningen also organized various fundraising siasm. who worked there like the back of his events. How is the situation now? hand, and was very committed. Diny was 61 when she died. She was Commentary by Mary Shrestha, Master’s student of International diagnosed with breast cancer three Henk will be sorely missed. He was Development Studies and blogger for Resource. years ago but the treatment seemed warmly appreciated for his tremen- to be working. The cancer came back dous knowledge and his pleasant ‘Immediately after that first big earthquake there were a lot of again last summer, however. She manner by all his HR colleagues and NGOs that raised money for Nepal. We, the Nepalese Student coped bravely with her illness and by department staff at all levels. Society Wageningen, did so as well. We chose to donate that fought like a lioness. Henk was only 64 years old. He fell money to the Prime Minister’s Earthquake Relief Fund. I think ill at the beginning of 2013, but the that was a good decision. During the initial relief campaign We were very fond of Diny, who was treatment seemed to work. Sadly in many organizations were going into Nepal to help. It was not a positive person and an example to 2015 it became clear that this was so coordinated. Now the government has taken control. Every us all. She was unequalled in her not the case. The way Henk dealt organization that wants to do recovery work, has to go via the combination of passionate enthusi- with his terrible illness deserves our government. That is working quite well, I think. asm in both work and leisure pur- admiration and respect. ‘There are still many aftershocks in Nepal. But people are suits, and a down-to-earth capacity getting used to it. Every shock with a magnitude under 5 on to keep things in perspective. She In recent years Henk and his wife the Richter scale is shrugged off as if it was just a little tremble. had a love of learning and was al- made some very nice trips together People have become really resilient. ways developing new interests, and and he used his ‘senior’ days to have ‘The rainy season has interrupted the recovery process. It is she knew a lot about Wageningen more time with his grandchildren, of impossible to build houses at the moment, so 40,000 people UR. She went for quality, not only in whom he was very proud. But if it are still living in tents. My grandmother’s house was among her work but also in her relation- was busy in the office, he could often those destroyed and she is renting a place temporarily. After ships with colleagues. be found at Zodiac even on those the rainy season, she will build a new house with the help of To the last, Diny remained involved days. the family. All the people who lost their homes have received a and took an interest what was going We are very sad that Henk is no long- grant of around €1800 from the government for constructing on in the workplace and her col- er with us. Our thoughts are with his temporary houses. And the banks are also providing them with leagues’ lives. We are deeply sad- wife, children and grandchildren; we soft loans. dened to lose Diny, and our thoughts wish them strength in coming to ‘When the earthquake hit, I was in Vienna for my thesis. I and sympathies are with her hus- terms with the loss of a special per- haven’t been home since. But my time in Wageningen is band Henk, her children and grand- son. almost over. I am flying back to Nepal soon.’ KG children as they face the loss of this very special lady. Ineke de Weerd, head HR ASG, On behalf of the directors of ASG Hubert Krekels Librarian

13 August 2015 — RESOURCE 30 >> service in memoriam movie screenings and debates. novations, HUMANIMAL – One Saturday 15 August, 20.00-23.00 Otherwise is looking for a project Health is running an innovation IDEALIS STREET THEATRE Jean Pierre Manzi assistant who is enthusiastic about competition. Small-scale or large- The market square, the Raadhuis- We re- organizing these events, finding scale, fully worked-out or still on plein, the Salverdaplein, the ceived the new and current topics and innova- the drawing board – all innova- Hoogstraat and part of the Vijzel- devastating tive ways of presenting them. It is tive ideas can compete for the straat will form the backdrop to news that a great opportunity to develop prize. Deadline for submissions: the Idealis Street Theatre Festi- Jean Pierre your research, organisation and 31 August. val, a non-stop programme of en- Manzi, one presentation skills and interests, WWW.HUMANIMAL.NL tertaining performing arts. Street of our Envi- network with other organisations, artists from home and abroad will ronmental gain experience in working for a agenda lay on a musical, acrobatic and Sciences small organisation and be a part of comic show. It will be one big Master students, passed away last our team! Deadline application: Friday 14 August, 16.00-18.00 spectacle and everyone is wel- Saturday, August 8th 2015. 6th September. SEED ‘THE FIELD’ come. The festival forms part of WWW.ST-OTHERWISE.ORG Always wanted to bring more col- the introduction week for new stu- Jean Pierre started his master our to Wageningen Campus? This dents. studies in September 2014, being Green Alley Award 2015 is your chance to make a differ- provided with an NFP grant. He Are you a green start-up or eco- ence! Come and join OtherWise in Sunday 23 August chose to major in Environmental entrepreneur with a brilliant idea sowing seeds in ‘The Field’. The KNNV: BIRD-WATCHING EXCUR- Technology. Jean Pierre seemed to in the green and circular economy Field is located at the western en- SION NATUURGEBIED TIENG- do well until he started to experi- sector? Then apply now for the trance of the campus and will pro- METEN, PROVINCE OF SOUTH ence personal problems in the award 2015 and become one of vide innovative space for informa- HOLLAND spring of 2015. He decided to re- Europe’s leading sustainable tive projects related to the knowl- Tiengemeten is a beautiful bird is- turn to his home country Rwanda start-ups! All you need to do is to edge fields of Wageningen UR, land managed by Natuurmonu- to take a rest and to recover. prepare a pitch deck introducing and the mission of Wageningen menten, full of swallows and wad- As things seemed to go much bet- your business idea. The Green Al- Campus: ‘Gateway to smart food ers at this time of year. We’ll be ter lately, he decided to come ley Award is Europe’s first start-up in a green world’. Here, students, going for a long walk around the back to Wageningen midst of July competition focused on the circu- employees or partners of Wagen- island. To catch the 10 o’clock to prepare for his only re-exam. lar economy. In association with ingen UR, and companies located boat we leave from the Olympia- Unfortunately, he did not make our partners Seedmatch, ERP UK on Wageningen Campus, can real- plein (the west side) in Wagenin- this. He met his untimely death and Bethnal Green Ventures, ise small-scale ground-bound pro- gen at 8.30. Back at 18.00. The before he could achieve his Green Alley is looking for great jects that provide interactive edu- ferry costs 4 euros for Natuurmon- dreams in Wageningen. green ideas, new services, prod- cation opportunities and demon- umenten members, 5 for non- ucts and technologies that can strate what’s going on inside all members. To sign up: wimhaver@ We will remember Jean Pierre as a turn waste into a resource. In re- those buildings. Come and help us hotmail.com / 06-1648 4728 kind and talented student, and we turn we offer strategic support, make a start! Seeds, tools and offer our condolences to his fami- networking opportunities and fi- drinks will be provided. Wednesday 23 September ly and friends, in Rwanda as well nancing to boost your business Meeting point: 16.00 hrs at the SYMPOSIUM “DE VEETELERS” as in the Netherlands. across Europe. Deadline for appli- new bus stop, western entrance of From ‘simple farmer’ to ‘agricul- cations: 15th September. the campus (Akkermaalsbos) tural entrepreneur’. The livestock A book of condolences is available WWW.GREEN-ALLEY-AWARD.COM More info: [email protected] sector is changing fast. The sym- in Forum, ground floor, next to the posium ‘Spotlight on Livestock: side entrance. A farewell ceremo- Humanimal – Innovation Chal- Friday 14 to Sunday 16 August, agricultural business in a chang- ny is scheduled on Friday August lenge launched from 16.00 ing context’ paints a picture of 14 in Gaia 1 + 2, starting at 17.00 Innovative scientists, businesses, FROM MOLENSTRAAT TO MOLEN current developments in livestock hrs. entrepreneurs and students in the BEACH and discusses the way forward Life Sciences & Health sector have Prolong that holiday feeling by from the point of view of the live- Marjo Lexmond, study advisor a chance of winning €50,000 to enjoying three days at the beach. stock farmer, the business world, enable them to turn an innovative The Molenstraat will be covered government and science. Classifieds idea into an implementable prod- in a nice layer of sand for these REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION: uct or service. The Netherlands is days. Organizers Café Loburg, WWW.NZVNET.NL Wanted: A Project Assistant for the in a strong position in the global Heerenstraat Theater and Ris- Right to a Liveable Environment Life Science & Health sector. Bio- torante Sa Lolla are laying on Programme medical research in Dutch teach- three atmospheric days when OtherWise’s programme ‘Right to a ing hospitals and Dutch universi- guests can sit with their feet in Liveable Environment’ promotes ties has a strong reputation. How- the sand in festive surroundings. people’s fundamental human right ever, the knowledge that is pre- Live music from different regions to live and generate sustainable sent does not automatically every day, and snacks and cock- Deadline for submissions: one livelihoods in a healthy, ecologi- appear on the market in the form tails. Kids can build sandcastles week before publication date cally balanced and socially just en- of an implementable product or or go to the cinema at 16.00 at a (max. 75 words) vironment. Within this programme service. To stimulate the transla- special price (€ 6,50 per child). Email: [email protected] we organise lectures, discussions, tion of knowledge into market in- WWW.HEERENSTRAATTHEATER.NL

RESOURCE — 13 August 2015 service << 31

colophon In the battle to become Resource’s regular blogger, students and staff members sent in trial blogs over the summer. Below is Resource is the magazine and news website a translation of the most-read blog. All the other blogs, in both for students and staff at Wageningen UR. Dutch and English, can be read on Resource-online.nl. Resource magazine comes out every fortnight BLOG on Thursday. Address Akkermaalsbos 14, 6708 WB Wageningen (Nexus, Building 117, bode 31). POBox 409 6700 AK Wageningen. Secretariat: Thea Kuijpers, IN HOT PANTS IN [email protected], 0317 484020 Website: www.resource-online.nl. ISSN 1389-7756 THE CLASSROOM Editorial staff • Edwin van Laar (editor-in-chief) By Carina Nieuwenweg, BSc student of Molecular Life Sciences [email protected], 0317 482997 • Roelof Kleis (ecology, social sciences, economy),­ [email protected], 0317 481721 I wind my fellow students up several times a Sorry, but it still seems weird to me to be cor- • Koen Guiking (web editor) [email protected], 0317 488190 week when I talk about school, class and class- rected for my school vocabulary by someone in • Linda van der Nat (students, education) mates. It’s not that I’m deliberately being deni- short hipster pants. But then, even if she is very [email protected], 0317 481725 grating; I just find school and class easier to say nearly walking around in her underwear, she is • Rob Ramaker (nutrition, fisheries), [email protected], 0317 481709 than u-ni-ver-si-ty and lec-tures. doing so at university and not at school! • Albert Sikkema (plant sciences, animal sci- But it seems this is somehow heretical. Stu- I have to admit that this strange phenomenon ences, organization) [email protected], 0317 481724 dents start to huff and puff if I affectionately call intrigues me. I have a theory about it. Might it them classmates. After all, our high school diplo- not be the case that all students feel they have Freelance journalists mas weren’t just dished up with the cornflakes. grown out of school by now? That they now Jeroen Bok, Ton van de Born, Alexandra Branderhorst, Stijn van Gils, ir. Yvonne de We worked hard for them, and they are a real amount to something in society, but that what Hilster, Milou van der Horst, Amy Jansen, achievement. Clearly the next step after high they really want most is for the university not qui- Nicole Janssen, Iris Keizer, Jan-Willem Kortlever, Sander de Kraker, Carina school is quite a thing. Something to be proud of. te to be the big bad world yet. That there is one Nieuwenweg, ir. Rik Nijland, Kim Peterse, We’ve grown out of school, say the unwritten ru- last staging post before things get really serious. Camilla Ponte, Simone Rijlaarsdam, Mary Shrestha, ir. Joris Tielens, Kees van Veluw, les. OK, I get that. Sort of. Before the way you dress really has consequen- Veronika Wehner, Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau But what I really don’t get, what leaves me to- ces. Design tally baffled, is the way the same classmates (or Geert-Jan Bruins Photography fellow students, as you wish) in whose eyes I bra- Guy Ackermans, Sven Menschel, zenly offend their academic dignity when I talk Aart-Jan van de Glind Illustrations about ‘going to class’ do not hesitate to parade Guido de Groot, Kim Peterse, Henk van around the university in extremely short shorts, Ruitenbeek, Eva van Schijndel flip-flops (or bare feet, also totally hot, apparent- Translators Clare McGregor, Susie Day, Clare Wilkinson ly) and cropped tops and sweaters. Outfits I Printer would consider more in place at a Going-to-Ibiza Tuijtel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam Editorial board party. So how seriously are you taking the univer- ir. Martijn de Groot (chair), prof. Anton sity then? There are enough other outfits in al- Haverkort, ir. Tia Hermans, ir. Marianne most every style that are suitable for hot weather, Heselmans, dr. ir. Patrick Jansen, Anneloes Reinders, Simone Ritzer, dr. Margit van but which don’t allow everybody to enjoy the Wessel. [email protected] sight of your cellulitis. Subscriptions A subscription to the magazine costs €58 (overseas: €131) per academic year. ­Cancellations before 1 August.

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13 August 2015 — RESOURCE >>TYPICAL DUTCH ILLUSTRATION: HENK VAN RUITENBEEK VAN HENK ILLUSTRATION:

Rich country, poor hygiene I already knew that the Netherlands is a rich, well-organized country with a clean environment. But I am very surprised to see that people here do not worry at all about the quality and safety of their food.

It took me nearly six months to get used to taking bread and cheese for lunch. I do it now, but I eat my sandwiches from the plastic bag, not out of my hands. My Dutch colleagues, however, don’t worry about eating from their hands. They even put their sandwiches on the wooden lunch tables People here ‘clean’ an apple outside, which are exposed to the air and wind. I think the tables are dirty, but the Dutch seem to by rubbing it on their clothes. have a different take on this. I have even seen them picking up the breadcrumbs from the table Do they think a bit of rubbing and putting them into their mouths. This left me speechless. will get rid of pesticides? It also amazes me how people here ‘clean’ an apple by rubbing it on their clothes. In China, we usually wash and peel apples before eating them. And some fruits, like grapes and cherries, we even soak for around ten minutes in water to which we add wheat flour or salt. We are worried about the pesticides. I wonder whether Dutch people think that a bit of rubbing will get rid of the pesticides. Huicui Lu, PhD candidate in the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group

Do you have a nice anecdote about your experience of going Dutch? Send it in! Describe an encounter with Dutch culture in detail and comment on it briefly. 300 words max. Send it to [email protected] and earn fifty euro and Dutch candy.