Jeroen MEERSMANS
I pay particular attention to the development of transferable skills, in order to maximize students' employability opportunities.
Jeroen MEERSMANS, Associate Professor in environmental risk analysis within the water-soil-plant axis. Picture: ©Michel Houet.
After a master's degree in Physical Geography in 2004 at the VUB, Jeroen Meersmans completed a doctoral thesis in the field of soil sciences between 2005 and 2009 at the UNiversité Catholique de Louvain, focusing on the spatial and temporal distribution of organic carbon stored in Belgian soils. "I extended this expertise by conducting postdoctoral research in France at lNRA (Orleans - INFOSOL Unit), followed by a Marie-Curie IEF mandate in England at the University of Exeter. For the past six years, I have been a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter (College of Life and Environmental Sciences) and at the University of Cranfield (Soil and Agrifood Institute), combining research and teaching activities. More specifically, my academic activities focus on the dynamics of organic matter across terrestrial and aquatic systems according to soil type and erosion degradation processes, as well as climate change, land use and agricultural management. I have also developed collaborations with renowned research institutes in China (CAS, Peking University) and India (National Institute of Technology) to study synergies and trade-offs between different ecosystem services on a regional scale. " Jeroen Meersmans has published in several renowned journals, such as Global Science Biology, PNAS and Scientific Reports. He is also a member of the UK Higher Education Academy.
Stimulating innovation
"I am convinced that education is of great importance to ensure the continuity of intergenerational knowledge. The key approach I use is to engage students on practical issues. My teaching is research-oriented, integrating recent and significant scientific results into theoretical courses. I also intend to facilitate the practical understanding of the processes studied by the students by organizing laboratories (GIS, soil and water sample element analyses, etc.) and/or outdoor exercises. In addition, I pay particular attention to the development of transferable skills (modelling, statistical analysis, writing scientific reports, oral presentation, collaborative skills,...) in order to maximize students' employability opportunities. The integration of interactive activities is very important for the development of critical thinking and communication skills. Stimulating innovation among students is crucial: I therefore prefer a culture of open debate to a more hierarchical management structure. "
