Meet Our Scientists
DR. MENNO SCHILTHUIZEN
Menno Schilthuizen is a senior researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, and professor of evolution and biodiversity at Leiden University, the Netherlands. For seven years, he lived and worked in Malaysian Borneo, where he helped set up the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation. He published more than 100 papers in scientific journals including Nature and Science. His work focuses on evolution and biodiversity, mostly in insects and snails and mostly in Borneo, the Mediterranean, and the Netherlands. Schilthuizen is also active in science popularization. He has published four books for the general public, most recently: Nature’s Nether Regions (Penguin, 2014) and Darwin Comes to Town (Quercus Books, 2018). He is also a regular contributor to magazines such as Time, New Scientist, the Huffington Post, and the New York Times.
To contact Menno, visit his homepage, Studio Schilthuizen
DR. IVA NJUNJIĆ
Iva Njunjić is a biospeleologist (or: cave-biologist) working on evolution of cave beetles. She obtained her PhD from the Paris-Sorbonne University and has worked at the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, the University of Novi Sad, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. She is a National Geographic Explorer and TEDx speaker. In her twelve years’ of experience studying caves in the Balkans and Borneo, Njunjić explored more than 300 caves, and has published scientific papers on the bizarre spider-like cave beetles of southern Europe. Her work has been featured in international media like the Guardian and Live Science. Some of her cave explorations were captured in videos that can be viewed here and here and new species that she described were listed among Top ten species described in 2016.
Contact Iva via iva.enco@gmail.com
DR. HENDRIK FREITAG
A Full Professor at the Ateneo de Manila University where he leads the Ecology and Systematics Research Cluster and serves as country coordinator of the international Biodiversity Teaching Network BIO-PHIL”. For almost 20 years, he has been working on aquatic insects, especially water beetles, but also freshwater crabs. He also coordinates sustainable land-use projects with Rainforestation Farming in Key Biodiversity Areas of the Philippines and organizes Aquatic Biodiversity Workshops and conferences almost every year.
His research results attracted renowned media such as National Geographic, the Guardian or the science curiosity TV show Matanglawin of ABS-CBN Philippines. From 2009 to 2013 he was board chairman of the Phyllodrom Rainforest Museum Leipzig where he is still active. Currently, he serves as lead author for the Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific of the UN-driven Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
DR. MASSIMO DELLEDONNE
Massimo Delledonne is Full Professor of Genetics at Universita’ degli Studi di Verona. He manages a vigorous research program that emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to understanding plant and human biology. His own expertise is in the areas of genetics, molecular biology and genomics, and collaborates with researchers in diverse fields, including bioinformatics, microbiology and plant genomics, and medicine.
He is co-founder and scientific director of Personal Genomics S. R. L., a spin-off of University of Verona established in 2011 that operates in the field of human genomics and personalized medicine.
DR. CARIN BONDAR
TV biologist from Animal Planet
Carin Bondar has a PhD in biology from the University of British Columbia. Her fieldwork took her to the forests of British Columbia and New Zealand where she studied small stream ecosystems.
In addition to being an adjunct professor of biology at The University of the Fraser Valley, she is the writer and host of the web series Wild Sex that has garnered over 60 million views. Her TED talk on the same topic has reached an audience of over 2.3 million. Wild Sex, her book based on the series (Pegasus USA), was released in 2016 and her next book Wild Moms is due to be released on Mother’s Day 2018. Dr. Bondar can be seen on a variety of television and web series including Outrageous Acts of Science on the Discovery Channel and Stephen Hawking’s Brave New World on National Geographic. She is also the host of World Oddest Animal Couples, (Netflix, Animal Planet).
Bondar’s main website is www.carinbondar.com.
DR. ANDREW QUITMEYER
Dr. Andrew Quitmeyer is a hacker adventurer studying intersections between wild animals and computational devices. He left his job as a tenure track professor at the National University of Singapore to start his own Field Station Makerspace in Gamboa Panama: Digital Naturalism Laboratories. Here he blends biological fieldwork and DIY digital crafting with a community of scientists, artists, designers, and engineers from around the world. He runs mobile workshops called “Hiking Hacks” where participants build interactive technology in outdoor, natural contexts. The Digital Naturalism Conference is his research’s largest event, pulling in over 100 participants annually from all fields to collaborate on finding new ways of interacting with nature. His research also inspired a silly spin-off international television series he starred in for Discovery Networks called “Hacking the Wild.”
MSc PETER KOOMEN
Spider expert
Peter Koomen studied biology at Leiden University and worked in the fields of science popularization, taxonomy, spider recording, nature conservation, and macro photography. He is now head of collections of the Frisian Museum of Natural History and president of the Netherlands Entomological Society. Peter has a passion to share for spiders and other arthropods, especially SE-Asian jumping spiders. “Spiders are among the most beautiful creatures on earth, but nobody seems to realize it. Somebody should change that.” He tries to do so by giving lectures, organizing exhibitions, providing photos and information for books and websites, and contributing to television wildlife programs. And by acting as a guest instructor on our Dutch and Borneo expeditions.
DR. jan wieringa
Researcher of entomology and botany
Jan Wieringa is a researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. He studies the taxonomy and ecology of a wide variety of organisms both in the Tropics and in Europe, including the trees of Gabon, the grasshoppers and crickets of south and central Europe, and the beetles and bugs of the Netherlands. He is also very active in making biodiversity data available online via citizen science platforms. You will meet Jan if you join our urban expeditions in Amsterdam and elsewhere in the Netherlands.
DR. MATTY BERG
Professor of Soil Fauna
Matty Berg is a Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He studies the roles of invertebrate animals (especially woodlice, millipedes and centipedes, mites, and springtails) in the soil ecosystem. “What spurs me on,” he says, “is the question of what determines the diversity, composition, functioning and adaptation of soil fauna communities.” Matty often joins our urban expeditions in the Netherlands, where he dazzles the participants with his knowledgeable and witty stories about the creatures that live under our feet.
AGLAIA BOUMA
Entomologist and author
Aglaia is a part-time entomologist at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. After a nearly fatal allergic reaction to hornet stings, Aglaia developed a huge fear of insects. To conquer her phobia, she started studying them, and discovered a whole new universe of fascinating creatures. She is now an entomologist who passionately shares her knowledge of insects in many different ways. For example, she writes books aimed at the general public, has a column about creepy-crawlies in the large Dutch newspaper NRC, gives lectures, and teaches students and interested citizen scientists. During expeditions in both natural and urban environments, she loves to show interesting insects and tell about their way of life.
HENK VAN DER MEULEN
Geneticist and entomologist
