Category Archives: Science

A robot as co-author

Ok, I’ll bite. The internet is literally full of fancy people jumping on the bandwagon called ‘ChatGPT’. The amount of lists I’ve seen floating by with ‘you are only using 1% of ChatGPTs full potential’ or ‘this is how I … Continue reading

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Database progress

Last week, we bid farewell to Amber, a bittersweet goodbye that marks the end of a successful chapter in our ‘SoilTemp’ project. Yet it also provides closure to a very good story, as you’ll see. Amber joined us as a … Continue reading

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Hitchhiking mountain roads and trails

The Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) has made itself ‘world famous’ through its protocol for the long-term monitoring of vegetation along mountain roads. We even got a recent publication dedicated in its entirety to that protocol! However, mountains – and … Continue reading

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The energy balance of a leaf

I am currently co-teaching the course on ‘environmental biophysics’ to our ecology masters, a largely theoretical course in which students get to know the physical equations behind ecology and the interaction between organisms and their environment. Besides this formula-juggling, the … Continue reading

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What microclimate sensor to use?

I often get the question what microclimate sensor I would recommend. To facilitate my answer to that, I decided to summarize my ideas on the matter here. Note that this is a far from exhaustive musing on the different factors … Continue reading

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What we know about snow

We’re going to have to talk about snow. Snow is fabulous, it is unique, it is beautiful. But it also turns ecological processes and principles on their head: snow accumulation determines ground temperature, light conditions and moisture availability during winter. … Continue reading

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