Ellen Baekelmans
`
`
Ellen Baekelmans is an early-stage PhD researcher within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions doctoral network called “LegumeLegacy”. In September 2022, Ellen graduated from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Biology – specialisation Global Change Biology. During her studies, she developed a great interest in plant-soil interactions, soil microbiomes, and symbiotic relationships with plants. Eager to learn more about these topics, she studied the effects of mycorrhizal fungi and the legacy effects of agricultural management on maize growth and soil microbial communities for her Master’s thesis. After her studies, she worked as a project employee for a government agency.
Currently, Ellen is working within the LegumeLegacy project. She is employed at the Louis Bolk Institute in the Netherlands, where she is supervised by Nyncke Hoekstra and Nick Van Eekeren. She is also enrolled at the Wageningen University & Research where Jeroen Groot is her promotor. Within the LegumeLegacy project, Ellen focusses on the effect of multi-species grassland mixtures on the biological, physical and chemical properties of the soil. She aims to assess the effect of these properties on the performance of the follow-on crop, the so-called legacy effect. She will use a combination of field measurements and modelling to increase insight in soil organic matter dynamics and nitrogen availability.
Project Title
The effect of multi-species grassland mixtures on belowground biodiversity: direct and legacy effect.
Supervisors
Dr. Nyncke Hoekstra (Primary Supervisor)
Dr. Nick van Eekeren
Dr. Jeroen Groot
Dr. John Finn