Curriculum Vitae

Studies and research activities:

March 2011 – present:

• Researcher in soil biogeochemistry, CIRAD, UMR Eco&Sols, Montpellier

June 2009 – March 2011:

• Post-doctoral research project at VUB, Brussels, Belgium on the biogeochemistry of the Tana river, Kenya.

September 2004 – September 2008:

• Ph.D. research in biology at the University of Gent, Belgium. Title: Quantification and modeling of the pelagic microbial food web in an estuarine system, i.c. the Scheldt Estuarium. Project in collaboration with the Centre for Estuarine and Marine Research, Yerseke, Netherlands. Financed by an FWO scholarship. Successfully defended on 5 October 2009

September 2003 – September 2004:

• Research project: Quantification and modeling of the pelagic microbial food web in an estuarine system, i.c. the Scheldt Estuarium. BOF scholarship of the university of Gent, Belgium.

September 1999 – September 2003:

• masters in biology at the University of Gent, Belgium (Great distinction)

September 1996 – September 1999:

• Bachelor in engineering physics at the University of Gent, Belgium (distinction)

1990-1996: Secundary school: Sint-Aloysiuscollege Ninove

1984-1990: Primary school: Gemeentelijke basisschool Oetingen

 

Publication list:

In scientific magazines with reviewing process:

• Karel Van den Meersche, Karline Soetaert, Jack Middelburg (2011) Plankton dynamics in an estuarine plume: a mesocosm ¹³C and ¹⁵N tracer study. Marine Ecology Progress Series 429, pp29-43
• Dick Van Oevelen, Karel Van den Meersche, Filip Meysman, Karline Soetaert, Jack Middelburg and Alain Vézina (2010) Quantifying food web flows using linear inverse models . Ecosystems 13, pp 32-45
• Karel Van den Meersche, Karline Soetaert, Dick Van Oevelen (2009)  xsample(): an R function for sampling linear inverse problems. Journal of Statistical Software, Code Snippets 30(1), pp. 1-15
• Karel  Van  den  Meersche,  Pieter  Van  Rijswijk,  Karline Soetaert, Jack J. Middelburg (2009) Autochthonous and allochthonous contributions to mesozooplankton diet in a tidal river and estuary:  Integrating carbon isotope and fatty acid constraints. Limnology and Oceanography 54 (1), pp. 62-74
• Francesc Montserrat, C. Van Colen, P. Provoost, M. Milla, M. Ponti, K. Van den Meersche, T. Ysebaert and P.M.J. Herman (2009) Sediment segregation by biodiffusing bivalves. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf ScienceEstuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 83(4), pp.379-391
• Karel Van den Meersche, Karline Soetaert, Jack Middelburg (2008) A Bayesian Compositional Estimator for microbial taxonomy based on biomarkers. L&O Methods 6, pp. 190-199
• Karel  Van  den  Meersche,   Jack  Middelburg,   Karline Soetaert, Pieter van Rijswijk, Eric Boschker en Carlo Heip (2004) Carbon-nitrogen coupling and algal-bacterial interactions during an experimental bloom: Modeling a ¹³C tracer experiment. Limnology and Oceanography 49(3), pp. 862-878

Meeting Abstracts

• K. Van den Meersche, F. Tamooh, A. Borges, R. Merckx, F. Dehairs, F. Meysman, S. Bouillon (2011) Carbon and alkalinity budgets in the lower Tana, Kenya.  Aquatic Sciences Meeting February 14-18, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• F. Tamooh, K. Van den Meersche, A. Borges, R. Merckx, F. Dehairs, F. Meysman, S. Bouillon (2011) Distribution and Composition of Organic Carbon in the Tana River Basin, (Kenya).Aquatic Sciences Meeting February 14-18 , San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• J. J. Middelburg, K. Van den Meersche, K. Soetaert (2009) A ¹³C and ¹⁵N tracer study of plankton dynamics in an estuarine plume. Aquatic Sciences Meeting January 25-30, Nice, France p. 176
• K. Van den Meersche, P. Van Rijswijk, J. Middelburg (2008) The planktonic food web of the Scheldt Estuary: zooplankton feeding preferences revealed by ¹³C analysis. Ocean Sciences Meeting March 2-7, Orlando, Florida p. 419
• K. Van den Meersche, K. Soetaert, J. Middelburg, (2006) Algal-bacterial coupling and microzooplankton grazing in the Scheldt estuary, using stable isotope labelling experiments. The 5th International Conference on Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies 2006, Belfast, Ireland: Book of Abstracts p. 125
• K. Soetaert, K. Van den Meersche, J.J. Middelburg, C. Heip, (2005) Linking pelagic biogeochemistry and food web dynamics: a coupled experimental-modelling approach. Dynamic Planet 2005 (22-26 August 2005) Cairns,Australia: Book of abstracts. p. 134
• K. Van den Meersche, et al.  (2005) Algal-bacterial interactions and transfer to copepods in an estuarine foodweb: a dual labelling study. ASLO Summer Meeting (19-24 june 2005) Santiago de Compostela, Spain: conference abstracts. pp. 157
• Frankignoulle, M. et al. (2004). Nutrients cycling and the trophic status of coastal ecosystems (EUROTROPH), in:  (2004).  European Conference on Marine Science and Ocean Technology.  Celebrating European marine science: building the European research area: communicating marine science, 10th - 13th May 2004, Galway, Ireland: abstract book. pp. 118-119
• Van den Meersche, K. (2004).  Koppeling van koolstof- en stikstofmetabolisme van algen en bacteriën in een estuarien pelagisch ecosysteem: bepalen door modelleren van een pulse-chase experiment met ¹³C-labelling, in: Mees, J.; Seys, J. (Ed.) (2004). VLIZ Young Scientists’ Day, Brugge, Belgium 5 March 2004: book of abstracts. VLIZ Special Publication, 17:pp. 112-114
• Van den Meersche, K. et al. (2004). The microbial food web in the estuarine water column: a link or a sink?, in: Mees, J.; Seys, J. (Ed.) (2004). VLIZ Young Scientists’ Day, Brugge, Belgium 5 March 2004: book of abstracts. VLIZ Special Publication, 17: p. 74

Internal reports

• Karel Van den Meersche (2005) Protocol for dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) determination on water samples. Internal report NIOO-CEME.

 

PhD thesis:

• Carbon flows in the planktonic food web of temperate estuaries: A combined approach using stable isotopes, biomarkers and modeling. (University of Gent, 5 october 2009)

Master’s thesis:

• Coupling of carbon and nitrogen metabolism of algae and bacteria in an estuarine pelagic ecosystem: estimations through modeling of a pulse-chase experiment with ¹³C labeling. (in Dutch)

Software packages:

• Karel Van den Meersche and Karline Soetaert (2008-2009) BCE: Bayesian composition estimator: estimating sample (taxonomic) composition from  biomarker data. R package. latest version: 1.3. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/BCE/index.html
• Karline Soetaert, Karel Van den Meersche and Dick van Oevelen (2008-2009) limSolve: Solving linear inverse models. R package. Latest version: 1.3. http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/limSolve/index.html

Other publications

• Karel  Van  den  Meersche,  Wouter  Willems,  Saskia  Van Gaever, Ann Vanreusel, Koen Sabbe. Oefeningen biostatistiek met R: cursusnota’s voor het practicum biostatistiek voor studenten 3^de bachelor biologie. Eds. 2006, 2007

 

Practical experience and keywords:

• Field work: nutrients, organic carbon, inorganic carbon, suspended matter, natural abundance of stable isotopes, zooplankton work
• Experimental work: isotope labeling in watercolumn; mesocosm experiments
• Lab work: lipid extraction, GC-IRMS
• Food web modeling, biogeochemical modeling
• Bayesian statistics

Attended conferences, workshops and other scientific activities:

• 26 June - 1 July 2011: ISMOM – Soil Interfaces in a Changing World, Montpellier, France
• 14-18 February 2011: Aquatic Sciences Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• 4-5 October 2010: Experimental, typological and modelling approaches to evaluate at global and regional scales horizontal and vertical fluxes from land to the open ocean through rivers, estuaries and the coastal ocean. Workshop at Université de Liège, Belgium
• 2-7 March 2008: Ocean Sciences Meeting, Orlando, Florida
• 14-16 September 2006: Estuarine workshop with emphasis on zooplankton, the drainage basin approach and restoration ecology. Nausicaa Boulogne sur mer, France
• August 2006: The 5th International Conference on Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies, Belfast, Ireland

• June 2005: ASLO summer meeting, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
• 29 October 2004: Studiedag samenwerkingsproject FWO-Vlaanderen en NWO Vlanezo: Vlaams-Nederlandse samenwerking in kustgebonden Zee-Onderzoek; studieobject: het estuarium van de Schelde. Gent, Belgium
• 6-7 September 2004: Eurytemora workshop (presentation). Wimereux, France
• March 2004: VLIZ Young Scientists’ Day (poster). Brugge, Belgium
• November 2003: Current themes in ecology – ecology in freshwater management. Wageningen, Nederland

Teaching activities:

Academic years 2003-2008:

• Assistant Practical Statistics – 2^nd Licence Biology (Prof. Dr. Ann Vanreusel)

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