Belgian Biodiversity Platform : Team

The Belgian Biodiversity Platform is a team of members based in federal and regional research institutes:

	Dr Aline VAN DER WERF Manager Office in BELSPO aline.vanderwerf(a)belspo.be 02.238.36.71	Molecular biologist. Manager of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform and Programme Manager at the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), Aline is responsible for launching, implementing and following-up biodiversity, climate and ecosystem related research initiatives.
	Dr Hilde EGGERMONT Strategic Coordinator Office in RBINS / BELSPO h.eggermont(a)biodiversity.be 02.627.44.94 / 0473.61.36.75	Hilde Eggermont is freshwater biologist (PhD, 2004) and the Strategic Coordinator of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform since 2012. Her day-to-day activities focus largely on European and global biodiversity initiatives. She is the Chair and Coordinator of the European Biodiversity Partnership (Biodiversa+), IPBES focal point for Belgium and alternate Bureau Member for IPBES (WEOG Region). Other duties include her role as IUCN Councillor (2016-recent), and Director of WCMC Europe since 2019. Her main expertise is focusing on nature conservation, science-based policy support, biodiversity research programming, science communication and outreach. See Hilde's Linkedin profile for more information.
	Divija JATAVALLABHULA Operational and Communication Coordinator Office in RBINS d.jata(a)biodiversity.be 02.627.43.35	DJ is responsible for the communication and the everyday operational coordination of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. DJ is currently the contact for the IUCN Belgian National Focal Point. She has a particular interest in developing science policy content in the field of biodiversity and organising events involving the interface between science and policy. Her fields of interest include terrestrial ecology, invasive alien species, conservation and climate change.
	Coralie VERHAEGEN Communication Officer Biodiversa+ Office in RBINS c.verhaegen(a)biodiversity.be	Coralie is a science communicator with a background in marine sciences. She is the communication Officer of Biodiversa+, hosted by Belspo/the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. Coralie manages the online presence of Biodiversa+ and oversees the production of written materials. She is interested in translating complex concepts to diverse audiences, biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
	Leendert PLAETINCK Communication Officer Office in RBINS l.plaetinck(a)biodiversity.be	Lennie is a biologist with digital and communication skills. He holds a MA in Human Ecology, a BA in Geography and is still enrolled to continue learning in the field of multimedia. He is passionate for nature conservation, climate change and of course Biodiversity, which he loves to share with you. Lennie is our content creator and oversees the internal and external communication of the Platform.
	Lise GOUDESEUNE Science Policy Officer Office in RBINS l.goudeseune(a)biodiversity.be 02.238.34.95	Lise has a MA in Archaeology & Art History and a MS in Environmental Sciences and has been working for the BBPF since 2016. Most of her time is dedicated to Biodiversa+ and the IPBES NFP. She has a particular interest in topics related to human-nature interactions, biodiversity and nature conservation, environmental conflicts, science-policy interface, but also scientific communication and data management.
	Stijn Cooleman Biodiversity Data Officer Office in RBINS s.cooleman(a)biodiversity.be	Stijn is a biologist with interdisciplinary skills in data management. He is involved in open data activities at the platform. By focusing on biodiversity informatic standards and data mapping, he supports to mobilise natural history knowledge from collections to web portals of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and European Infrastructures. He has a particular interest in avian ecology, taxonomy, species distribution and ecosystem services.
	Ir André HEUGHEBAERT IT Coordinator & GBIF HoD Office in BELSPO a.heughebaert(a)biodiversity.be 02.238.37.96 Orcid: 0000-0002-7839-5300	Senior Software engineer and expert in Biodiversity Informatics, André manages the Platform's IT team. He coordinates data management, websites and web based services. André is our representative to Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Governing Board taking part in the global-level decision making. He has a particular interest in Biodiversity Data Exchange Standards, Data Visualisation, Cleaning and Publication Tools.
	Julien CIGAR System Administrator Office in BELSPO j.cigar(a)biodiversity.be 02.238.37.95	IT specialist. Julien is the Belgian Biodiversity Platform system administrator. He has particular interest in databases, Python and the FreeBSD operating system.
	François MALHERBE Developer Office in BELSPO f.malherbe(a)biodiversity.be 02.238.36.65	François is part of the platform's IT team. He has helped update our data portal (https://data.biodiversity.be) and is working on the database export of the Belgian Gracillariidae database to enrich the Catalogue of Life collection. He has particular interest in the open source, inclusive social projects and zero waste.
	Sébastien RONVEAUX IT expert Office in BELSPO s.ronveaux(a)biodiversity.be 02.238.37.96	Sébastien is a computer scientist specialised in computer imaging and computer vision. Hired within the context of the RiparIAS project, he's currently developing the decision support tool which is a key deliverable of this project. He has particular interests in programming languages and paradigms, imaging and optimisation.
	Dimitri BROSENS GBIF Node Manager Belgium Office in INBO d.brosens(a)biodiversity.be 04.97.35.47.96 Orcid: 0000-0002-0846-9116	Dimitri is a biologist interested in biodiversity informatics and is the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) node manager for Belgium, he animates the network and is actively involved in data mobilisation and publication in Belgium. Dimitri has a particular interest in data standardisation, Darwin Core, invasive species, palaeontology, terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. He advocates Open Science in the Research cycle and looks for practical usage of open data. He loves to chat with scientists and helps them to publish their data. His ultimate goal is to get Belgium on the global map of biodiversity. Dimitri has is office in the Research Institute for Nature and Forest.
	Anna HECK Science-Policy Officer Office in INBO a.heck(a)biodiversity.be 0474.39.19.05	Anna has a MS in Environmental Science and Management and a MA in Comparative Literature. At the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, she works mainly on the topic of Ecosystems and Society and monitors the EU Biodiversity Policy landscape. She is particularly interested in the science-policy interface, nature and society interactions, nature’s values and ecosystem services and science communication.
	Dr Sonia VANDERHOEVEN Science Officer Office in DEMNA s.vanderhoeven(a)biodiversity.be 081.620.438	Sonia is plant biologist specialised in biological invasions. She has been working in the fields of evolutionary ecology, societal perception of environmental issues and the development of decision support tools. Sonia is particularly interested in evidence-based decision making processes and biodiversity knowledge creation. She applies these principles to the case of biological invasions, facilitating the science, policy and practice interface at international, European, Belgian and regional scales.
	Maxime COUPREMANNE Data Liaison Officer Office in DEMNA m.coupremanne(a)biodiversity.be 04.79.86.50.82 Orcid: 0000-0002-9052-9500	Maxime is a biologist involved in the mobilization of biodiversity data on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) portal. Based at the Départment d'Etude du Milieu Naturel et Agricole (SPW-DEMNA), he advocates the use of Open Data in Wallonia and support anyhow is willing to join the open side of the science. His particular interests are biodiversity informatics, data management, marine life, invasive species, species distribution models and Open Science.