The Belgian Biodiversity Platform is a team of members based in federal and regional research institutes, and in universities:
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Dr Aline VAN DER WERF |
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. |
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Divija JATAVALLABHULA (DJ) |
DJ is responsible for the coordination of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. She is the primary contact for the IUCN Belgian National Focal Point as well as on the IUCN Interregional Committee for North Central Asia (ICENCA) and part of the IPBES Europe North Central Asia (ECA) network. Other duties include horizon scanning for opportunities for the Platform for science policy biodiversity needs. Her main expertise is focusing on nature conservation, science-based policy support, science communication and outreach. She has a particular interest in developing science policy content in the field of biodiversity and climate change. |
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Leendert PLAETINCK |
Lennie is a biologist with digital and communication skills. He holds a MA in Human Ecology, a BA in Geography and continues 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 works as a science communicator for Biodiversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership. |
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Lise GOUDESEUNE |
Lise has a MA in Archaeology & Art History and a MS in Environmental Sciences. She worked for several years as a Science-Policy Officer at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, focusing on Biodiversa+ and acting as the IPBES NFP. Now serving as a Science Communications Officer, she is interested in communicating about biodiversity policy and research, while also expanding her graphic design skills. |
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Phong HOANG |
Phong works as a science communicator for Biodiversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership. As such, he likes to make things short and simple. He holds a specific interest in trees, birds, marine life, and various forms of visual storytelling.
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Stijn COOLEMAN |
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 data from the field or 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. |
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Maxime COUPREMANNE |
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. |
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Tobias MUSSCHOOT |
Tobias holds MSc degrees in Biology and in Marine & Lacustrine Sciences. With two decades of experience at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, he brings extensive expertise in taxonomy, biogeography, capacity building, and data mobilisation. He has a strong interest in unlocking biodiversity knowledge, with a particular affinity for the aquatic world, focussing on integrating scientific databases, collections, and publications to advance biodiversity research, inform policy, and foster collaboration among stakeholders.
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Dr Sonia VANDERHOEVEN |
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. |
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Lison COWEZ |
Lison has a MA in Environmental Science and Management. In the in continuity of her master thesis on the Characterization of biodiversity research in Belgium and its relevance to international issues, she has been hired to work on the science-policy interface at the Walloon regional level. She has a particular interest in nature conservation, biodiversity and ornithology. |
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Anna HECK |
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. |
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Dominique VANDERKERCHOVE |
Dominique Vandekerchove is a veterinary surgeon (PhD, 2004) and epidemiologist. She joined the Belgian Biodiversity Platform and the Belgian One Health network in 2023. She’s also involved in the Preventing Zoonotic Disease Emergence network (PREZODE), and is based at Sciensano as Science Officer for One Health. Her expertise includes science-based policy support and European and global networking. |
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Seline BREGMAN
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Seline is a veterinarian with a background in international biodiversity policy. She is currently working as project manager for the Belgian Biodiversity Alliance (BBA). BBA brings together public and private partners who share the same vision and the same objective: to provide a common platform for concrete contributions from public and private actors in favour of biodiversity in Belgium.
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Nastassia ELST |
Nastja holds a MA in History and a MS in Conflict and Development studies. She works as a Science-Policy Officer for the BBPF and her main responsibility is the RESPIN project. This Horizon Europe project aims to strengthen the engagement of knowledge holders with IPCC and IPBES, and to reinforce the ties between climate and biodiversity projects.
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Ir André HEUGHEBAERT |
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. |
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Julien CIGAR |
IT specialist. Julien is the Belgian Biodiversity Platform system administrator. He has particular interest in databases, Python and the FreeBSD operating system. |
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François MALHERBE |
François is part of the platform's IT team. He has helped update our data portal (Belgian biodiversity data portal) 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. |
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Sébastien RONVEAUX |
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. |
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