Droevendaalsesteeg 10
6708 PB Wageningen
The Netherlands
Social
About
Ecology is part of everyone's life, often unnoticed. That's why it is so important to share our knowledge, advice and research results as widely as possible. Also in original ways to connect with unexpected audiences.
Biography
Ir. Froukje Rienks is the head of PR & Science Communications, working at NIOO since September 1998.
She takes care of a wide range of science communication activities - from the NIOO press releases, contacts between the NIOO scientists and the media, organisation of open days, festival stands, special (school and other) tours to citizen science projects. And she oversees the website, the social media and other information gateways.
Questions about the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), or ecology in general? Ask Froukje!
Press and other urgent questions: +31-(0)6-10487481
In 1997 she graduated as a biologist at Wageningen University. Her specialisation is population biology/ecology. Also, Froukje took a course in the Popularisation of Science, for science journalist and science communication officer, at the University of Nijmegen. Directly afterwards, she worked for the Dutch monthly on science and technology Natuur & Techniek.
Free-lance science journalist was the next stop. During this period she worked for various media like Teleac/NOT (TV), Bionieuws (biology newspaper), and Natuur & Techniek again.
In 2008 she spent her sabbatical leave in the US (Princeton University) and Germany (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology).
CV
Employment
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1998–PresentHead of PR & Science Communications, NIOO-KNAW
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2008Science communication adviser (seconded), Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany
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2008Science communication adviser (sabbatical), Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, USA
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1997–2001Freelance science journalist
Education
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1990–1997BSc Biology & MSc Ecology, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands
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1997Science communication course, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Grants
2020
National Postcode Lottery, the Netherlands for 'Onder het Maaiveld' project
Editorial board memberships
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2023–PresentVakblad Natuur, Bos en Landschap
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2005–2008Zoogdier
Publications
Peer-reviewed publications
Participatory soil citizen science: An unexploited resource for European soil research
Soils are key components of our ecosystems and provide 95%–99% of our food. This importance is reflected by an increase in participatory citizen science projects on soils. Citizen science is a participatory research method that actively involves and engages the public in scientific enquiry to generate new knowledge or understanding. Here, we review past and current citizen science projects on agricultural soils across Europe. We conducted a web-based survey and described 24 reviewed European citizen science projects in the light of the 10 principles of citizen science and identified success factors for citizen science. Over 66% of the projects generated soil biodiversity data; 54% and 42% of the projects generated data on vegetation cover and soil organic carbon, respectively. Our findings show that soil citizen science projects aligned with the 10 principles of citizen science offer an unexploited resource for European soil health research. We conclude that promoting co-creation, fostering knowledge-sharing networks and enabling long-term communication and commitment with citizens are success factors for further development of citizen science on soils.https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13470Biological Earth observation with animal sensors
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.011Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmental change.
Monitoring biological water quality by volunteers complements professional assessments
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263899Progressively more community initiatives have been undertaken over last decades to monitor water quality. Biological data collected by volunteers has been used for biodiversity and water quality studies. Despite the many citizen science projects collecting and using macroinvertebrates, the number of scientific peer-reviewed publications that use this data, remains limited. In 2018, a citizen science project on biological water quality assessment was launched in the Netherlands. In this project, volunteers collect macroinvertebrates from a nearby waterbody, identify and count the number of specimens, and register the catch through a web portal to instantaneously receive a water quality score based on their data. Water quality monitoring in the Netherlands is traditionally the field of professionals working at water authorities. Here, we compare the data from the citizen science project with the data gathered by professionals. We evaluate information regarding type and distribution of sampled waterbodies and sampling period, and compare general patterns in both datasets with respect to collected animals and calculated water quality scores. The results show that volunteers and professionals seldomly sample the same waterbody, that there is some overlap in sampling period, and that volunteers more frequently sampled urban waters and smaller waterbodies. The citizen science project is thus yielding data about understudied waters and this spatial and temporal complementarity is useful. The character and thoroughness of the assessments by volunteers and professionals are likely to differentiate. Volunteers collected significantly lower numbers of animals per sample and fewer animals from soft sediments like worms and more mobile individuals from the open water column such as boatsmen and beetles. Due to the lack of simultaneous observations at various locations by volunteers and professionals, a direct comparison of water quality scores is impossible. However, the obtained patterns from both datasets show that the water quality scores between volunteers and professionals are dissimilar for the different water types. To bridge these differences, new tools and processes need to be further developed to increase the value of monitoring biological water quality by volunteers for professionals.
Lab mice in the field: unorthodox daily activity and effects of a dysfunctional circadian clock allele
Daily patterns of animal behavior are potentially of vast functional importance. Fitness benefits have been identified in nature by the association between individual timing and survival or by the fate of individuals after experimental deletion of their circadian pacemaker. The recent advances in unraveling the molecular basis of circadian timing enable new approaches to natural selection on timing. The investigators report on the effect and fate of the mutant Per2Brdm1 allele in 4 replicate populations of house mice in a seminatural outside environment over 2 years. This allele is known to compromise circadian organization and entrainment and to cause multiple physiological disturbances. Mice (N = 250) bred from Per2Brdm1 heterozygotes were implanted subcutaneously with transponders and released in approximately Mendelian ratios in four 400 m2 pens. An electronic system stored the times of all visits to feeders of each individual. The study first demonstrates that mice are not explicitly nocturnal in this natural environment. Feeding activity was predominantly and sometimes exclusively diurnal and spread nearly equally over day and night under the protective snow cover in winter. The effect of Per2Brdm1 on activity timing is negligible compared to seasonal changes in all genotypes. Second, the Per2Brdm1 allele did not have persistent negative effects on fitness. In the first year, the allele gradually became less frequent by reducing survival. New cohorts captured had the same Per2Brdm1 frequency as the survivors from previous cohorts, consistent with an absence of an effect on reproduction. In the second year, the allele recovered to about its initial frequency (0.54). These changes in selective advantage were primarily due to female mice, as females lived longer and the sex ratio dropped to about 25% males in the population. While it is unknown which selective advantage led to the recovery, the results caution against inferences from laboratory experiments on fitness consequences in the natural environment. It also demonstrates that the activity of mice, while strictly nocturnal in the laboratory, may be partially or completely diurnal in the field. The new method allows assessment of natural selection on specific alleles on a day-today basis.https://doi.org/10.1177/0748730410397645
Popular-scientific publications
Iedere dag Bodemdierendag
Sinds 2015 loopt in Nederland een citizen science-project waarbij rond Dierendag duizenden mensen in dorp en stad op zoek gaan naar bodemdieren. Duizelingwekkende cijfers van vijfduizend soorten en miljarden bodembewoners in een handvol gezonde grond maken op almaar meer mensen indruk. Maar het gaat vaak niet goed met het onderbelichte leven onder de grond. Om daar meer kennis en begrip voor te creëren, organiseren het Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie (NIOO-KNAW) en Wageningen Universiteit (WUR), met hulp van VU Amsterdam de Bodemdierendagen. In negen jaar tijd zijn ongeveer 105.000 bodemdieren gevonden. En dat gaan er meer worden, want het burgeronderzoek is op verzoek van Velt uitgebreid naar België.Regenwormen zijn winnaars van vochtig 2023, Leeuwarden is Bodemdierenstad van het jaar
Op 5 december was het óók Wereldbodemdag. Ter ere daarvan maakte de organisatie van de Bodemdierendagen de scores van de Nederlandse bodemdieren in 2023 bekend. De regenwormen houden wel van nat weer en weten hun toppositie in de Bodemdieren Top 3 vast te houden: ze zijn in 87 procent van de tuinen gespot. De Friese hoofdstad Leeuwarden kreeg de eretitel Bodemdierenstad van het Jaar.Wie wint dit jaar de Bodemdieren Battle of the Cities?
Het citizen science-project de Bodemdierendagen is in volle gang. Deelnemers sturen de uitkomsten van hun ‘bodemdierensafari’ in en dragen zo bij aan de jaarlijkse publieksinventarisatie van het Nederlandse bodemleven. Wat ontdekken ze samen dit jaar? Maar een andere grote vraag is: welke gemeente wordt bekroond met de titel Bodemdierenstad 2023?Iedere dag is een Bodemdierendag!
Citizen science is een term die je steeds
vaker hoort. Gelukkig maar, want
burgers kunnen veel bijdragen aan
wetenschappelijk onderzoek, ook voor
de bodem. Sinds 2015 hebben tijdens de
Bodemdierendagen duizenden mensen
in heel Nederland letterlijk en figuurlijk
kennisgemaakt met de bodemdieren.
Het resultaat? Ruim 70.000 gespotte
‘bodemschatjes’, meer inzicht in en niet
te vergeten meer aandacht voor het
bodemleven in dorp en stad.Ondersteboven
Een ontdekkingsreis naar het leven onder onze voeten, met 25 bodemdieren van alle kanten belicht. Over het belang van bodemdieren en hoe ze er uit zien en leven. het water te zuiveren? Met een bodemdierenzoekkaart in het midden. Vanaf ca. 9 jaar.
Projects & collaborations
Projects
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Onder het maaiveld
Onder het Maaiveld is een driejarig programma van IUCN NL, De Vlinderstichting, NIOO-KNAW, WUR en het Centrum voor Bodemecologie. Samen met andere organisaties werken wij aan een structurele verandering in de omgang met onze waardevolle bodem. Ons doel? Herstel van het bodemleven in Nederland, als basis voor een gezonde natuur en een gezonde maatschappij.
Outreach
Involved in a lot of outreach and other relevant projects for society, Froukje supports many scientists in their communication. But she can also be the one being interviewed herself. For example:
Categories
Please find below a variety of outreach products and activities, with links to details in the Pure system.