Dr Kees Jan van Groenigen

Kees Jan is a biogeochemist who’s passionate about figuring out how plants and soils respond to environmental changes and different ways of managing land. His research looks at carbon and nutrient cycles in a variety of ecosystems, including grasslands, croplands, and temperate forests. He’s especially interested in how soil microbes fit into these cycles, using tools like incubation experiments, isotopic tracers, and biomarker analysis to study them. Kees Jan also applies meta-analysis to combine results from many studies, helping to paint a broader picture of key issues like food security, climate change, and sustainable agriculture. Outside of his main role, he’s a guest professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, where he works on improving rice cropping systems—focusing on cutting their environmental impact while increasing yields.