Eline Ampt wins Hugo de Vries award

Plants help or hinder one another in the fight for survival and in combating pathogenic fungi. In Eline Ampt’s PhD research (she got her doctorate in October 2022), she revealed some aspects of how that underground battle works. That research won her the Hugo de Vries prize. Ever since 2000, the prize has been awarded annually to the best botanical thesis. Ampt (Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation) was presented with the award in Leiden last week during a symposium of the Royal Dutch Botanical Association. The prize went to a Wagen- ingen thesis last year too. It almost seems to have become a WUR prize.

According to her supervisor Liesje Mommer, Ampt combines methods and concepts from both phytopathology and plant ecology. ‘The standard view is that biodiversity improves plants’ performance. She has refined that viewpoint by showing it’s not so much the diversity as such as having the right combination of plants.’

Wall Ampt used ingenious experiments to show plants too benefit more from a good neighbour than a far friend. Some neighbours speed up the spread of a fungus while others inhibit or prevent infection. The structure of the plants’ root systems plays a key role. For example, the roots of a neighbouring plant can act as a kind of wall to hold off infection.

This fundamental insight into underground interactions has practical uses too. According to Mommer, it can be used to develop cultivation systems that are more resilient to destructive fungi. ‘You need to think hard about which species to combine with one another.’ rk

Five teachers are still in the race for the title of Teacher of the Year. In alphabetical order, they are: Julia Diederen, Jessica Duncan, Ignas Heitkönig, Klaas Metselaar and Anneke Valk. The winner will be announced on 20 June. Scan the QR code for interviews and more information about the contest.

WUR no longer leads Dutch higher education institutions in sustainability. Wageningen had to make do with a modest sixth place in the 2023 SustainaBul. The winner was Van Hall Larenstein university of applied sciences. Since 2012, the SustainaBul prize has been awarded by the Students for Tomorrow association to the academic or applied university that scores best in sustainability. The ranking is based on the achievements in education, research, business operations and best practices. WUR obtained the maximum score for research and best practices.

Indeed, in absolute terms WUR only did slightly worse than in previous years. Its lower position is mainly because other universities have improved considerably. rk