DLO
DLO
Plant Research International is a research institute within the Foundation DLO, part of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) in the Netherlands.
This DLO research institute specializes in strategic and applied research, based on the combination of knowledge and experience in genetics and reproduction, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics/statistics, crop protection, crop ecology and agrosystems research.
Role
DLO takes part in Amiga with a multidisciplinary team. DLO is involved in WP1 (Project Management and Compliance with EFSA Documents) and WP2 (leading Task 2.3) to develop a guidance toolkit for selecting ERA and PMEM sites. DLO contributes to WP6 (Environmental risks of GM crops on pollinators), contributes to WP8 (Leading Task 8.3) to perform a case study on GM blight tolerant potato, and leads WP9 Statistics to develop statistical concepts, methods, software and protocols for environmental risk assessment (ERA). Finally, DLO is involved in WP11 (communication, dissemination and education) helping to organize seminars and field excursions for policymakers and stakeholders.
Staff members’ profile
Dr Hilko van der Voet. Research coordinator and senior statistician. He participated in working groups on Statistics preparing Opinions and Guidance for the EFSA GMO Panel. Co-developer of software for chemical exposure assessment (MCRA) and GMO risk assessment.
Paul W. Goedhart. Senior statistician. Provided statistical input in many research projects, mainly in collaboration with the environmental sciences group of Wageningen UR and with Dutch organizations involved in ecological research.
Prof. Dr Cajo J.F. ter Braak. Senior statistician, professor in Multivariate Statistics for the life sciences. Main research contributions in statistical ecology (such as Canoco, the software package for multivariate analysis of ecological data, and the method of Principal Response Curves), statistical genetics and genomics and Bayesian data analysis.
Dr L.A.P. Bert Lotz. Research coordinator and senior applied ecologist. He is co-ordinating research programmes commissioned by the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, on application of biotechnology in agriculture and indicators for sustainaible agriculture.
Dr Geert J.T. Kessel. Scientist plant pathology. He is project leader in the Dutch Umbrella Plan Phytophthora, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of potato late blight control by 75%, and is also involved in the DuRPh project as the responsible scientist for the DLO GM field experiments. DuRPh stands for the project Durable Resistance against Phytophthora with cisgenic, marker free modification.
Dr M.J.M. (René) Smulders. Research coordinator and senior researcher Biodiversity. He is expert on molecular marker development, gene flow and introgression, and on co-existence of GM and non-GM crops.
Dr Clemens C.M. van de Wiel. Scientist Molecular Genetics and Biodiversity. He has carried out various projects, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Envrionment, on gene flow and risk asessments concerning transgenic crops.