Visiting Scholars

Visiting Scholars

Boudewijn Beltman was a Visiting Scholar at the Duke University Wetland Center during the 1997-98 academic year. A faculty member in the Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, he studies the effects of chloride and sulfate on peat soil.
While at the center, Beltman began a greenhouse experiment designed to investigate Everglades peat’s ability to adsorb ions (chloride and sulfate) from solutions of different ionic strengths. This work will help describe phosphorus storage, release, and plant availability in peat soil and could be an important consideration in the restoration of fresh water ecosystems, specifically concerning the use of ion-laden water from the Rhine River to re-flood wetlands during droughts in the Netherlands.

Edward Maltby, Director of the Royal Holloway Institute of Environmental Research at the University of London, visited Duke University in October 2002 as a Nicholas Visiting Distinguished Scholar. Maltby's visit was part of a growing collaboration between the Nicholas School of the Environment and the 'Royal Holloway Institute of Environmental Research.

A Professor of Environmental and Physical Geography in the University of London's Department of Geography, Maltby is also Director of the Wetland Ecosystems Research Group (WERG), an organization with an emphasis on wetland functioning, development of functional assessment procedures for European wetlands, and sustainability. He is a widely respected advocate on key issues relating to translation of science for decision-makers, and he has authored or co-authored over eight boooks and 150 publications.

During his visit to the Nicholas School, Maltby presented class lectures and took part in individual discussions with faculty and students. He also presented the first lecture of the 2002-2003 Duke Wetland Center Distinguished Speaker Series.

Jan Vymazal has been a regular visitor to the Duke University Wetland Center since his first visit to Durham. Beginning in 1991, he has been conducting research in the Everglades looking to find the nutrient concentration threshold that alters plant species composition. He studies the effects of phosphorus on plant communities and is involved in the center’s studies aimed at the change of plant species caused by nutrient additions in the Florida Everglades. In Prague, he works on constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Vymazal notes that the work being done by Duke researchers on the Everglades’ natural wetlands, such as nutrient cycling, is easily transferable to the wastewater-related constructed wetlands he studies in Europe.
Vymazal most recently visited the Wetland Center in June 2003

Vymazal is an enthusiastic Duke sports fan. He also seems to be somewhat of a good luck charm for Duke’s men’s basketball team. In a 1998 interview for Wetland Wire, he said, "Each time I am here, Duke is No. 1. In 1991 and 1992 they won the championship. Last year when I was here they were ranked No. 1. When I left they slipped down. I told [Wetland Center Director] Curt [Richardson] the only way Duke can win is to have me stay here through March Madness."

Yongxing Yang is a professor at the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology at Changchun, People's Republic of China. He visited Duke during the 1999-2000 school year, dividing his time between the Wetland Center's Durham labs and the field station in the Florida Everglades. DUWC Director Curtis Richardson said that Yang's visit was "an outstanding opportunity for the Duke Wetland Center to interact with one of the leading wetland scientists from Asia, who has been responsible for mapping the peatlands of China." In September 2000, Yang hosted Curt and Carol Richardson and DUWC Data Manager Mengchi Ho during a special tour to northern China sponsored by the Northeast Institute.

	Boudewijn Beltman was a Visiting Scholar at the Duke University Wetland Center during the 1997-98 academic year. A faculty member in the Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, he studies the effects of chloride and sulfate on peat soil. While at the center, Beltman began a greenhouse experiment designed to investigate Everglades peat’s ability to adsorb ions (chloride and sulfate) from solutions of different ionic strengths. This work will help describe phosphorus storage, release, and plant availability in peat soil and could be an important consideration in the restoration of fresh water ecosystems, specifically concerning the use of ion-laden water from the Rhine River to re-flood wetlands during droughts in the Netherlands.

	Edward Maltby, Director of the Royal Holloway Institute of Environmental Research at the University of London, visited Duke University in October 2002 as a Nicholas Visiting Distinguished Scholar. Maltby's visit was part of a growing collaboration between the Nicholas School of the Environment and the 'Royal Holloway Institute of Environmental Research. A Professor of Environmental and Physical Geography in the University of London's Department of Geography, Maltby is also Director of the Wetland Ecosystems Research Group (WERG), an organization with an emphasis on wetland functioning, development of functional assessment procedures for European wetlands, and sustainability. He is a widely respected advocate on key issues relating to translation of science for decision-makers, and he has authored or co-authored over eight boooks and 150 publications.
During his visit to the Nicholas School, Maltby presented class lectures and took part in individual discussions with faculty and students. He also presented the first lecture of the 2002-2003 Duke Wetland Center Distinguished Speaker Series.

	Jan Vymazal has been a regular visitor to the Duke University Wetland Center since his first visit to Durham. Beginning in 1991, he has been conducting research in the Everglades looking to find the nutrient concentration threshold that alters plant species composition. He studies the effects of phosphorus on plant communities and is involved in the center’s studies aimed at the change of plant species caused by nutrient additions in the Florida Everglades. In Prague, he works on constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Vymazal notes that the work being done by Duke researchers on the Everglades’ natural wetlands, such as nutrient cycling, is easily transferable to the wastewater-related constructed wetlands he studies in Europe. Vymazal most recently visited the Wetland Center in June 2003
Vymazal is an enthusiastic Duke sports fan. He also seems to be somewhat of a good luck charm for Duke’s men’s basketball team. In a 1998 interview for Wetland Wire, he said, "Each time I am here, Duke is No. 1. In 1991 and 1992 they won the championship. Last year when I was here they were ranked No. 1. When I left they slipped down. I told [Wetland Center Director] Curt [Richardson] the only way Duke can win is to have me stay here through March Madness."




	Yongxing Yang is a professor at the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology at Changchun, People's Republic of China. He visited Duke during the 1999-2000 school year, dividing his time between the Wetland Center's Durham labs and the field station in the Florida Everglades. DUWC Director Curtis Richardson said that Yang's visit was "an outstanding opportunity for the Duke Wetland Center to interact with one of the leading wetland scientists from Asia, who has been responsible for mapping the peatlands of China." In September 2000, Yang hosted Curt and Carol Richardson and DUWC Data Manager Mengchi Ho during a special tour to northern China sponsored by the Northeast Institute.