NCOH Online Science Café ‘The Greening of Cities – One Health Challenges’
A remarkable NCOH year of new and important research. It’s time for an update! You and all NCOH scientists are invited to join the NCOH Science Café 2021 to get up to speed with the latest developments. This year’s theme of the Science Café is ‘Greening of Cities – One Health Challenges’.
Date & Time: Thursday 3 June, 3 pm – 5 pm (CEST)
Location: you will receive a link prior to the webinar
Nature is something we need in the city to provide a healthy living environment for people and to maintain a rich biodiversity. By bringing nature into the cities, ecosystems are expanded and broadened. Providing an ecological component in public and private spaces, greatly contributes to the creation and conservation of urban biodiversity, attracting animals such as wild bees, butterflies, and birds. Apart from these positive effects, there are also challenges. For example, what does the greening of cities mean for the health of animals, humans and the environment?
Keynote speakers
After a warm welcome by Professor Dick Heederik, chair of the NCOH Executive Board, three keynote speakers will address the theme of this Science Café: ‘The Greening of Cities – One Health Challenges’.
Helen Esser
Helen Esser, Assistant Professor Wildlife Ecology & Conservation at Wageningen University & Research will give a lecture entitled: ‘Tick and the city: the biodiversity benefits and health risks of urban greening’
“Urban greening provides lots of benefits, but we need to think carefully about how to go about it”
Maria Diuk-Wasser
Maria Diuk-Wasser, Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University, interested in environmental and anthropogenic factors driving the emergence of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases will give a lecture entitled: ‘The role of urban greenspace connectivity on the emergence of tick-borne diseases’
“Wildlife and humans love connected green spaces in cities, ticks love them too!”
Mary Gardiner
Mary Gardiner, Professor at the Department of Entomology at Ohio State University – interested in ecology of urban greenspaces gives a speech entitled: ‘Reimagining Vacant Land as a Resource for Urban Bee Conservation’
Moderator of the meeting will be Professor Arjan Stegeman of Utrecht University.
PhD and Postdoc Pitches
After the keynotes, preselected post docs and PhD students from all NCOH Partners will pitch their research.
| NCOH Partner | PhD student | Subject/title Pitch Presentation | |
| 1 | Wageningen University & Research | Ayla Hesp | The use of whole-genome sequencing to monitor antimicrobial resistance in livestock |
| 2 | UMC Utrecht | Remy Muts | Understanding antibodies and their potential to combat antibiotic resistance |
| 3 | Utrecht University | Kitty Exel | Complex sugars as vaccine targets against S. aureus mastitis in cattle |
| 4 | KNAW | Jurrian van Irsel | Birds as vector for infectious diseases along the rural-urban gradient |
| 5 | Universiteit Leiden | Jo-Anne Verschoor | The search for novel plastic degrading enzymes |
| 6 | Erasmus MC | Michelle Molendijk | |
| 7 | Radboudumc | Esther Taks | BCG vaccination in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 8 | Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (LUMC) | Sam Nooij | Faecal microbiota transplantation influences procarcinogenic Escherichia coli in multiple recurrent Clostridioides difficile infected patients |
| 9 | Amsterdam UMC | Thomas Roodsant | How zoonotic Streptococcus suis crosses human small intestine epithelium |
| 10 | RIVM | Marieke de Cock | The effect of urban green on wild rat populations and pathogen transmission risk |
For whom
The meeting is aimed at researchers from our Partners and Associates that are involved in all the NCOH Strategic Research Themes. We particularly encourage young researchers (PhD students, postdocs) to join this meeting.
Please register
If you sign up before 27 May and leave your address, we will send you an NCOH Science Café gift that you can use for greening the cities.
Unable to join us live?
The Online Science Café will be recorded. The full meeting including powerpoint presentations will be available afterwards on the NCOH channels.
Organising committee
This symposium is organised by the NCOH Executive Board:
Prof. Dick Heederik, Utrecht University (chair)
Prof. Marc Bonten, Utrecht University Medical Center
Dr. Arjen van de Giessen, RIVM
Prof. Andrea Gröne, Utrecht University
Dr. Ferry Hagen, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Prof. Ludo Hellebrekers, Wageningen University and Research
Prof. Marion Koopmans, Erasmus Medical Center
Prof. Ed Kuijper, Leiden University Medical Center
Prof. Nathaniel Martin, Leiden University
Prof. Annemarie Rebel, Wageningen University & Research
Prof. Constance Schultz, Amsterdam UMC
Prof. Heiman Wertheim, Radboudumc
About NCOH
The Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH) aims for an integrated One Health approach to tackle the global risk of infectious diseases. NCOH commits to create durable solutions for this major challenge by bundling world-leading academic top research in the Netherlands in the area of One Health. This virtual science-driven institution focuses its efforts on four complimentary Strategic Research Themes.
The four NCOH Strategic Research Themes are complimentary and interactive. They focus on studying the interactions and connections between human, veterinary, wildlife, and environmental health in pursuit of durable solutions to grand societal challenges requiring a One Health approach.