- Ecophysiology
- Plant-water relations and carbon metabolism, including the fate of CO2 in plants
- Xylem and phloem functioning, and their interactions
- Climate change effects on tree physiology in cities and forests
- Plant sensors for monitoring and stress detection
- Medical imaging techniques for plant sciences (micro-CT, MRI, plant-PET)
- Thermal remote sensing
- Process-based and functional-structural plant modelling
- Advanced plant-based control strategies (e.g., irrigation scheduling)
- High-tech (urban) horticulture (Agrotopia endowed chair)
Professor
- Kathy.Steppe@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 12
Prof. Dr. ir. Kathy Steppe
Full Professor - Head of the Laboratory of Plant Ecology
Research interests
Postdoctoral researchers
- Jonas.Coussement@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 93 76
Dr. ir. Jonas Coussement
Postdoc
Research interests
-
- Functional-Structural Plant Models
- 3D-modelling
- Ecophysiological models
- Vertical farming (Agrotopia endowed chair)
- Jens.Mincke@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 93 76
Dr. ir. Jens Mincke
Postdoc
Research interests
- Photosynthesis
- Carbon allocation and carbon recycling
- Tracing xylem transported 11C-labelled CO2
- PET-MRI medical imaging
- Drought
Dr. Anaïs Gorel
Postdoc
Research interests
- Tropical woody lineages
- Climatic evolution
- Functional traits
- Drought mitigation strategies
- Hans.VandePut@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 26
Dr. ir. Hans Van de Put
Postdoc
Research interests
- Plant modelling
- Plant monitoring and stress detection
- Ornamental horticulture
- Indoor farming (wheat)
Teaching assistant
- Flor.Hiergens@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 26
ir. Flor Hiergens
Teaching assistant – PhD student
Research interests
- Ecophysiology
- Plant-water relations
- Climate change effects on tree physiology and forest ecosystems
- Plant sensors and tree monitoring
- Mechanistic tree modelling
Researchers
- Ben.Colpaert@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 15
Ben Colpaert
PhD student
Research interests
- Remote sensing
- Plant nitrogen cycle
- Fertilizer use efficiency
- Stable isotope research
- Horticulture
- Willem.Goossens@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 93 76
ir. Willem Goossens
PhD student
Research interests
- Plant-water relations
- Foliar water uptake
- Leaf anatomy
- Beech
- Climate change
- Simon.Lauwers@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 26
ir. Simon Lauwers
PhD student
Research interests
- Functional-Structural Plant Models
- Plant-light responses
- Photosynthesis
- Vertical farming (Agrotopia endowed chair)
- Lettuce and wheat
- Elien.naert@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 14
ir. Elien Naert
PhD student
Research interests
- Ecohydrology
- Plant-water relations
- Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)
- Sap flow measurements
- Katrien.Schaepdryver@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 14
ir. Katrien Schaepdryver
PhD student
Research interests
- Carbon dynamics in trees
- Climate change
- Mechanistic whole-tree modelling
- Interactions between water and carbon
- Seppe.Top@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 93 76
ir. Seppe Top
PhD student
Research interests
- Agri/horticulture
- Sustainability
- Plant sensing
- Microclimate
- Biological compounds
- Sarah.Verbeke@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 93 76
ir. Sarah Verbeke
PhD student
Research interests
- plant-water relations
- drought adaptation in wheat
- wheat genetics
- genotype-phenotype gap
- plant modelling
- Selwyn.Villers@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 26
Selwyn Villers
PhD student
Research interests
- Research interests
- Functional-Structural Plant Models
- 3D-modelling
- Greenhouse light modelling
Administrative and Technical staff
- Ann.Byttebier@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 16
Ann Byttebier
Secretary
- Philip.Deman@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 17
Philip Deman
Technician
- Geert.Favyts@UGent.be
- +32 9 264 61 17
Geert Favyts
Technician
- Erik.Moerman@ugent.be
- +32 9 264 61 17
Erik Moerman
Technician
- Puiyi.Ng@ugent.be
- +32 9 264 61 16
Pui Yi Ng
Secretary
Master students 2020-2021
- Ann-Lara Aernoudts
- Helena Clauw
- Kaat De Boeck
- Ellen De Middelaer
- Lukas Depoortere
- Trui Kerkaert
- Rune Vanbeylen
- Benoit Vandekerckhove