Erik Meesters

Erik Meesters is a Researcher and Project Leader at Wageningen Marine Research, part of Wageningen University & Research. His work focuses on marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs in the Caribbean Netherlands, including Bonaire, Aruba, Curaçao, and Saba Bank. He leads projects on coastal pollution monitoring, climate change impacts, and ecosystem restoration. Current initiatives include assessing chemical pollutants in coastal waters, coral disease dynamics, and sediment quality effects on reef health.

Key research areas include coral reef ecology, anthropogenic stressor interactions, and biodiversity conservation. He has published extensively on topics like microbial communities in artificial beaches, climate-driven ecosystem shifts, and cumulative impact assessments. Notable projects include the Coastal Ecosystems program (2021-2025) and Saba Bank biodiversity studies. Media engagements highlight public communication about coral restoration and pollution challenges.

Advising roles include supervising 2 projects (listed in texts), with research outputs spanning 183 peer-reviewed works, technical reports, and media contributions. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to address watershed-to-reef management, integrating field monitoring, chemical analysis, and policy recommendations.