Karline Soetaert

Karline Soetaert is a Professor at Utrecht University's Geosciences Department and a Research Leader at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). Her work bridges biogeochemistry, ecology, and computational science to model marine and estuarine systems.

• PhD in Biology (1988), Ghent University
• Master in Zoology (1983) and Computer Sciences (1985), Ghent University

Her research focuses on sediment-water interactions, environmental modeling, and open-source software development, particularly using R. She investigates impacts of human activities like pulse fishing and offshore wind farms on marine ecosystems through hydrodynamic models and field observations.

Recent publications highlight biogeochemical software integration and macroalgal bloom prediction. She advocates for open science, creating 20+ R-packages for oceanographic data analysis.

• Scientific Awards: Member, Academia Europaea (2024)

She teaches environmental modeling at Ghent University and leads projects such as Greenland Fjords Ecosystem Modeling and North Sea Carbon Cycling. Her work emphasizes reproducible research through R Markdown and literate programming.