Vera van Lancker

Background

About Vera van Lancker

I studied Geology at Ghent University (Belgium) and obtained my doctorate degree in with a thesis on the “Sediment and morphodynamics of a siliciclastic near coastal area, in relation to hydrodynamical and meteorological conditions: Belgian continental shelf”. Since then, my research focussed on marine environmental issues (effects of windmill farms, aggregate extraction, beach nourishment), habitat mapping and resource management, both in a national and international context. I was privileged to coordinate several Belgian Science Policy strategic research networks, mainly related to sediment dynamics, including characterisation and dynamics of the geological substrate, the seafloor habitat and the water column. Lately, I am coordinating a network on advanced geological resource characterisation, based on a 4D voxel modelling approach. My main experience is related to the Belgian Continental Shelf (research cruises since 1991) with applications in NW Europe. In the MESH project (Mapping European Seabed Habitats), I was leader of the Action on Predictive Habitat Modelling; in the EU FP7 project EUMARSAND (European Marine Sand and Gravel) I was responsible for the field work; and in EU FP7 Geo-Seas (a Geological and Geophysical Data Infrastructure), I piloted the task on valorisation of geological and geophysical data in seabed habitat mapping. Involved in EMODnet-Geology, I actively create and optimize data products for a wide user community. As visiting professor at Ghent University, I teach courses in the postgraduate programme Oceans and Lakes and in Geology. Specialties: acoustic mapping of aquatic environments (side-scan sonar, multibeam, seismics and ground-truthing); integrated analysis of multidisciplinary datasets; habitat mapping; sustainable exploitation practices (e.g. marine aggregate extraction; dredging/disposal); monitoring; European Marine Strategy framework Directive