Van der Kooi, Dr Casper
Casper van der Kooi studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Groningen, after which he obtained his first PhD in Biopsychics and Plant Physiology and his second in Evolutionary Biology. His first dissertation was on flower colour, aided by methods from optics and botany. His second one was on the evolution of reproductive systems of insects. Van der Kooi is currently a researcher at the Faculty of Science and Engineering. In his research, he studies how flowers gain their colours and how these colours have evolved in the eyes of the animals that look at them. Blooming plants are pollinated by a diverse group of animals that see the world in different ways. If plants are to propagate, their flowers have to be attractive for pollinators while remaining unattractive to other animals, maintaining an optimal temperature, and maximizing their propagation results. All in all, this leads to a range of (often contradictory) selection conditions for plants and pollinators. Van der Kooi uses biophysics to study the optical and thermal characteristics of flowers and to then place these within the evolutionary context of animals’ visual capacities and reproductive biology.
Since 2020, he has been a member of Young Academy Groningen, a club for the most talented, enthusiastic, and ambitious young researchers at the University. In 2024, Van der Kooi received the Heineken Young Scientists Award. The jury indicates that, by combining physics and biology, he crosses scientific boundaries which makes his work unique. The jury also praised him for his role in social debate. A frequent guest on radio, TV and in newspapers, he makes biodiversity issues debatable.
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| Last modified: | 11 September 2024 11.48 a.m. |