prof. dr. W. (Wouter) Peters

Profile

I'm a climate scientist with a background in physics and math, and a broad overview of my scientific field. I see the transition to a fossil-free energy system -during rapid changes in our climate- as a large challenge for science and society, but also for me personally. With my enthusiasm and integrative capacity I can strengthen interdisciplinary teams. I communicate clearly, and efficiently.

Career

• Professor Carbon Cycle, Wageningen University — since 2015

As professor at the Environmental Sciences Group in Wageningen I lead a team of some 10-15 persons investigating the global carbon cycle. We contribute results to the Global Carbon Project, and the UNFCCC Global Carbon Stock Take, amongst others.

• Professor Atmospheric Composition Modeling, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen — since 2012

Through this 0.2 FTE position in the Energy and Sustainability Research Institute in Groningen, I unite the experimental and computational capacity of two renowned research groups. 

• Tenure track researcher, Wageningen University, 2007-2015

As one of the earlier tenure trackers employed in Wageningen, I still contribute to strategics development of the talent programs within WUR/

• Research Associate, National Atmosphere & Ocean Administration, Global Monitoring Division, Boulder, USA — 2003-2007

In this USA-based lab I forged the CarbonTracker team that built the succesfull system by the same name. CarbonTracker continues to extract contemporary climate information from worldwide osbervations of CO₂.

Education

• PhD, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Universiteit Utrecht — 2002

• MSc, Meteorology & Physical Oceanography, Universiteit Utrecht — 1998

• BSc, Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam — 1994

Scientific Profile

• Author of widely used publications in international journals on drought, deforestation, permafrost, tropical carbon sequestration, fires, climate variability, urban and shipping emissions, and monitoring & verification for the Paris agreement. Contributing to IPCC reports on the physical climate system, experienced as an editor of scientific publications and reports. See my scientific record for an overview

• Recipient of personal grants from NWO (VIDI, 2009) and the EU (ERC Consolidator, 2016) for innovative work on the carbon cycle of Europe, China, the US, and the Amazon. Research leader in climate-related programs at NWO, the EU, and the US. Former member of the Wageningen Young Academy.

• Leader of the consortium that submitted an NWO Gravitation proposal for research into the energy transition in 2020 (not funded), consisting of 10 universities/institutes that work on extreme weather, climate, air quality, and greenhouse gas problems.

• Co-leader of the “Ruisdael Infrastructure” for atmospheric science, founded in 2018, together with Prof Russchenberg from TU Delft. Head of the Dutch branch of the ICOS Carbon Portal for European greenhouse gas data management.

• Mentor of two generations of climate scientists, passionate lecturer with love for knowledge transfer, and affinity with science communication (click for an example)

• Coordinator of the international “TransCom” community that has trained young researchers worldwide in the past decades.

Experience

(2018–) Member of the core team of the Global Carbon Project (GCP), which coordinates the annual reporting of global greenhouse gas emissions and uptake across approximately 100 international research teams. The annual publication of the GCP supports international climate policy.

(2022–) Scientific advisor within the Dutch delegation to the Integrated Carbon Observing System (ICOS), the European infrastructure for Monitoring & Verification of greenhouse gas emissions. As an advisor, I accompany the Dutch delegate on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, and I provide strategic voting advice with an eye for Dutch interests.

(2022–) Chairperson of the external advisory committee of the growth fund initiative “Climate Space Netherlands” (CSNL). The CSNL consortium is developing a proposal on the intersection of space instrumentation and emission verification.

(2021–) Permanent chairperson of appointment advisory committees for tenure track promotions within the Environmental Sciences Group of Wageningen University.

(2020) Co-coordinator of the Dutch bid to bring the EU-funded branch of the Copernicus research program to Utrecht. Together with Prof Wilco Hazeleger (Utrecht University).

(2020—) Developer of a tenure track (TT) forecasting tool for corporate HR of Wageningen University, to calculate the changes in our TT population under different scenarios.

(2019–) Chairperson (-2022, then member) of the External Science Advisory Board of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and member of the Science Advisory Panel of the Newton Fund collaborative program UK-Brasil.