On April 8, New Zealand-born Professor André Visser will defend his dissertation ’Small, wet and rational: Individual based zooplankton ecology’ for the degree of Doctor Technices (dr.techn.) at the Technical University of Denmark. The degree of Doctor Technices is the highest academic distinction within engineering and technological sciences.
Understanding nature’s physical and biological mechanisms are the core of André Visser’s research. In order to explain the mechanisms, he breaks down nature’s complex patterns into simple rules, and uses them to create models that describe the ecosystems. In his doctoral dissertation, he seeks to improve the representation of bio-physical processes in current marine ecosystem models by adding bio-physical processes and predictions about how animals will behave under different influences. The result is more accurate and reliable models of marine ecosystems.
Recently appointed Professor
André Visser is Professor in physical oceanography at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources in Denmark. He is born in Wellington, New Zealand, and in 1983, he gained his Masters of Science degree in physics at Victoria University of Wellington with distinction. In 1989, he gained a PhD-degree in oceanography at the State University of New York.
After employments in New York, Mexico and Holland he moved to Denmark in 1995 to work at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources. On March 1 2011, he was appointed Professor in physical oceanography.
A paper published in Science and popular in the media
André Visser has authored no less than 44 peer reviewed publications in marine biology, and has achieved what most scientists can only dream about: To publish a paper in the highly recognised journal, Science, as a first author.
André Visser is associate editor at the journal ‘Limnology and Oceanography, Fluids and Environment’, and his expertise and communication skills have made him sought after in the media, where he has been used as an expert source by TIME Magazine and CNN, among others.
Nominated for the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award
Teaching means a lot to André Visser. He has been responsible for several courses at universities in Denmark, Holland and the States, and he has even held a lecture on a Danish television program. He has participated in designing and developing a new master’s program in Aquatic Science and Technology at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources in Denmark and in 2010, he was nominated for the Danish Polytechnic Union’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ award. He was nominated by his student due to his inspiring and enthusiastic teaching in which he is not shy of using David Bowie songs if it will make a difficult subject easier to understand.
By Kristine Bohmann