Evert "Eddy" van der Maarel (23 February 1934 – 4 April 2021) was a Dutch ecologist. He spent most of his career as professor of ecological botany at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in Sweden.

Career

Van der Maarel was born on 23 February 1934 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. He studied biology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

between 1951 and 1959. Between 1962 and 1968 he worked at the institute of botany of

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

and later at the institute of plant ecology of the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

. Van der Maarel obtained his PhD at Utrecht University in 1966 with a dissertation titled : "Over vegetatiestructuren, -relaties en -systemen in het bijzonder in de duingraslanden van Voorne". Between 1968 and 1981 he was a lecturer of geobotany at the Catholic University Nijmegen. From 1981 to 1999 van de Maarel was a professor of ecological botany at

. From 1995 to 1999 he was the Gerard Baerends professor at the University of Groningen. He retired in 1999. He died on 4 April 2021. He was the founder of the ''Journal of Vegetation Science'' and ''Applied Vegetation Science''.

Honours and awards

Van der Maarel was elected a corresponding member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1986. He became a fellow of the

Royal Physiographic Society in Lund The Royal Physiographic Society in Lund (), is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. It was founded in Lund, on December 2, 1772, and received a Royal Charter by Gustav III, on March 6, 1778.Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in the group of biosciences and was a Honorary Member of the International Association for Vegetation Science.

References

1934 births 2021 deaths Dutch ecologists Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Scientists from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Groningen Academic staff of Uppsala University Utrecht University alumni {{Ecology-bio-stub