Botanist Max van Balgooy deceased
Dr. M.M.J. (Max) van Balgooy passed away on 3 September, aged 89. He started working with the Dutch National Herbarium (now a part of Naturalis) in 1961, and stayed working there until and after his retirement. He obtained his PhD with prof. Dr. Van…
New butterfly species discovered during internship
The butterfly species Cyme reticulata, which is found in Papua New Guinea, has many different morphological variations. Research has revealed that one of the variations is a different and previously undescribed species. Student Noortje Looijenga (18) from…
Naturalis’ research receives top marks
The quality of the research at Naturalis is rated as “excellent”, research facilities are “state of the art”, the collection is “unique” and its relevance to society is no less than “world leading”. This was all said by an external top visitation committee…
Naturalis best museum of Europe 2021
We are so proud! Naturalis Biodiversity Center has been named European Museum of the Year on May 6, during an online ‘award ceremony’. This is the oldest and most prestigious museum award in Europe. Previous winners have included the Victoria and Albert…
Jorinde Nuytinck appointed guest professor
Mycologist Jorinde Nuytinck has been appointed guest professor at Ghent University. “As a kid, I was already interested in plants and animals. My interest in that other kingdom of biology, the fungi, only came when I was studying biology in Ghent. They…
The day of the PhD defence: F. Andrés Rivera-Quiroz
Today at 11:15, Andres Rivera-Quiroz will enter the Academy Building to defend his thesis entitled "Integrative taxonomy of araneomorph spiders: Breathing new life into an old science". For his PhD research at Naturalis and Leiden University, he immersed…
Kevin Beentjes receives PhD on monitoring biodiversity in freshwater
Kevin Beentjes received his PhD on 8 April for his research on monitoring biodiversity in freshwater at Naturalis Biodiversity Center, where he has been working for ten years now. Nowadays he is also involved in the ARISE program, which is perfectly in…
Frederic Lens gets NWO grant for research into island evolution
Evolutionary biologist Frederic Lens (who works both here at Naturalis and at Leiden University) has received a €700,000 research grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). He received the scholarship together with Naturalis…
The day of the PhD defence: Richa Kusuma Wati
In November 2015, Richa Kusuma Wati started her PhD research on wild orchids at Leiden University and Naturalis Biodiversity Center, in collaboration with the Hortus Botanicus Leiden and Bogor Botanic Gardens.Today at a quarter past eleven she will defend…