About Marjolijn

Marjolijn J.A. Christianen, Associate Professor Marine Ecology, Wageningen University, head of Coastal Rewilding & Experimental Ecology Research Group

Keywords: coastal ecosystem functioning • resilience • restoration innovation

Methods: field experiments on ecosystem functioning • technology-enabled ecological monitoring (drones, animal-borne cameras, GPS tracking, deep learning) • food web analysis

Research Locations: Indonesia • Bahamas • European coast • North Sea reefs • Dutch Caribbean

Active projects: WildMarsh • No-Regrets; Finalized Projects: NWO-VENI • Caribbean Turtle Conservation & Ecology • Coastal Sentinels • Revifes

Motivation: The underwater world. My research aims to provide scientifically sound knowledge that supports the responsible management and restoration of coastal marine ecosystems.

What i work on: I study how habitat-forming coastal species—such as seagrasses, shellfish reefs, salt marshes, and mangroves—interact with their associated herbivores and predators to shape ecosystem functioning and resilience. Building on this understanding, my work explores how trophic rewilding and innovative restoration approaches can enhance the capacity of coastal ecosystems to withstand global change.

Biography: Marjolijn Christianen is an Associate Professor of Marine Ecology at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), The Netherlands, where she leads the Coastal Rewilding & Experimental Ecology Research Group. She joined the Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group at Wageningen University (WUR), The Netherlands, in 2018. After her Ph.D. (2013) on seagrass and sea turtle ecology in Indonesia, her postdoctoral work at Groningen and Nijmegen Universities focused on food-web ecology, coastal restoration, and megafauna tracking, with extensive fieldwork in the Caribbean, East Africa, North Sea, and Wadden Sea. Before joining WUR, she also worked as a scientific advisor at Waardenburg Ecology (2017).

As a marine ecologist, Marjolijn is fascinated by how habitat-forming coastal organisms—such as seagrass, shellfish reefs, and mangroves—interact with their environment and marine management (e.g. protection of charismatic megafauna) in the context of climate change. Her current research explores how and where rewilding coastal ecosystems can enhance resilience to global change. Her team integrates ecological field experiments with food-web analysis, biogeochemistry, plant physiology, spatial ecology, and animal behavior. Increasingly, they use drone and machine-learning technologies to identify opportunities for ecosystem restoration. Much of her current work builds on her VENI project, a NESSC project and her new NWO M2 project(see list of press releases here). Her aim in conducting research is to contribute scientifically sound input to enhance the responsible management of coastal marine ecosystems. To ensure that research results are also applied she is actively communicating science to the wider public through her blog, media, teaching, art, and intense collaborations with nature managers and policymakers.

Marjolijn is passionate about ensuring that scientific insights are applied in real-world management. She actively communicates science through teaching, outreach, media, and her long-running blog, which documents her fieldwork since 2008 (see news section), and since 2018 also the events during her team’s research projects. On LinkedIn, you may find additional updates or recent work. In addition, you can also find archived posts about completed PhD project and practical info on my previous fieldwork site; Derawan in East -Kalimantan, Indonesia.

A full list of her publications can be found on Google Scholar, Research@WUR, and WUR personal page.

Links & Profiles