Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting
Held in February of each year
Conference Centre De Werelt, Lunteren
Click HERE to submit parallel/workshop session proposal for the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) 2026
Since 2008 the Netherlands Ecological Research Network (NERN) organises her annual conference, the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of February. This conference is particularly geared towards people working in the field of ecology and/or evolution. It aims to strengthen and profile Dutch ecological research in an (inter)national context to accordingly strengthen the ecological network.
Normally, the NAEM meeting is two full days, each day consisting of a plenary session, in which a Dutch/Flemish and an international world leader present their view on a specific topic in ecology or evolution, two sets of five parallel sessions (including more workshop-like sessions), and a poster session. Parallel sessions generally consists of 6 oral presentations, thus leading to a total of approximately 125 oral presentations. On average, we have about 75-100 scientific poster presentations during the meeting. On Tuesday evening, a more relaxed and thought-provoking presentation is generally scheduled.
In 2021, however, the NAEM meeting was organised in a somewhat different form, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. After consultation with the NERN community, the NERN Board, and the NAEM organising committee, we decided to offer an online event across the two days in February. This event provided a space for young(er) scientists to present their work to peers and aimed at providing a networking opportunity for ecologists around. Rather than going for long, exhausting online lectures, we decided to develop a format of thematic sessions consisting of short junior scientist talks with "a head and a tail", and separate poster pitch sessions. The meeting was very well attended with over 700 people registering for the meeting. The maximum number of people present in the meeting at a given time sat somewhere between 370 and 380 on Tuesday and between 320 and 330 on Wednesday.
The next NAEM meeting will be organised on the 10th and 11th of February 2026. The registration will open mid-September 2025.
The NAEM meeting is financially supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Previous Netherlands Annual Ecology Meetings (NAEM)
| Dates | Plenary speakers | # participants | # posters | Handout |
| 11 & 12 February 2025 | Paula Kahumbu, Chief Executive Officer Wildlife Direct, Kenya Michiel Veldhuis, Leiden University Yadvinder Malhi, University of Oxford, UK Marielos Pena Claros, Wageningen University | 318 registered | 75 | Download |
| 13 & 14 February 2024 | Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus University, Denmark Liesje Mommer, Wageningen University Akira Mori, University of Tokyo, Japan Esther Turnhout, University of Twente | 364 registered | 108 | Download |
| 20 & 21 September 2022 | Grant Hopcraft, University of Glasgow Judy Shamoun-Baranes, University of Amsterdam Laura Govers, University of Groningen Frans Bongers, University of Oxford | 281 registered | 72 | Download |
| 9 & 10 February 2021 | No plenary keynotes this year | 726 registered | 93 | Download |
| 11 & 12 February 2020 | Henry Janzen, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre Rien Aerts, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Tristram Wyatt, University of Oxford Astrid Groot, University of Amsterdam | 254 | 55 | Download |
| 12 & 13 February 2019 | Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus University Liesbeth Bakker, Netherlands Institute of Ecology Laura Airoldi, University of Bologna Tjeerd Bouma, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research | 278 | 62 | Download |
| 13 & 14 February 2018 | Trisha B. Atwood, Utah State University Katja Poveda, Cornell University Han Olff, University of Groningen Erik Poelman, Wageningen University & Research | 278 | 54 | Download |
| 14 & 15 February 2017 | Margaret Mayfield, The University of Queensland Hanna Kokko, University of Zürich David Kleijn, Wageningen University & Research Sander van Doorn, University of Groningen | 333 | 87 | Download |
| 9 & 10 February 2016 | Peter Hudson, Penn State University Stan Harpole, Martin-Luther-Universität-Halle-Wittenberg Irene Tieleman, University of Groningen Martin Wassen, Utrecht University | 305 | 73 | Download |
| 10 & 11 February 2015 | Felix Hol, Delft University of Technology Alexandre Antonelli, University of Gothenburg Toby Kiers, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Hans ter Steege, Naturalis Biodiversity Center | 366 | 102 | Download |
| 11 & 12 February 2014 | Yngvild Vindenes, University of Oslo Brian Silliman, Duke University André de Roos, University of Amsterdam Peter Herman, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research | 359 | 103 | Download |
| 5 & 6 February 2013 | David Sims, University of Southampton Mary Firestone, University of California, Berkeley Johan van de Koppel, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research George Kowalchuk, Utrecht University | 300 | 82 | Download |
| 7 & 8 February 2012 | Andrew Hendry, McGill University José M. Gómez, Universidad de Granada Luc de Meester, KU Leuven Nicole van Dam, Radboud University Nijmegen | 308 | 63 | Download |
| 8 & 9 February 2011 | Anthony Ives, University of Wisconsin Mike Begon, University of Liverpool Jacintha Ellers, VU Amsterdam Hans Heesterbeek, Utrecht University | 372 | 72 | Download |
| 9 & 10 February 2010 | Jordi Bascompte, Doñana Biological Station, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) Sandra Diaz, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Marten Scheffer, Wageningen University Hans Cornelissen, VU Amsterdam | 316 | 62 | Download |
| 10 & 11 February 2009 | Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri Christa Schleper, University of Vienna Theunis Piersma, University of Groningen / Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research Mike Jetten, Radboud University Nijmegen | 309 | 54 | Download |
| 12 & 13 February 2008 | Steve Hubbell, University of California, Los Angeles Joan Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University Jef Huisman, University of Amsterdam Wim van der Putten, Netherlands Institute of Ecology | 285 | unknown | Download |