Marten Scheffer

Marten Scheffer (born 13 September 1958) is a Dutch ecologist, mathematical biologist and professor of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management at Wageningen University and Research Centre. He was a winner of the 2009 Spinoza Prize. His research focuses on complex systems and their adaptability.

Career Scheffer was born on 13 September 1958 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The awarding organisation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), praised Scheffer for his contributions "to our understanding of critical transitions in complex systems, varying from shifts in shallow lakes to climate change and the collapse of ancient cultures". Their efforts culminated in a research paper on migraine published in PLOS ONE in 2013. The paper claimed that a critical tipping point of neurons started a migraine attack. He is a co-founder of the South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies and European Institute Para Limes.

Scheffer won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2016) jointly with Gene E. Likens for contributing decisively to what the jury described as "one of the major challenges" of this scientific discipline: to understand and, where possible, anticipate ecosystem responses to human-induced alterations of the natural environment.

Apart from his work in science Scheffer is also a musician, who plays the mandolin, guitar and violin.

Publications Critical Transitions in Nature and Society, 2009, Princeton University Press. Vijver, sloot en plas, 2005, Tirion Natuur. Ecology of Shallow Lakes, 2004, Springer Netherlands.

Art In 2018 Scheffer unveiled a large beetle sculpture named 'Must Leave' in honour of the Centenary of Wageningen University & Research. He created the beetle together with Danish sculptor Vagn Iversen, known for his hyper-realistic installations.