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On Monday, 2 May 2022, Dr Geert Sterk passed away at the age of 55. Geert was an Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Geography, where he was the leading expert in the field of land degradation, desertification and wind- and water erosion. Before he joined the department in 2008, Geert worked at Wageningen UR’s Erosion and Soil & Water Conservation group from 1997 to 2008. Geert earned his PhD in Wageningen for his research into wind erosion in the Sahel (Niger) in 1996.

He had a special passion for field work together with students in arid and semi-arid regions in the Middle East or Africa. There he studied erosion processes and the deterioration of (natural) vegetation using detailed field studies or satellite imaging.  He then developed and tested methods and techniques for retaining water to sustain crops or natural vegetation. Geert’s research often used models of water and wind erosion, geostatistics and earth observation techniques. His work resulted in dozens of publications on land degradation processes and ways to limit their negative effects.

To facilitate his work, Geert carefully maintained a large, international network.  In 1996, he joined the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology as its Dutch representative, and he had warm relationships with local researchers in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, where he conducted many small-scale long-term projects and wrote several of his publications. Geert also served as Editor or Associate Editor for three journals: ‘Land Degradation & Development’, ‘Aeolian Research’ and ‘Remote Sensing’, and he was a popular keynote speaker at international conferences.

For the past few years, Geert served as a project coordinator for the NWO Senior Expert Programme: 'Restoring Degraded Lands Flagship for sustainable dryland agro-ecosystems’, which focuses on collaboration and knowledge acquisition in developing countries An important partner in the project was ICARDA: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, which moved to Jordan from its original home in Aleppo, Syria.

Geert also played an important role in the European Earth2Observe project from 2014 to 2018. Together with around 25 partners all over the world, the project focused on mapping global water supplies using a variety of remote sensing technologies. Geert was completely in his element as the leader of the Case Studies work package, which allowed him to coordinate filed work in the participating countries and visit the partner institutions.

In all of his projects, Geert supervised a large number of PhD candidates and Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Bachelor’s- and Master’s students as they conducted field work in arid regions of the Middle East and Africa. Geert also made important contributions to the Faculty’s curriculum. For many years, he taught the Bachelor’s course Land Degradation and the Master’s course Statistics & Data Analysis. And starting in 2008, he accompanied first-year students in their annual field trip to the Pays du Buëch in the French Alps. The excursions brought out the best in Geert, where he could study landscape processes in nature and imbue a group of students with his enthusiasm for the field. Geert relished working in France with a group of colleagues, just as he enjoyed sharing an excellent meal and a glass of wine with them when the working day was done. In addition to his work with the Bachelor’s and Master’s courses, Geert also served as a member of the Examination Committee.

Geert had a talent for photography, which complemented his interest in birds, insects, plants and landscapes. So he never went anywhere without his camera. In fact, his photographs were of such high quality that they were featured in several glossy magazines and a National Geographic calendar.

Following his impressive recovery five years ago, he resumed all of his usual activities, including skating, cycling and running. Unfortunately, that period only lasted for a few years. Two months ago, he was shocked to learn that his illness had returned.

Geert leaves behind his wife and two children. We hope his family can find the strength to process this great loss. We will miss Geert immensely, and will continue to remember him as a wonderful, driven and learned colleague.

Board and staff members Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences