CV Oldeman

Curriculum vitae

Name: OLDEMAN, Roelof Arent Albert. Born: Zeist (the Netherlands), September 15, 1937. Nationality: Netherlands. Married: to W. Helder, since 1963, no children. Parents: G. Oldeman (chemist) and E.A. Witholt (musician).

Education

  • Utrecht Municipal Gymnasium (Classical School), orientation sciences (1949-1956).
  • Wageningen Agricultural University, orientation tropical silviculture (1956-1964).
  • Montpellier University (France), Doctorat d’État, highest honours (1972).

Degrees

  • Agricultural Ingenieur (Dutch equiv. M.Sc.For.); Docteur ès Sciences Naturelles (French equiv. D.Sc); full professorship Wageningen University, Silviculture & Forest Ecology (since 1977).

Positions held

  • Manager “Centre Néerlandais”, Adiopodoumé, Ivory Coast (1963/1964).
  • Chargé de Recherches, Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer ORSTOM (Head Office Paris; 1965-1972); Chief and founder Forest Botany Section, Centre ORSTOM Cayenne (Fr. Guyana); research trop. tree and forest architecture; Dr. Thesis “L’architecture de la forêt Guyanaise” (publ. 1974). Book: Hallé, F., Oldeman R.A.A., 1970, Essai sur l’architecture et la dynamique de croissance des arbres tropicaux. Paris, Masson.
  • Maître de Recherches, ORSTOM (1972 1976); Centre ORSTOM Cayenne (1972-1974). Mission ORSTOM Quito, Ecuador (1974-1976), ecological aspects of land useregionalisation in interdisciplinary team; six months Harvard Forest, Bullard Fellowship (1974/1975), Book: Hallé, F., Oldeman, R.A.A. and Tomlinson, P.B., 1978, Tropical trees and forests: an architectural analysis. Springer, Heidelberg.
  • Maître de Recherches Principal à l’ORSTOM (title at leaving ORSTOM in 1976).
  • Maître de Conférences associé Ecologie forestière tropicale, Montpellier University, France (1976 1977).
  • Full professor of Silviculture (& Forest Ecology since 1976), Wageningen, Wageningen University (the Netherlands), (1977-2002). Research, education, management. Books (in Dutch omitted): Oldeman, R.A.A. (ed.), 1982, Tropical Hardwood Utilization: practice and prospects. Nijhoff/Junk, The Hague; R.A.A. Oldeman & al. (eds.), 1990, Forest Components. PUDOC, Wageningen; R.A.A. Oldeman, 1990, Forests: elements of silvology. Springer, Heidelberg; Rossignol, M. & L., Oldeman, R.A.A. & Benzine-Tizroutine, S., 1998. Struggle of Life, Heelsum, Treebooks 1, Treemail Publ.

Languages spoken

Dutch, French, Spanish, English, German (some Indonesian and Portuguese); written: Dutch, French, English; more or less faultless: Spanish, German; read: slowly with dictionary, Portuguese, Italian.

Activities

  • Member “Comité Technique de Botanique et Biologie Végétale” ORSTOM (1973-1982).
  • Founding member Comité Directeur ECOTROP CNRS (Paris), Laboratory Tropical Ecology (1979-1985).
  • Consultant Members Council, Dutch Association for the Conservation of Natural Monuments (1979-1984).
  • Chairman Forestry Departments’ Group, Wageningen Univ., coordination Depts of Forest Management, Forestry Techniques & Wood Science and Silviculture & Forest Ecology (1977-1989).
  • Supervisor bilateral Indonesian-Dutch proj. LHW 8 “Afforestation and Erosion in Java” (1978-1982).
  • Supervisor bilateral Surinam-Dutch project LH/UvS 01 “Human impact on tropical rainforest” (1977-1984).
  • Chairman Research Circle, Royal Netherlands Forestry Association (1979 1984).
  • Coordinator Res. Progr. “Conservation and use of forest components”, WAU, temperate forests (1984-1989).
  • Deputy-chairman IUFRO-subject group S.06.09 “Philosophy & Methology of Forest Research” (1981-1990).
  • Member consultant group “International Forestry Cooperation”, Dutch Min. Internat. Coop. (1983-1985).
  • Member ad-hoc group preparing European Forest Ecosystem Research Network (FERN/ESF), (1983-1986).
  • General consultant UEF (Union of European Foresters), (1984-1998).
  • Founding chairman “Stichting BOS” (Foundation Internat. For. Coop.), (1981-1990).
  • Initiator International Symposium “Let there be forest”, Wageningen, (1983).
  • Member organising committee Internat. Coll. “The Tree”, Montpellier Univ., France (9 to 13 Sept. 1985).
  • “Pilot” research group “Pattern and Architecture of European forests”, Forest Ecosystem Research Network (FERN) of ESF (1986-1991).
  • Member TERS Application Advisory Group, potential users Tropical Earth Resources Satellite (1981-1986).
  • Founding chairman Commission Internat.MSc. “Tropical Forestry”, Wageningen University (1986-1993).
  • Consultant Bosbureau Wageningen BV, enterprise for high-tech applications in forestry, 1981-1990.
  • Founding chairman Programme Commission International Stimulation Programme for Tropical Humid Forest Research “TROPENBOS” (sponsors: 4 Dutch Ministries), (1986-1988, when commission dissolved).
  • Member Central Scientific Council ORSTOM, Paris, ministerial appointment (1986-1989 / 1990-1995).
  • Convener ESF-FERN workshop “Unification of European forest pattern research”, Strasbourg (Apr. 1989).
  • Director post-academic course “Silviculture for target forest types”, Wageningen, (1988, 1989).
  • Founding chairman Foundation “Het Kronendak” (The Forest Canopy), (1989-present).
  • Rapporteur général “Atelier forêts tropicales”, MAB / IUFRO / FAO, Cayenne, (March 1990).
  • Member Scientific Committee International Symposium “The Tree II”, Montpellier, sept. 1990.
  • Position paper “The paradox of forest management”, Xth World Forestry Congress, Paris, (sept. 1991).
  • Member Steering Committee Global Forest Conference (Beyond UNCED – Bandung 1993), (1991 –1993).
  • Consultant Forest Directorate City of Zürich (Switzerland) on natural silviculture Sihl forest (1992).
  • Invited speaker Accademia Italiana di Scienzi Forestali, Florence, 1993 (publ. 1994).
  • Professeur invité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), Laboratoire d’Écologie Générale (1994).
  • 4-day seminar on “Diagnosis and design of complex ecosystems”, University of Córdoba, Spain (1995).
  • Member Scientific Committee , International Symposium “The Tree III”, Montpellier (Sept. 1995).
  • Co-coordinator Ecological Silviculture Workshop, IFOAM World Congress (Copenhague, Aug. 1996).
  • Scientific director Dutch Hutan Lestari-team, Indonesian-Dutch project” (1996-1998).
  • Invited speaker, Club de Bruxelles, Meeting European Policies on Sustainable Forestry (May 1997).
  • Invited speaker on ecological forest management, Pro Silva congress, Apeldoorn, (May 1997).
  • Profesor convidado (“invited professor”), Piracicaba (Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil; 1998-present).
  • Director post-academic course “Biological Agriculture: new developments”, Wageningen (1999, 2000).
  • Invited professor, field course Silviculture close to Nature, Polytechnical University Madrid (1999, 2000).
  • Member Scientific Committee International Symposium “The Tree 2000”, Montréal (aug. 2000).
  • Secretary Curatorium Special “Miss Dr. Jakoba Ruinen”-Chair, University of Amsterdam (2000 – present).

Publications

  • About 100 articles and chapters in scientific journals and books (Fr., Engl., Sp., Germ., Dutch).
  • Authored and co-authored 5 books, edited and co-edited 3 books, (Fr., Engl., Dutch).
  • Around 100 interviews or texts for education, professional journals, newspapers, radio, TV or extension.

Honours

  • Bronze commemorative medal “Cent cinquantenaire du code forestier”, (1982).
  • Silver University medal of Helsinki University (Finland), (1982).
  • Silver commemorative medal “375 years University Groningen 1614-1989” (1988).
  • Guild commemorative medal Dutch Ministry of Housing, Land Management and Environment (1989).
  • Member of Merit, board BOS Foundation (1990).
  • Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (République Française), (1991).

Countries of professional visits or residence

Antilles, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China (People’s Republic), Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, French Guyana, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, México, Panamá, Poland, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia,  Venezuela, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Roelof A.A. Oldeman, Professor of Silviculture & Forest Ecology, Emeritus.