CORNELIS, Wim

Landbouwkundig ingenieur, Master of Science in eremology, doctor in de toegepaste biologische wetenschappen, hoofddocent Universiteit Gent.
Bodemfysica, bodemwaterbeheer, bodem- en waterconservering, bodemkwaliteit; Azië, Afrika, Zuid-Amerika.

Wim Cornelis is Professor in Agro-Environmental Soil Physics at UGent (2008-present), head of the Soil Physics Group at UGent, and chair of the UNESCO Chair on Eremology. He is member of the Management Board of the International Erasmus Mundus Master in Soils and Global Change, a master programme coordinated by UGent, in collaboration with Aarhus University (Denmark), University of Göttingen (Germany) and Universität für Bodenkultur (Austria). He is treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of the European Society for Soil Conservation. He has been visiting professor for the Chinese Academy of Sciences at Chengdu Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment from 2011 to 2015.

His research interests include hydro-physical characterization of soils at various temporal and spatial scales (using a variety of methods ranging from visual to soil- and geophysical techniques), and impacts of soil-improving cropping systems on climate-resilience, soil health and soil functions like water regulation and crop growth.

He is active in various soil-water and soil-health related national and international research projects in all continents. He received 100+ national and international research grants. He has published widely in soil science, agricultural science and water resources journals. As of November 2021, he has (co)authored over 190 refereed papers (181 in SCI-Exp journals), 28 book chapters, 200+ conference contributions and edited 11 books (ISI h index of 39, ResearchGate h index of 48 and score of 41.77). He supervised 30 PhD dissertations (15 of which ongoing) and over 110 MSc theses. He is editor of Soil Use and Management and Journal of Soil Science Society of Iran, and is or has been guest editor of Catena, of Water, and of Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

Key publications

  1. Mutuku, E. A., Roobroeck, D., Vanlauwe, B., Boeckx, P., & Cornelis, W. M. (2020). Maize production under combined Conservation Agriculture and Integrated Soil Fertility Management in the sub-humid and semi-arid regions of Kenya. Field Crops Research, 254, 107833.
     
  2. Cornelis, W. M., Akodi, D., Komutunga, E., Agaba, C., Ahumuza, E., & Oratungye, K. (2019). Exploring visual soil evaluation and examination methods on highly-weathered tropical soil. Soil and Tillage Research, 195, 104360.
     
  3. Opolot, E., Araya, T., Nyssen, J., Al‐Barri, B., Verbist, K., & Cornelis, W. M. (2016). Evaluating in situ water and soil conservation practices with a fully coupled, surface/subsurface process‐based hydrological model in Tigray, Ethiopia. Land Degradation & Development, 27(8), 1840-1852.
     
  4. Tran Ba, L., Le Van, K., Van Elsacker, S., & Cornelis, W. M. (2016). Effect of cropping system on physical properties of clay soil under intensive rice cultivation. Land Degradation & Development, 27(4), 973-982.
     
  5. Botula, Y. D., Nemes, A., Mafuka, P., Van Ranst, E., & Cornelis, W. M. (2013). Prediction of water retention of soils from the humid tropics by the nonparametric k-nearest neighbor approach. Vadose zone journal, 12(2).
     

Complete list of publications

Academic Bibliography (Ugent)