Eric Van Ranst is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Director of the International Training Centre for Post-graduate Soil Scientists (ITC-Ghent) and of the Laboratory of Soil Science at Ghent University (Belgium); Honorary President of the Belgian Society of Soil Science and Honorary Research Professor at the Institute of Natural Resources and Regional Planning of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).
He earned his Master (Geology; Soil Science) and Ph.D. (Earth Sciences) degrees from Ghent University, and he was trained in advanced chemical methods for soil and clay minerals research at the NATO Advanced Study Institute - University of Illinois (USA).
Eric Van Ranst started his professional career in 1976 as an assistant at ITC-Ghent. After his PhD in 1981 he was fielded for 9 years in Cameroon under the VLIR-Technical University Cooperation as Lecturer in Soil Science at the ‘Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique’ in Yaoundé, and from 1985 until 1990 as Head of Soil Science Department at Dschang University. In 1991 he rejoined Ghent University as Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Soil Science. From 2001 till 2015, he was Director of ITC-Ghent and promoter of the ICP ‘Physical Land Resources’. His research activities are mainly focusing on understanding the formation and evolution of soils, their properties, functions and quality based on fieldwork and advanced physicochemical and mineralogical analyses. He has been a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and promoter of 42 PhD and 162 MSc theses. He published over 350 peer reviewed scientific articles, several chapters in books, technical reports and soil maps (e.g., Rwanda, DR Congo, Burundi), and authored several books.
He has been a member of the European Soil Bureau (EC), and promoter and scientific coordinator of several research and development projects in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. In 2012 he received the prestigious Chinese Government Friendship Award for his longstanding collaboration with CAAS.
Key publications
Shrestha, D.P., Zinck, J.A. & Van Ranst, E. (2004). Modelling land degradation in the Nepalese Himalaya. Catena, 57: 135-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2003.11.003
Van Ranst, E., Utami, S.R., Vanderdeelen, J. & Shamshuddin, J. (2004). Surface reactivity of Andisols on volcanic ash along the Sunda arc crossing Java Island, Indonesia. Geoderma, 123: 193-203.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2004.02.005
Verdoodt, A. & Van Ranst, E. (2006). Environmental assessment tools for multi-scale land resources information systems – A case study of Rwanda. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 114 : 170-184.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.10.006
Ye, L. & Van Ranst, E. (2009). Production scenarios and the effect of soil degradation on long-term food security in China. Global Environmental Change, 19: 464-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.06.002
Van Ranst, E., Doube, M., Mees, F., Dumon, M., Ye, L. & Delvaux, B. (2019). Andosolization of ferrallitic soils in the Bambouto Mountains, West Cameroon. Geoderma, 340: 81-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.12.024
Complete list of publications
Can be found on: em. prof. dr. Eric Van Ranst - Ghent University Library