Affiliation: Utrecht University, NL
Keywords: Earth Science, Geophysics, Geomagnetism, Rock physics
Full profile:
Dr. Lennart de Groot is a geophysicist studying the behavior of the Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth’s magnetic field protects us against electromagnetically charged particles form the Sun that would strip away our atmosphere if they would not be deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field. Also, many technological advances such as wireless communication would not be possible without the protection that the Earth’s magnetic field provides. Although we often think of the Earth’s magnetic field as something stable, it is actually highly variable in space and time. Past configurations of the Earth’s magnetic field are recorded by rocks when they are formed. Lennart uses these magnetic signals of rocks to unravel the behavior of the Earth’s magnetic field on both short (decadal to centennial) and long (millions to billions of years) timescales, with the ultimate goal to predict future behavior the Earth’s magnetic field.
As a scholar, Lennart has a keen eye for outreach and scientific leadership. He regularly appears on (national) tv and radio, and contributes to articles in the science pages of national newspapers and popular scientific magazines. Lennart was actively engaged in the discussion on the transition to Open Access in the Netherlands. Moreover he serves on the board of the Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism, and Electromagnetism section of the American Geophysical Union.
Lennart obtained his PhD from Utrecht University, where he now is an assistant professor. He built his research group with a series of grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), e.g. VENI and VIDI grants; and a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). He received the William Gilbert Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2018, and the Vening Meinesz prize from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in 2016. Lennart became a member of the Young Academy of Europe in 2020.