Tim Vernimmen is a Belgian science journalist.

He studied biology at Ghent University and writes about all things alive, preferably from a position in which he can see it writhe with his own eyes. His articles have been published in the newspapers De Standaard and De Morgen, the monthly magazine Bodytalk, science magazine EOS and weekly Knack.

In 2009, Vernimmen traveled to Beijing, China to write about medical tourism there. In 2011, he spent three months in India, with the support of the Pascal Decroos Fund, to investigate to what extent the country had itself to blame for the controversy surrounding the antibiotic resistence gene NDM-1.

In April 2013, the fund supported a project that brought him to Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong for a story on the search for dangerous avian flu viruses that landed him in the middle of the H7N9 conundrum. He subsequently traveled to Borneo to investigate our role in the destruction and the surprising pragmatism of the conservations working there.

In 2014, the Fund supported Vernimmens summer series for national newspaper De Standaard on the impact of climate change in Southern Europe.

Tim Vernimmen

Basic information

Name
Tim Vernimmen
Title
Science journalist
Country
Belgium
City
Antwerp

Supported projects

First aid in reforestation

  • Environment

DODOMA - Many people are eager to help restore damaged or disappearing forests. But which projects actually contribute to carbon storage, biodiversity protection and quality of life for local people, and which ones make the problems worse?

Dirt cheap service

  • Environment
  • Science

BRUSSELS - Though they are right under our feet, soils do not receive much attention. Yet the many free services they provide for us are truly priceless, and they are under pressure. What can we do to prevent all this, and to repair damaged soils, Tim Vernimmen asked eight soil scientists in four countries. In response, they told him about all the things healthy soils can do for us - our food and water needs, our buildings, our health, and the climate - inspiring an article for the popular science magazine EOS that became a plea to stop ignoring the soil. 

The Dry North

  • Environment

BRUSSELS - Climate change is making European summers ever drier and hotter, and not just in the south: During the extremely dry summer of 2018, the drought was mostly limited to the part of Europe north of the Alps. In many places, the summers of 2019 and 2020 were again unusually dry.

Trees and climate indulgence

  • Environment

Deforestation is a big problem worldwide. At the same time, climate change, caused by the increasing emission of greenhouse gases, is threatening not only nature, but also humanity. The idea that we can combat both problems at the same time - by planting trees, which store considerable amounts of CO2 when they grow - is therefore attractive.

Climate change on holiday

The term climate change usually conjures up images of melting glaciers, rising sea levels and outsize hailstones. But what will be its impact on life on Earth? Science journalist Tim Vernimmen interviewed scientists in Southern Europe who document species' gradually shifting comfort zones.

Borneo: the forest for the trees

About one third of the natural vegetation on the island of Borneo, one of the most biodiverse places in the world, was lost in the past thirty years. Through the decades, scientists and conservationists working on the island have grown a thick skin, and came to realize that reserves will not suffice to save the rainforest.

Controversial Dutch bird flu study continued

  • Agriculture
  • Healthcare
  • Science

Last year's publication of a scientific paper announcing Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier had succeeded in growing an airborne avian influenza virus in his lab in Rotterdam caused a big stir. Though inherently risky, such research was necessary, he argued, because it would teach us which naturally occuring viruses to look out for.

On the trail of the superbug

  • Healthcare

According to The Times of India, the medical tourism sector in India adds up to at least a hundred thousand patients per year - and an amount of dollars many times higher.