Rate My Professor Louis Schipper

Professor Louis Schipper is a Professor of Environmental Science in Te Aka Mātuatua School of Science at the University of Waikato. He earned his BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the University of Waikato. After completing his doctorate, he held a postdoctoral position in the Department of Soil and Water Science at the University of Florida from 1992 to 1994. He then worked as a scientist at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research before joining the University of Waikato faculty in 2005 and advancing to Professor in 2007. Schipper leads the WaiBER research team, focusing on biogeochemistry and ecohydrology, and co-leads projects within the Environmental Research Institute. He teaches soil science at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has supervised 17 PhD students as primary supervisor and 22 more as co-supervisor.

Schipper's research investigates soil biogeochemical processes at landscape scales, including long-term changes in soil organic matter, nitrogen cycling with emphasis on denitrification and immobilization, carbon fluxes and nutrient cycling in agricultural and indigenous ecosystems such as wetlands, soil microbial ecology, and the temperature dependence of soil biological processes. He pioneered denitrifying bioreactors—lined structures filled with woodchips that enable microbes to convert nitrate from agricultural runoff to harmless nitrogen gas, reducing pollution in waterways. Key publications include 'How to measure, report and verify soil carbon change to realize the potential of soil carbon sequestration for atmospheric greenhouse gas removal' (2020), 'Denitrifying bioreactors—An approach for reducing nitrate loads to receiving waters' (2010), 'Decreases in organic C reserves in soils can reduce the catabolic diversity of soil microbial communities' (2000), 'On the temperature dependence of enzyme-catalyzed rates' (2016), and 'Nitrate removal and hydraulic performance of organic carbon for use in denitrification beds' (2010). His work has garnered over 15,000 citations on ResearchGate. Schipper is a Fellow of the New Zealand Soil Science Society (FNZSSS) and the Soil Science Society of America (FSSSA), and holds two patents. He received the M.L. Leamy Award for best soil science publication, the Environment Waikato Environmental Science Award in 2007, and the Kudos Award for Excellence in Environmental Science. He engages in public outreach through national radio interviews and television appearances on soil health and greenhouse gases.