Chairperson

Dr. Nathalie Cools is the Chairperson of ICP Forests since April 2026. She joined the programme in 2003 at the Forest Soil Co-ordination Centre (FSCC) supporting the Expert Panel on Soil and Soil Solution. She has been an active member various ICP Forests Committees before being appointed to her current position.

Dr. Cools holds a PhD degree in Land and Forest Management from the KU Leuven, Belgium. Currently, she is the coordinator of the “Coordination Monitoring and Research Infrastructure Programme” of the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) in Flanders, Belgium. 

Dr. Cools’ main scientific interest is to ensure high quality forest monitoring and harmonised data product at the pan-European level to support forest management and policy. Harmonisation and standardization of forest soil inventory methods among European long-term monitoring and research networks, such as soil and humus classification, have been her major achievements. She promotes in-situ research linking long-term trends across multiple disciplines to improve our understanding of forest ecosystem dynamics.