Jaap van der Meer is a scientist at Wageningen Marine Research and special professor in Sustainable Marine Food Production at Wageningen University. He has a strong interest in theoretical ecology. He worked at the Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), before moving to Wageningen in 2019. His research focuses on modeling the energetics of individual organisms and using these models as building blocks within population and community models. His study systems are coastal regions, with an emphasis on fish and shellfish populations. Presently he focuses on drivers of marine productivity and the capacity of the marine ecosystem to provide human food.