It was really productive and inspiring to finally meet with all BAM! project partners in Wageningen during our kick-off meeting (20-21 October 2021).
After a short wrap-up of the project goals, a brief overview of the administrative aspects and encouraging words from our EIC project officer, we started off with a detailed discussion on the first steps to be taken in the conceptualization and design of our reactor experiment. We’re all on schedule for performing the first reactor experiments in 2023.
After the discussion, we had a visit to the ‘Earthworm Hotel’ of the Wageningen Soil Biology Group. The worms don’t realize yet, but they’ll play a crucial role in the experiments later. Afterwards, we went to our own hotel, where we further lifted the BAM! spirits with a delicious dinner.
The next morning started off with a guided visit to the impressive Unifarm facilities. We had a first glimpse of the climate chambers where our BAM! batch experiments will take place. Not that we needed it anymore, but the team’s eagerness to start off with the experiments has even grown stronger.
Finally, we discussed the protocols, the setup and the experimental design for our the batch experiments. We’re all looking very much forward to really kicking off the science early 2022!