Michael van der Laan is a Specialist Researcher in the Agricultural Research Council’s Water Science division. He completed his PhD on modelling non-point source nutrient pollution from agriculture, and then joined the South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) for two and a half years. Thereafter, Michael worked at the University of Pretoria as an academic in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences until 2021, before joining the Agricultural Research Council in his current role.
Michael’s research focuses on various aspects of agricultural water, including modelling water and solute fluxes in agro-ecosystems, determining the impact of climate change on crop production, and applying big data and artificial intelligence in agricultural water management. He is actively involved in supervising PhD and MSc postgraduate students and has published over 40 peer-review journal articles. Additionally, Michael serves as the treasurer of the South African National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (SANCID) and is an Extraordinary Lecturer at the University of Pretoria.