Iris van der Meer
Young Expert at WNF - Zambia
YEP period 2016 - 2018, batch 7
YEP Role
Please click here for more information about my project.
Skills
- Interdisciplinary natural resource management
- Tropical ecology
- Wildlife conservation
- Goal-oriented, analytical, accurate, proactive
- Positive, open-minded, independent
Background
Nationality: Dutch
Education:
- MSc Forest & Nature Conservation of Wageningen University, The Netherlands (2014)
- Btech Nature Conservation from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa (2011)
- BSc Biology from Utrecht University, The Netherlands (2009)
Experience before YEP
During and in between my studies I have gained experience in conducting field research in several countries and habitats. During my Btech Nature Conservatio) I have executed various projects in South Africa focused on natural resource management and wildlife conservation. Within my Masters I executed a tropical ecology course in Uganda, the research for my masterthesis in the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil on tree regeneration for the hyacinth macaw, and an internship in Guinea-Bissau on chimpanzee ecology. After graduation in 2014 I started working at the graduate school Production Ecology & Resource Conservation of Wageningen University as PhD programme assistant. Next to my job at the University I worked as junior advisor with Partners for Innovation (1 day per week) in strategic and business planning for Agroforestry Enterprise Development in West-Africa. Currently I work as Young Expert for MetaMeta / Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre & Network in Gambella, Ethiopia. Furthermore, I am involved as a volunteer for the Kronendak Foundation and for Future for Nature Foundation, both having a focus on international nature conservation.