I find it difficult to stuff my life into two pages of CV. Therefore I have written a more descriptive version:

Descriptive curriculim vitae

Profile:

Currently a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Environmental Studies at the VU University in Amsterdam. My research is about how people experience and use green spaces in the city, and how you can measure this to incorporate it into spatial planning.

Education:

2010 – 2013

My most recent education is a Master’s in Earth Sciences completed at the University of Amsterdam. I graduated with an average score of 8.1. I followed the track of ‘Environmental Management’ which included a course package aimed at a practical application of scientific knowledge to environmental issues.

My thesis was called a Modern Tragedy of the Commons: An ecosystem service analysis of development along the Noordzeekanaal. For this research I evaluated ecosystem services using ArcGIS. I developed a model that calculates and visualises the effect of spatial development on (the value of) ecosystem services.
According to my supervisor, Dr. Erik Cammeraat, my research was ‘innovative’ and I ‘showed a great inventiveness and independence’.

1999 – 2002

I completed my Bachelor of Environmental Science (with Honours) at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and graduated with a final grade of 81. I specialised in ecology and (social) geography. For my Honours thesis I investigated the role of plant nurseries as a vector of spread for invasive species. Again I determined the topic and conducted the research very independently. I received a score of 88 for my thesis.

Internships:

January – May 2013

As part of my Master’s degree I did an Internship at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. I did this in the department for Spatial Analysis and Decision Support (SPACE).

I worked within the Assessment module of the VOLANTE project (Visions of LAnduse Transitions Europe, link: volante-project.eu) mainly to investigate the response of land systems to changes in policy and land management in integrated scenario analysis.

 I assisted in setting model variables (including ArcGIS processes) and ran future scenario simulations in the EU-ClueScanner. Using EU-ClueScanner and ArcGIS I assessed the influence that different policy options have on land use in future scenario. I also helped to document methodology and technical information and organise data. In the short time I was there I gained a good insight into spatial modelling and future scenario analysis. I even picked up a couple of vital mistakes in the setup of the model and was able to help to restore them.

Courses:

April 2013

I attended the LIAISE Spring School in Edinburgh (link to LIAISE website) where the topic was Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Assessment and Valuation Tools. By way of lectures and practical activities we were provided with an overview of tools and methods for assessing and valuing impacts on ecosystem services.

June 2004

I followed an Australian River Assessment course in macro-invertebrate sampling and identification for conducting ecological monitoring of river health. I passed with no errors which was unique amongst the many participants.

Experience:

June 2010 – November 2015

I spent several years at the Knotwilg v.o.f. A small organic market garden in Zuidoostbeemster. I did planting, weeding, harvesting and pruning on this lovely little farm. I also helped out on the stall at the Noordermarkt. Part of my role was to manage seasonal workers and to assist in the coordination of a day’s work. Despite enjoying the work very much I missed the more intellectually challenging aspects of more academic work.

April – May 2010 & 2011

During my study at the University of Amsterdam I worked as a student assistant in practical classes for the statistics course ‘Verzamelen, Visualiseren, Analyseren’ (collecting, visualising, analysing).

 January 2008 – May 2009

I had returned to Tasmania with no specific plans, but I was asked to take over management of the small environmental consultancy that I had worked for a few years earlier. So I became manager of Tasmanian Land and Water Professionals, in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

As manager I developed new projects and sourced funding. I coordinated and managed various small and large scale projects and consultations with a strong focus on invasive plants.
For example, I coordinated the development of strategies and wrote action plans for managing invasive plants. I went out into the field to map, but also to physically control invasive plants. I developed and provided information, training and advice regarding specific invasive species. I collated and organised spatial data, such as weed locations. An important part of my role was also to maintain a broad network of relevant stakeholders and experts.

My skills were valued to the extent that I was asked to collate the wishes of the three natural resource management regions of Tasmania into a single project plan and funding proposal for statewide weed management.

March – May 2006 + March – May 2007

I spent two seasons doing macro-invertebrate sampling for the ecological research bureau Koeman & Bijkerk in Groningen, Netherlands. This involved doing field work gathering the samples and other field information as well as the identification and inventarisation of the samples back in the lab.

September 2006 – February 2007

For the Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (Ministry of agriculture, nature and food quality) in Zwolle, Netherlands I helped with the backlog of administration regarding MINAS (MINeralen Aangifte Systeem – a minerals tax system for farmers). My work included administration and client contact to clarify what had been filled in on forms and to enter them into the system.

May – August 2006

For one summer I had this wonderful job as a nature guide at the Natuurschool (nature school) Groningen / Lauwersoog, Netherlands. I took school groups (ages 8 to 18) out onto the mudflats of the Waddenzee to show them the animals and plants that live there.

August 2005 – June 2006

My first job in the Netherlands was as an assistant to an artist. Dorothé van Driel was a well-known glass artist who was dying of cancer. Due to her condition she could no longer do her work herself. I made sculptures of glass and maintained her large and wild garden that she used as an exhibition space.

July 2003 – April 2005

My first job after finishing my Bachelor was as a consultant with Tasmanian Land and Water Professionals in Hobart, Australia. I worked on various projects, and in some I also took a leading role. For example I wrote a weed management strategy for a natural resource management region which involved a large number of stakeholders such as municipalities, farmers and companies. I also mapped invasive plants, developed action plans and developed and provided training and information on managing invasive plants to contractors, municipalities and farmers. I also managed a support network and gave advice for water quality monitoring by community groups.

When I left the company because I wanted to move to the Netherlands my employer wrote a letter of recommendation. He stated that I: am highly intelligent; a confident interviewer, lobbyer and oral communicator to groups; able to organise and lead others and change opinion with an unassuming but firm and persuasive manner; able to write in a clear and concise manner; have advanced facilitation and listening skills; an overwhelming passion and commitment to improving the environment; and a unique attention to detail.

Publications:

Whose park? Crowdsourcing citizen’s urban green space preferences to inform needs-based management decisions
EA Schrammeijer, BT van Zanten, PH Verburg, Sustainable Cities and Society 74, 103249

Meeting global land restoration and protection targets: what would the world look like in 2050?
S Wolff, EA Schrammeijer, CJE Schulp, PH Verburg, Global Environmental Change 52, 259-272

A cross-scale impact assessment of European nature protection policies under contrasting future socio-economic pathways
H Lotze-Campen, PH Verburg, A Popp, M Lindner, PJ Verkerk, …, Regional environmental change 18 (3), 751-762

Simulating and delineating future land change trajectories across Europe
J Stürck, C Levers, EH van der Zanden, CJE Schulp, PJ Verkerk, … , Regional Environmental Change 18 (3), 733-749

Other activities:

2011 – 2018

In this time I kept myself busy with the Stichting ADM Leeft (ADM Lives Foundation) in Amsterdam. I was secretary for the foundation but my tasks include many aspects of project management. I help to initiate and coordinate projects that had the aim of protecting the natural environment on and around the former ADM wharf in the Port of Amsterdam.
This included coordinating ecological research and supporting legal procedures. I also wrote and published informative and promotional material such as website content, articles, press releases and booklets on the history and the natural values of the ADM. I was in the production team for public events such as the ADM festival and open days.

May 2009 – August 2009

After deciding to move back to the Netherlands, I took the opportunity to travel around Australia with my partner on a camping trip. We travelled along almost two-thirds of this huge and varied continent’s coastline.

March 2008 – March 2009

During my work as manager for the Tasmanian Land and Water Professionals I was asked to become president of the Tasmanian Weed Society. The society had organisational problems and were expected to organise a national conference for invasive plant experts in that year.

My main tasks were organising and chairing meetings of the board and writing articles for the society magazine. To boost participation I coordinated activities such as information days, seminars and member recruitment. I also organised a successful two-day conference (with 120 participants). This included the recruitment of sponsors, coordinating publicity and media and developing a programme with interesting speakers and excursions.

July 2007 – December 2007

Having convinced my partner to visit my homeland Australia we set off overland with a ‘bakbrommer’ – a three-wheeled motorbike with a big container on the front. We travelled from Groningen in the Netherlands as far as Ankara with the bakbrommer. We then went further with trains and buses via Iran and Pakistan to Chennai in India. From Chennai we flew to Australia to be in time for my sister’s wedding. Our story can still be read (in dutch) on bakbrommers.nl.

Skills:

Languages: As a native speaker my English is excellent, both written and spoken.
With dutch parents I grew up with the language and my written and spoken Dutch is very good.

R, ArcGIS, QGIS: Experienced

Word, Excel: Experienced

Drivers Licence: B

I am especially good at: project planning; project management; organising; writing; developing information material; critical thinking and conducting research.

Hobbies:

In my spare time I try to get out on my race-bike as much as possible. I love to cook, especially with fresh and wholefood ingredients, and to bake bread. I also enjoy gardening, especially for food and preferably with my two young girls, even if it means the rows are not straight (or are non-existent) as a result.

Referees:

Available on request.