Teaching&PhD

Contents:

1. PHD SUPERVISION 

1. Currently graduating
2. Graduated

2. POSTDOC SUPERVISION

3. MEMBER OF PHD COMMITTEES/PHD CEREMONIES

4. TEACHING

1 PhD SUPERVISION

On-going PhD studies supervised by Ton Dietz (and others)

Michiel van den Bergh

Migratory Birds threatened by landscape changes in the areas South of the Sahara 

Together with dr Dick Foeken (ASC) and Vogelbescherming Nederland (section of Birdlife International).

Bethuel Kinuthia

Malaysia-Kenya comparison as part of the Tracking Development project.

Together with Prof. Murshed ISS The Hague and Dr Jan-Kees van Donge ASC

Blandina Kilama

Tanzania-Vietnam comparison as part of the Tracking Development project, focusing on cashew nut value chain.

Together with Dr Jan-Kees van Donge ASC

 

Mirjam Schomaker

Provisional title ofPhD project: The genesis of the bio-energy hype in scientific and policy circles; a study of inter- and transdisciplinarity.

Mirjam Schomaker did her MSc in Physical Geography at the University of Amsterdam (1984), after doing her thesis research in West Pokot, Kenya, as part of the Dutch-Kenyan research team for the ASAL Programme. Later she worked in Indonesia and in Kenya (in and for the United Nations Environmental Programme, where she has been involved in the various GEO books; Global Environmental Outlook). At the end of her career she wants to look back at  experiences with inter- and transdisciplinarity in land-related studies, focusing on the recent bio-energy hype. She started in 2009.

Promotor

Serena Adhiambo Adede Nasong'o

Livelihood and governance in the wetlands area near Lake Victoria in Kenya. PhD started in 2009 and is part of a joined research programmewith IHE-UNESCO in Delft and VIRED in Kenya.

Promotor, together with Dr Fred Zaal

Verina Ingram

 

• (expected graduation: Amsterdam 2011).
  Theme: non-timber forest products and livelihoods in Cameroon and Congo. 
  Promotor, with Dr. Mirjam Ros-Tonen.

Samantha Williams

Theme: coastal access and livelihoods in South Africa.

(Expected graduation Cape Town, 2011)

Promotor, together with Dr Merle Sowman

SamanthaWilliams did her BA at the University of the Western Cape in 2001 and her MA at the same university in 2005. She joined the University of Cape Town as a PhD candidate in 2009, where she works on a research project, funded by SANPAD, about the impact of changing trends in coastal access on local livelihoods. Her research interests are small-scale fisheries, people-environment interactions, sustainable livelihoods and natural resource management.

 

 

Mercy Derkyi

Theme: entitlements to tropical rainforest in Ghana.(expected graduation: Amsterdam 2011).

Promotor, with Dr. Mirjam Ros-Tonen.

Mercy Derkyi did her Bachelor and Masters at the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Her bachelor thesis was concerned with the evaluation of publicparks for outdoor recreation purposes in Kumasi Metropolis. Her Masters thesis dealt with agroforestry as a sustainable land use system in Ghana, and described the case studies of Atwima andOffinso Districts. Mercy Derkyi is currently involved in the Tropenbos International –GhanaProgramme of which she received a grant for her doctoral research. She has worked as a consultant: building capacity of local communities in forestry and agro forestry extension, research into sustainable community management and assessment of livelihood support schemes. Furthermore as a director of an enviromental NGO, she promoted and developed community ecotourism.

• Robert Rombora Simiyu (expected graduation: Amsterdam 2010).
  Theme: gender relations in urban agriculture in Eldoret, Kenya.
  Promotor, with Dr. Dick Foeken <African Studies Centre, Leiden>.

• Aenne Post (expected graduation: Amsterdam 2010).
  Theme: wetland management near Lake Victoria, Kenya: how to combine hippos with livelihoods.
  Promotor, with Dr. Mirjam Ros-Tonen.

Aenne Post studied human geography atthe University of Amsterdam, and graduated with a price-winning MSc thesis about "hippos, nothing but a nuisance". She worked at the Municipality of Amsterdam before joining AMIDSt for a PhD study about her beloved hippos.

website aenne post

abstract MSc thesis hippos nothing but a nuisance?

Kees vander Geest

Theme: impact of migration on land management in sending and receiving areas in Ghana. (expected graduation 2010)

Promotor, with Dr. Kees Burger <Wageningen University>.

kees van der geest personal website

sam knights article in The Financial Times, June 2009, partly based on contacts with Kees and myself

• Zulaiga Worth (expected graduation: Cape Town 2010).
  Theme: buchu as a mirror of the New South Africa (Cape Province).
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Timm Hoffman  <University of Cape Town>.

1.2. Graduated

Koen Kusters

Non-timber forest product trade: A trade-off between conservation and development. A global comparison of livelihood and environmental outcomes of NTFP trade systems and a case study of the damar agroforests in Sumatra, Indonesia. (graduation: University of Amsterdam, Sept. 18, 2009).

Promotor, with Dr. Mirjam Ros-Tonen, Dr. Brian Belcher <Royal Roads University, Canada> and Dr. Manuel Ruiz Perez <Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain>.  

Koen Kusters (Ulicoten, 1975) studied Human Geography at the University of Amsterdam. Between 2002 and2006 he worked as researcher at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia. For CIFOR he conducted research in Vietnam , India, Lao PDR, China and Indonesia. He also has working experience in Brazil, the Philippines and Tanzania. In January 2009 he finalized his PhD dissertation on the relation between forest product trade, conservation and development. In 2009 hestarted working as freelance research journalist for Wereld in Woorden – Global Research and Reporting.


wereld in woorden

video forest garden

Marloes Kraan

• Marloes Kraan (graduation: University of Amsterdam, Sept, 9, 2009).
  Theme: beach seine fisheries as a strategy among Anlo-Ewe fishermen in Ghana.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Leontine Visser <Wageningen University> & Dr. Maarten Bavinck.
• See her personal website: 

Link

Bram Büscher

Struggles over Consensus, Anti-Politics and Marketing. Neoliberalism and Transfrontier Conservation and Development in Southern Africa. (Amsterdam, Free University/VU, 14 January 2009, Cum Laude.)

Promotor, withProf. dr. Henk Overbeekand Dr. ir. Bernhard Venema <both VU Amsterdam>.

Bram Büscher studied Journalism and Public Relations at the Windesheim College in Zwolle and Political Science at the VUUniversity Amsterdam. He obtained his Mastersdegree in2002 on a study on the institutional history of development cooperation within the European Union integration process. In 2003, Büscher commenced his PhD research withthe Department of Anthropology of the VU University and started working as a part-timeproject officer atthe same university’s Centre for International Cooperation. In the latter capacity, he worked on several international projects in Africa and Asia. His PhD research was on the effects of neoliberalism on transfrontier conservation and development areas in Southern Africa. During his field research in Southern Africa from 2005- 2007, Büscher was a research fellow with the Departmentof Political Science of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.Bram Büscher is currently alecturer in Environment and Sustainable Development at the Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands and a postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bram Büscher (ISS)

article: "Groen-rechts vanMark Rutte is een opportunistisch waanbeeld" by Bram Büscher (Volkskrant)

article: "Leve de natuur, wegmet het volk" (Volkskrant)

• Tobias Schmitz (Nijmegen, May 28, 2008).
  Catching the Crocodile: Organisational responses to water scarcity in South Africa’sCrocodile RiverCatchment.
  Promotor,with Prof. dr. Paul Hoebink <Radboud University Nijmegen>.

In a lengthy study Tobias Schmitz presents a historical overview of the way a major South African region coped with its conflicting water demands in ever more water-stressed situations. it features both rural and urban areas and gives a vivid description of post-Apartheid changes in water policies, laws and institutions, in which he had been involved himself as a consultant and activist.

Tobias now works at Both Ends, an environmental NGO and think tank in Amsterdam

Both Ends

• Joshka Wessels (Amsterdam, May 22,2008).
  To cooperate or not to cooperate…? Collective action for rehabilitation of traditional water tunnel systems (qanats) in Syria.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Tony Allen <SOAS and King’s College, London>.

Joshka is a human geographer, development specialistand camerajournalist with over 12 years of experience in international development, research, project management andmedia production. Her training is in broadcast tv, visual anthropology and social geography with a specialisation in traditional water resources management in irrigation, water supplyand sanitation sectors focused on the Middle East. In 2008, Joshka has gained a PhD in Development Studies on traditional water management in rural areas of Syria. She studied collective action and social relationsat community level and how people cooperated in traditional water management at two rural settlements in Syria. Main themes were leadership styles, the importance of social history and networks, conflict resolution and hydropolitics.

Currently she is a freelance filmmaker with her own production company called Sapiens Productions. She produces professional environmentaldocumentaries for international channels such as BBC World and Al Jazeera International. Next to that Joshka is a part-time project manager at MUNDO, Centre for Development cooperation at the University of Maastricht. She is also an official associate of the IRC, International Water and Sanitation Centre, The Netherlands and CIDT, Centre for International Development and Training of the University of Wolverhampton, UK.

www.youtube.com/joshkawessels

www.linked.in

website joshka wessels

Mirjam Kabki

Mirjam Kabki (Amsterdam, VU, December 10, 2007).
Transnationalism, local development and social security. The functioning of support networks in rural Ghana.
Promotor, with Prof.dr. Jan Willem Gunning <Free University Amsterdam>and Dr. Valentina Mazzucato.

Mirjam Kabki holds a masters degree from the Centre forInternational Development IssuesNijmegen, Radboud University and did fieldwork in rural India on social aspects regarding fluoride water contamination. In her PhD work she researched how rural Ghanaians - in the Ashanti Region-with ties to Netherlands based migrants, use their social networks in daily life situations and in crisis moments. Thisresearchwas conductedin a team with Lothar Smith – responsible for research in Accra - and Valentina Mazzucato, who focused on Ghanaian migrants in the greater Amsterdam region.

More information on the research, output and the research team can be found on: http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/ghanatransnet

 

Lothar Smith

Tied to migrants.Transnational influences on he economy of Accra, Ghana.  (Amsterdam, December 7,2007).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. Jan Willem Gunning <Free University Amsterdam>, Dr. Valentina Mazzucato andDr. Rijk van Dijk <African Studies Centre Leiden>.  Lothar Smith spendmuch of his youth abroadin developingcountries such as Zambia and Botswana, which madehim become interested in development cooperation from anearly age. He therefore chose to studyrural development sociology at Wageningen University. Afterhe completed his Master’s, hewas given the possibility to work as a social scientist at the Agricultural and Rural Development Research Institute (ARDRI), of theUniversity of FortHare. His PhD research at was part of a research programme wherein the influence of migrants on local economies via transnational networks wasstudied at three geographical locations in Ghana. Lothar wasresponsible for the research project in Accra. In 2007 Lothar started working asa lecturerinhuman geography at the Radboud University, Nijmegen. He is especially interested inresearch issuesconcerning developing countries, notably in relation to global influences. Hence topics such as international migration, transnational influences, globalization and social and economical changes in rural and urban economies in developing countries have his especial interest. Other topics, more related to the Dutch/European context,include assimilation/integration issues, studies of the role of Diasporas / migrant organizations indevelopment aid.

Lothar Smith (Radboud Univerity)

PhD thesis

Susan KipketerChebet

Female circumcision and its consequences onthe well-being of women among the Keiyo communityin Kenya: a socio-cultural approach. (Eldoret, Moi University, Kenya, October, 2007).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. Joshua A’konga <Moi University Eldoret, Kenya>.

Susan Chebet did her BA at the University of Nairobi (political science) in 1981, her MSc in Manchester(human resource development) and her PhD at Moi University, Eldoret (human ecology). She is Principal Administrative Officer, Moi University, in-chargeofMoi University, Extension and Outreach Services and a part-time lecturer in applied environmental social sciences. She is principal author of the book “Climbing theCliff; a History of the Keiyo” (with Ton Dietz as second author) and author of ‘A Curriculum of Tumndo NeLeel: A Coming ofAge Concept’.

Sylvia Breukers

Changinginstitutional landscapes for implementing wind power. A geographical comparison of institutional capacity building: The Netherlands, England andNorth Rhine-Westphalia. (Amsterdam, January 31, 2007).

Promotor, with Dr. Maarten Wolsink.

Sylvia studied International Relations, focusing on Southeast Asia, environmental and development questions. In2001 she started aPhDina somewhat different (geographical) area, investigating thepolitical-institutional conditions for wind power implementation onshore -comparing the Netherlands, North-RhineWestphalia and England (Universityof Amsterdam,2007). At Utrecht University (2006-2008) she did research on the stakeholder dialogue method,incollaborationwith the Free University of Amsterdam. The actual dialogue was about sustainabilityof biomass forenergy generation. At present she works at theEnergy research Center of the Netherlands (ECN), Policy Studiesdepartment,Energy Innovation and Society group. One ofthe projects,Changing Behaviour, aims at supporting changesin energy use andenergy services, by applying social research on technological changetopractical use. The focusisontheinteraction between energy experts and energy users andon how these canlearnto understand each other better. It isan action research project: researchers and practitioners worktogether to develop, test andrefine tools for improved interaction that are sensitive to context, timing and the needs of different users and stakeholders. Partnersinthis project are from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and the UK.

ECN project changing behaviour

• Samuel Ouma Owuor (Amsterdam,April 26, 2006).
  Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide. Multi-spatial livelihoods in Nakuru Town, Kenya.
  Promotor, with Dr. Dick Foeken <African Studies Centre Leiden> and Prof. dr. R.A. Obudho<University of Nairobi, Kenya>.

Samuel Owuor,aKenyan national, holds an MA degree in urban geography (University of Nairobi/McGill University, Canada)and a BA Hons degree in geography (University of Nairobi). In 2006 he graduated with a PhD in urban geography at theUniversity of Amsterdam,The Netherlands. His PhD research on “Rural livelihood sourcesfor urban households:A study of Nakuru town, Kenya” demonstrated that urban-rural linkages are notonly important forthe rural households, but are becoming an important element of the livelihood (or survival) strategies of poor urban households.Dr. Owuor is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya, where he teaches urban/human geography, research methods and statistics since 1995. He is also involved in academic research collaborations with the African Studies Centre,Leiden, The Netherlands, the FrenchInstitute of Research in Africa (IFRA, Nairobi), and the Centre for Urban Research (Nairobi). His research interests include (1) urban development, governance and management; (2) urban poverty, livelihoods and food security; (3) migration and urban-rurallinks; and (4) water reforms andinterventions in urban areas.

website sam owuor

• Francis Obeng (Amsterdam, December 2, 2005).
  Things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them. Impact of climate variability on geographical and occupational mobility and the effect of mobility on social organization in farming communities in North-Eastern Ghana.
  Promotor,with Dr. David Millar<Tamale University for Development Studies,Ghana>.
• Francis is lecturer at the Tamale University for Development Studies. Currently he is the teamleader in Ghana of the AMIDSt/UDS/EDS research programme on Participatory DevelopmentAssessment.

francis obeng cv

• RuthNoorduijn (Amsterdam, May 10,2005).
  The assertion o frights to agro-pastoral land in North Cameroon: a cascade to violence?
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. W. de Groot <Leiden University and Radboud University Nijmegen>.
• After a career as a veterinary surgeon for livestock, Ruth Noorduyn received her Masters degree in environmental science from Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
  Her PhD-research took place in strong collaboration with the Centre for Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, and the Centre d’Etude d’Environnement et Developpement, Dchang University,Cameroon.
  Based on the study ofthree different areas with (apparent) clashes over scarcety of fertile land, Ruth Noorduyn has developed a research model on the relationship between violence and natural resource scarcities. In an iterative proces the three cases and the model were tested against each other. The results were published in the Research Reports series (nr.76/2005) of the African Studies Centre, the Netherlands.
  
  Since herPhD Ruth has worked 4 years in development assistence on Bonaire, Dutch Antilles, and as a teacherat the CIEE Bonairean research station for Marine Ecology and Conservation (related to Indiana University). Currently she works as a teamleader at the joint environmental office of 13 local governments inthe Mid-Holland regionof The Netherlands advising on environmental issues in urban and rural planning.
  

Adano Wario Roba

 

 

Surviving Pastoral Decline. Pastoral sedentarisation, natural resourcemanagement and livelihood diversification in Marsabit District, Northern Kenya (2 volumes). (Amsterdam, October 21, 2004), cum laude (together with Karen Witsenburg).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. M.A. Mohamed Salih <Instituteof Social Studies, The Hague> and Prof. dr. Charles Perrings<University of York UK>.

Adano received his MSc in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York, UK, and his PhD (cum laude)from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His PhD thesis, jointly with Karen Witsenburg, is now published by Edwin Mellen Press, Wales, UK. Adano is recipient of the Lustrum Publication award (workco-authored with Karen Witsenburg) of theNetherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (WOTRO, 2004), The Netherlands. He has extensive research experience in biodiversity conservation and livestock marketing focusing on dry lands. Adano has research interests in environmental management and conservation, livestock marketing and social institutions, rangeland and development, and resource scarcity and conflicts with main focus on dry lands. He has many years of teaching experience, including lecturer at Moi University’s School of Environmental Studies in Eldoret, Kenya, before joining Max Planck Institute in Halle/Saale, Germany, as a Research Fellow. His current research project is: ‘ Natural Resource Scarcity and Conflicts among Pastoralists in Northern region of Kenya’(see ‘Roba’ under ‘People’at the site below).

 See website: http://www.eth.mpg.de/

 

Karen Witsenburg

Surviving Pastoral Decline. Pastoral sedentarisation, natural resource managementandlivelihood diversification in Marsabit District, Northern Kenya (2 volumes). (Amsterdam, October 21, 2004), cum laude (with Adano Wario Roba).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. M.A. Mohamed Salih <Instituteof Social Studies, The Hague>

Karen Witsenburg holds a masters degree from the department of Geography and Planning, University of Amsterdam and did fieldwork in Northern Cameroon on terrace farming in the Mandara Mountains in 1993. In 2004 she received a PhD degree (cum laude) from the same universityforher dissertation “Surviving Pastoral Decline. Pastoral Sedentarisation, Natural Resource Management and Livelihood Diversificationin Marsabit District, NorthernKenya ”. This dissertation was written together with Dr. Adano Wario, with whom she forms a research team since 1994. She works presently as aresearch fellow at the Max Planck Institute,Halle ,Germany , on ethnic violence in Northern Kenya and teaches a graduate course ‘perspectives on poverty and development’ at the University of Halle-Wittenberg.

Karen Witsenburg (Max Planck Institute)

• Marleen Dekker (VU Amsterdam, March 11, 2004).
  Risk, Resettlement and Relations: Social Security in Rural Zimbabwe.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. J.W. Gunning <Free University Amsterdam>.
• Marleen Dekker was trained as a human geographer at the Universityof Amsterdam and obtained a PhD degree in development economics fromtheVrijeUniversiteit. In her PhD research she studied the impact of land reform on participation in social networks and risk coping strategies in Zimbabwe. Her post-doc research on Ethiopia focused on the role of social networks in coping withillness and bargaining processes taking place within the household and the wider community. Current work builds on these research projects and explores more generally the role of social networks in access to (insurance) markets and (local) socio-economic development. Her research isinterdisciplinary in nature, combining methods and insights from economics, human geography and sociology (notably social network analysis). She works at the African Studies Centre Leiden.

marleen dekker on asc website

• Cindy Horst(Amsterdam, November 6, 2003).
  Transnational Nomads. How Somalis cope with refugee life in the DadaabcampsofKenya.
  Promotor, with Prof.dr. JokeSchrijvers.

Cindy Horst works as a Senior Researcher at theInternational Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). She was earlier employed as a lecturer on forced migration at the UniversityofAmsterdam and as a moderator for the RefugeeLivelihoods Network, UNHCR. Horstis a social anthropologist with a specialization in Forced Migrationstudies. She has extensivefieldwork experience amongSomalis in Kenya andthewider diaspora. Her main research interests focus on assistancepractices, cultures of migration and interactions between forced migrants and the refugee regime. Her most recent publications include the monograph Transnational Nomads. How SomalisCope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya (Berghahn Books) an edited volume of the Refugee Survey Quarterlyon refugee livelihoods, peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Refugee Studies, Afrika Spectrum, and Conflict, Security and Development andarange of book chapters in edited volumes .

www.prio.no/staff/cindy

James Gichiah Njogu

Community-based conservation inan entitlement perspective. Wildlife and forest biodiversity conservation in Taita, Kenya (Amsterdam, October 21, 2003).

Promotor, with Dr Paul Omondi <Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya>.

James Njogu did his BSc in Forestry and Wildlife Management at Moi University,Eldoret, Kenya (1992), his MPhil at the School of Environmental Studies of the same university (1995; biological sciences) and his PhD at the University of Amsterdam (2003). He was the NaturalResources manager of EwasoNgiro South Development Authority (2004-2005) and after that he became Head of the Conventions, Biotechnology and Information Management section of Kenya Wildlife Services.  

CV of James Gichiah Njogu

• Hein de Haas (Nijmegen, October 13,2003).
  Migration and Development in Southern Morocco. The Disparate Socio-EconomicImpacts of Out-migration on the Todgha Oasis Valley.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. LeodeHaan <Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen>.

Leon Bijlmakers

Structural adjustment: source ofstructural adversity. Socio-economic stress, health and child nutritional status inZimbabwe (UvA, Amsterdam, July 2,2003).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. Corlien Varkevisser<Royal Tropical Institute and University of Amsterdam>.

LeonBijlmakers was trained as a public health nutritionist (WageningenUniversity, 1983) and gained long-term overseas experience in Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe andVietnam.He has worked for more than 15years as an advisor/international consultant on health systemsresearch and development forvarious governments, I-NGOsand donor agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. His areas of interest include: Policy analyses and health sectorreviews; Health sector governance and sector-wide approaches; Aid effectiveness, harmonisationand alignment withnational priorities and systems; Integrateddistrict health management; Health management information systems; Healthsystemsresearch. Other information: Board memberof theNetherlands Society for Tropical Medicine and InternationalHealth (NVTG);Cofounderand member of the Netherlands Platform for Global Health PolicyandHealth Systems Research. 


LeonBijlmakers (ETC Crystal)

• Ankevan Vuuren (Amsterdam, June 12, 2003).
  Women striving for self-reliance. The diversity offemale-headed households in Tanzaniaand thelivelihood strategies they employ.
  Promotor.

• Anke vanVuuren studied SocialGeography at the University of Utrecht (1986-1989) and was employed as a Consultant in Environmental Issues at the Engineering and Consultancy Office Grontmij  in De Bilt (1987-1991). She also studied at the University of Wageningen (1990-1991), preparing her PhD thesis. From 1992 until 1996 the fieldwork for her thesis was performed inTabora Region, Tanzania. In 2003 she defended her PhD thesis at theUniversity of Amsterdam.

  This thesis provides a detailed account of livelihood strategies of Nyamwezi female household heads in Ndala, Tabora, documenting the ways and means bywhich female-headedhouseholds manage to not only get by but even flourish. This bucks the view that female-headed households are necessarily marginalized relative to male-headed households. Interestingly, Van Vuuren found a very high incidence of female-headed households in Ndala,42%, rather than the normal 20-33% one comes to expect inrural villagesin many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

  Van Vuuren refined the concept of household headship discerning four different forms of female headed-households. Besides the usual divorced, widowed or married women temporarily heading households by virtue of male migration, there was a relatively new category, the avowedly unmarried single female heads of households. This is a category that has been observed in urban settings for decades, but it has been rare in rural areas where women are generally made to feel that they shouldreside with a male ‘protector’ in the form of a father or husband.

  Further her thesischallenges the orthodoxy that female-headed households belong to the ‘poorest of the poor’ and it tries to find an explanation for the increasing numbers of female-headed households, paying attention to demographic factors, thehistorical and colonial legacy, the economic and legal context and cultural ideology. This thesis reveals that two-thirds of the female-headed households do not belong to the ‘poorest of the poor’and that they developed livelihood strategies which enable them to maintain their households at a rather adequate level not much below the average level of households headed by men.

Mathew Kurian

From Project to Process. Participatory watershed management in the Himalayan foothills.(ISS The Hague, March 3, 2003).

Promotor, with Prof. dr. Ashwani Saith<Institute ofSocialStudies, The Hague>. 

Mathew Kurian has twelve years of experience with social analysis of projects, programs and policies in transition and developing countries. His expertise lies in analysis of pro-poor aspectsofwaterresources management andservice provision. Mathewholds a Ph.D. in Development Studiesfrom theInstitute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands. He beganhiscareerworking on donor assisted community forestry and watershed management projectsin theHimalayan foothills. A significant part of his initial experience withcommunity- driven natural resources management was supported by the Robert S.McNamara FellowshipsProgram of theWorldBank, Washington DC.  Oncompleting his doctoral studies Mathew served as a DutchAssociate Expert(Institutions and Policy Studies)at the InternationalWater Management Institute(affiliated to the Consultative Group on InternationalAgriculture Research). In thiscapacity he wasresponsible for undertaking an appraisalof socio-economicconstraints tofarmeradoptionof soil erosion technologies in the Mekong river basin,Laos. Mathew also undertook anassessment of farmer participationinsmall- scale irrigationschemes in the Nileriver basin, Ethiopia. Subsequently, Mathew wasengagedbyAsian Development Bank as a staff consultant tocoordinate an updateof social safeguard policies. Mathew served as a SeniorWater andSanitation Specialist at the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of the World Bank in which capacity he ledprojects onsource sustainabilityofruralwatersupplyschemes and peri-urban wastewater. MathewispresentlySeniorLecturer- Water and Sanitation Management atUNESCO-IHE, Delft, Netherlands where is pursues his researchand teaching interests relating to urbanization, climate changeand watersupply andsanitationservice provision. Mathew’s most recent publication is a bookthat analyzes the relationshipbetween poverty, heterogeneity andcooperation and its implications for designof externally supported projects inthe watersector.

Mathew Kurian (UNESCO-IHE)

• Josefien Demmer & Han Overman (Amsterdam, November 1, 2001).
  Indigenous People. Conserving the Rain Forest? The Effect of Wealth and Markets on the Economic Behaviour of Tawahka Amerindians in Honduras.
• promotor, with Dr Annelies Zoomers and Dr Mirjam Ros-Tonen

After studying biology at the University of AmsterdamJosefien Demmer and Han Overman decided to join an American research team for a study about the impact of modernisation on Amerindians in Central America and on their ecological habitats. Although their research resulted in high-profile co-publications (even in Nature) they could not graduate there and decided to come back to theNetherlands to do so. Caught between biology and social sciences they found it difficult to find a promotor and finally came to the Geography Department at the University of Amsterdam. They succeeded to finalise their double dissertation, that was published by Tropenbos International (Wageningen). Then they disappeared, first to Gabon (where they became involved in the managment of a national park) and then to ???

Han and Josefien: if you ever read this: your promotorswould appreciate some feedback!!! or at least two nice photographs...

• AbdirizakArale Nunow (Amsterdam, December 9, 2000).
  Pastoralists and markets. Livestock commercialization and food security in north-eastern Kenya.
  Promotor, with Prof.JanHoorweg <African StudiesCentre Leiden andWageningen University>.

 

• Abdirizak is a Kenyan citizen whohails from a nomadic communityin the arid and semi-aridlandsof Northeastern Kenya. He obtained a B.A. Hons. degree in economics and business studies from Kenyatta university, Kenya (1990), and an M.Phil degree in environmental planning and management from Moi university, Kenya (1994). He joined Moi University schoolof environmental studies (MUSES) in 1995 as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF), and soon after commenced did his PhD program in the Netherlands, where he was enrolled at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) but worked from the African studies Centre (ASC), Leiden – where he was accorded the opportunity to be a visiting Research Fellow. His PhD research was part of a comparative study of pastoralists at different levels of market participation, and involved northern and south-western Kenya and the Bedouins in the Negev desert, Israel (as part of, and funded by, the NIRP research programme). He graduated in 2000 in theFaculty of Environmental and Behavioural sciences, UvA.
   
  Abdirizak served as a commissioner in the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission that was mandated to write a new constitution for Kenya. He currently teaches environmental human ecology at MUSES and he is also the coordinator of Moi University, Northern Kenya Campus, Garissa (a newly formed campus created to serve northern Kenya and its environs). A consultant in pastoralist livelihoods and dry lands development, Abdirizak has a keen interest in sustainable livelihoods in the dry areas and his current research interests include: (1) Combating desertification for sustainable livelihoods in Northeast Kenya;(2) The impact of refugee settlements on the livelihoods of host community in Dadaab, Kenya, and (3) The economic utilization of prosopis sp. in pastoral areas, Kenya.

asc information about Abdi Nunow

Fred Zaal

Pastoralism in a Global Age. Livestock Marketing and Pastoral Commercial Activities in Kenya and Burkina Faso. (Amsterdam, November 25, 1998), cum laude.

Promotor, with Prof. dr. Leo de Haan.

Fred Zaal (amidst page)

• Annette van Andel (Amsterdam, March16, 1998).
  Changing Security. Livelihood in the Mandara Mountains Region in North Cameroon.
  Promotor, withDr. Dick Foeken <African Studies Centre, Leiden>.

Annette van Andel studied human geography at theUniversity of Amsterdam, doing her master's fieldwork in Zimbabwe. Her PhD research was a collaborative project with the African Studies Centre in Leiden and with the fieldoffice of the (Leiden) Centre for Environmental Studies in Maroua, North Cameroon. After het PhD studies Annettejoined the Netherlands DevelopmentOrganization SNV for which sheworked inBenin, Ghana andin The Hague.

Marcel Put

Innocent Farmers? A ComparativeEvaluation into a Government and an NGO Project Located in Semi-Arid AndhraPradesh (India). (Amsterdam, January 23, 1998).

Promotor, with Prof. Ad de Bruijne and Dr. Meine-Pieter van Dijk <Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam>.

After completing his PhD, Marcel Put stayed on as aresearch fellowat the AGIDS research institute of the University of Amsterdam. After that he worked as advisor/trainer on participative planning and M&E in an IFAD funded programmeinEastBhutan for SNV,as a coordinator quality management fortheILEIA (Institutefor Low External Inputand Sustainable Agriculture)in Amersfoort, and part-time as asenior advisor on qualitymanagement for the ETC in Leusden.From 2006Marcel worksasa lecturer for both Bachelors and Master’s students at the LarensteinUniversity for Professional Educationin Wageningen.

Nina Tellegen

Rural enterprises in Malawi: Necessityor opportunity? (Amsterdam, December 2, 1997).

Promotor, with Prof. Jan Hoorweg <African Studies Cenre, Leiden>.

Nina Tellegen did her Master’s in Human Geography at the University of Amsterdam. She worked at theAfrican Studies Centre, where she did research onthe food and nutritional status of farmlabourers inTrans Nzoia, Kenyaand actedasa PR/communicationpolicy officer. She was director of Wemos, an developmentorganisationthat aims to strengthen national health systems that contribute to the structuralimprovement of people’s health indeveloping countries.In 2007 she became thedirector of Stichting Doen, a foundation that invests in sustainable development, culture, welfare and social cohesion. Besides that, Ninaisalso Vice President ofPartos, the national platform for Dutchcivil society organisations inthe international developmentcooperation sector.

• Purnendo Kavoori (The Hague, Institute of Social Studies, October 11, 1996).
  Rajasthan pastoralism in expansion.
  Promotor, with Prof.Martin Doornbos.
• Purnendo'sPhD thesis was published in 2000 (by Oxford University press: see website).He works as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Development Studies at Jaipur, India ( www.idsj.org )

pastoralism in expansion, book information

Jockey Baker Nyakaana

Kenya’s Development Centre Policy: the case of Eldoret. (Amsterdam,December 18, 1995).

Promotor,with Prof. dr. Ad deBruijne.

Jockey Baker Nyakaana, did a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Economics (1978), and a Master’s in Economic Geography(1984), at Makerere University, Uganda(Master’s thesis about a Geographical Analysis of Fish Marketing in Uganda). He worked in the Department of Geography, at Moi University (Eldoret) Kenya and currently is Associate Professorat the Department of Geography, Makerere University, Uganda. His research andpublication interests are on Urbanization and Environment, Tourism, Environment and Poverty Reduction.  He is currently   (2009) coordinating the following researchprojects: I) Community based wetland resource utilization for poverty reduction and environment conservation through Ecotourism Development in the Lake Victoria region, II) East African AcademicAlliance for aCurriculum inTourism, III) Pro-Poor Tourism. Research Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange forEast Africa, and IV) African-European Academic Alliance for Sustainable Tourism Development, Environmental and Sustainability and PovertyReduction.

Basilida Anyona Mutoro

• PhD Graduation: Utrecht, November 30, 1995.
  Women working wonders. Small-scale farming and the role of women in Vihiga District, Kenya.
  
• Promotor, with Prof. Jan Hinderinkand Prof. Henk Luning.

Basilida Mutoro did her Bachelor's in Education and her Master'sin Geography, both in Kenya. She was part of the first group of PhD/ Staff Development candidates in the collaborationbetween Moi University's School of Environmental Studies and the University of Amsterdam, coordinated by Prof. Charles Okidi and (then) Dr Ton Dietz. After her graduation inUtrechtsheworked for three years as a lecturer inthe School ofEnvironmental Studies at Moi University in Eldoret and she headed thehuman ecology section. She disappeared to Texas USA afterwards.

• Johan Aad van Dijk (Amsterdam, May 3,1995).
  Taking the waters. Soil and water conservation among settling Beja nomads in Eastern Sudan.
  Co-promotor,with Prof. dr. Ad de Bruijne as promotor.

Education: University of Amsterdam: MA , Human Geography, Physical Geography, Computer Science , 1978 — 1987;PhD 1991-1995

Between 1985-1997: researcher andconsultant in France (Free University Amsterdam, Geology Dept.), Spain (University of Amsterdam,Geography Dept.), the Netherlands(Stichting Natuurmonumenten, New Amsterdam BV, NWO-WOTRO), inSudan (DHV Consultants BV, FordFoundation, Ministry of Agriculture, HVA International Ltd.), and Ireland (University CollegeDublin, EU DGXII).

Since 1997: mainly charged with staff and linemanagement as Management Team,Acting Director and Head in leading academic organisationsintheNetherlands: Delft University ofTechnology (1997-2003) and Institute of Social Studies, ISS (2003-present: Head of Research, Projects, Advisory Services and ISSManagement Team).

webpage linked in johan aad van dijk

Marcel Rutten

Selling wealth to buy poverty. The process of the individualization of landownershipamong the Maasai pastoralists ofKajiado District,Kenya,1890-1990. (Nijmegen, December2, 1992), cum laude.

Co-promotor, with Prof. Jan Kleinpenning as promotor.

Marcel Rutten is a geographer and head oftheEconomy, Environment and Exploitation research group of the African Studies Centre, Leiden , The Netherlands. He also lectures at the Nijmegen School of Management, Department of Geography, Radboud University . Since the early 1980s he has done longitudinal research on land tenure, water development,and food security in semi-arid Africa . In addition, his interest is directedto (eco)tourism and Kenyan politics.Ongoing researchprojectsare on sustainable waterprojects (i.e. shallow wells); individualization of land ownership; and Kenya ’s economic history. He also acted as consultant/guestspeaker for theWorld Resources Institute, Institute for DevelopmentStudies Sussex, United Nations Environmental Programme, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs,World Bank and European Union. Besidescontributing to academia and policy debates a number of his publications have also impacted on African society: in Kenya billboards carrying the title of his 1992 dissertation have been placed  to sensitise the local community on the value of land; apublication on eco-tourism has assisted the creation of KECOBAT, an organization that supports local communities in Kenya in the fieldof eco-tourism, and the 2008Waki Commission that looked into Kenya’s post-election violence refersto"Out for the Count".

Marcel Rutten(ASC)

2. POSTDOC SUPERVISION

Fred Zaal (NWO MAGW; 1998-2002) Climate change in West African drylands & The machakos miracle revisited

see: https://home.medewerker.uva.nl/homepage/overzicht.do?pagina=page3

Fred Zaal has recently been appointed by the Royal Tropical Institute, after having worked at the University of Amsterdam as an assistant professor at the Department ofGeography, Planning and International Development. 

Marcel Put (NWO MAGW; 1998-2002) Climate change in WestAfrican drylands

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/7/3a3/346

Marcel Put works at Larenstein Agricultural College.

Eric Bähre (NWO-WOTRO; 2005-2007) The risk society: insurance arrangements and precarious interdependencies in contemporary urban South Africa

 see: http://www.fsw.leidenuniv.nl/ca-os/organisatie/bahre-erik.jsp

Eric Baehre works at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Leiden University.

Valentina Mazzucato (NWO-ESR;2002-2007) Transnationalism: the Ghana-Netherlands migration experience.

see: http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/ghanatransnet/team/mazzucato.html

Valentina has recently been appointed professor ofGlobalisationand Development at theUniversity of Maastricht.

see: http://www.unimaas.nl/ReseaRChmaGAzine/DEFauLT.aSP?id=196&thema=6&template=thema.html&taal=nl

Mark Breusers (NWO-WOTRO; 2000-2003) Climate change in West African drylands & development interventions in the Kaya region
see: http://soc.kuleuven.be/arc/staff/markbreusers.htm

Mark Breusers lives and works in Belgium (Catholic University Leuven).

3. MEMBER OF PHD COMMITTEES/PHD CEREMONIES

2009

• Dirk-JanKoch(Nijmegen, Febr. 26, 2009) Aid from International NGOs. Blindspots on the Aid allocation map. Promotor: Prof. dr Ruerd Ruben (CIDIN)
• Cathelijne de Busser (Amsterdam, January 20, 2009) Divine Patronage. Places of Pilgrimage as Representations ofTerritorial Identities. Promotors: Prof. dr Hans Knippenberg & Dr Gertjan Dijkink; member of Manuscript committee

2008

• Joshka Wessels (Amsterdam, May 22, 2008).
  To cooperate or not to cooperate…? Collective action for rehabilitation of traditional water tunnel systems (qanats) in Syria.
  Promotor, with Prof.dr. Tony Allen <SOAS and King’s College, London>.
• TobiasThabisoSchmitz (Nijmegen, May 28, 2008).
  Catching the Crocodile: Organisational responses to waterscarcity in South Africa’s Crocodile River Catchment.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Paul Hoebink <Radboud University Nijmegen>.
• Alice Achieng Ojwang (Nijmegen, May 28, 2008). Plantations, power and people. Two case studies on the restructuring of South Africa's forestry sector. Promotors: Prof. Wouter de Groot & Prof. Paul Hoebink; Member of manuscript committee.

 

 

2007

• Sylvia Breukers(Amsterdam,January 31,2007).
  Changing institutional landscapes for implementing wind power. A geographical comparison of institutional capacity building: The Netherlands, England and North Rhine-Westphalia.
  Promotor,with Dr.MaartenWolsink.
• Edward Ontita (Wageningen, March28, 2007).
  Creativity in Everyday Practice. Resources and Livelihoods in Nyamira, Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee;promotors:Prof.dr.Leontine Visser andDr. Paul Hebinck.
• Joris J. van de Sandt (Amsterdam, April 12,2007).
  Behind the mask of recognition. Defining autonomy and communal resource managementinindigenous resguardos, Colombia.
  Member of PhDcommittee; promoter: Prof. dr. AndreHoekema.
• Victor Owusu(Amsterdam FreeUniversity,April 13, 2007).
  Migrants, Income andt he Environment: the Case of Rural Ghana.
  Memberof PhDcommittee; promotors: Prof. dr.Jan Willem Gunning and Dr. Kees Burger.
• Richard Yeboah Nartey ( University of Ghana at Legon, Accra, April 19,2007).
  Agricultural development and Livelihood in Bongo, UER.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr.OforiSarpong and Dr. David Millar.
• SusanKipketer Chebet (MoiUniversity Schoolof Environmental Studies,May 2007).
  Female circumcision and its consequences on the well-being of women among the Keiyo community in Kenya: a socio-culturalapproach.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr.JoshuaA’konga.
• Ingrid Duchhart(WageningenUniversity, June 18,2007).
  Designing sustainable landscapes: from experience to theory. A process of reflective learning fromc ase-study projects in Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. K. Kerkstra and Prof dr.F.Steiner.
• Lothar Smith (UvA, December7, 2007).
  Tiedto migrants. Transnational influenceson the economy of Accra, Ghana.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Jan Willem Gunning, Dr. Valentina Mazzucato and Dr. Rijk van Dijk.
• MirjamKabki (VU,December10, 2007).
  Transnationalism, local development and social security. The functioning of support networks in rural Ghana.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Jan Willem Gunning and Dr. Valentina Mazzucato.
• Wenny Wen Sen Ho (UvA, December11,2007).
  Sense-making in turbulenttimes. Every-day strategic changing by Indian NGDOs.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr.J. Boonstra and Prof. dr. Gerd Junne.
• Udan Fernando(UvA, December 14, 2007).
  Uneasy encounters. Relationships between Dutch donors andSriLankan NGOs.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof.dr.Isa Baud and Prof. dr.N. Wickramasinghe.

2006

• Esaïe A. Gandonou (Amsterdam Free University, February 14 2006).
  SustainableLand Use and Distance tothe Market. Micro Evidence from Northern Benin.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Jan Willem Gunning and Dr.Kees Burger.
• Marlie Hollands (Amsterdam, April4, 2006).
  Leren uit de ontmoeting. Nederlanders in contactmet asielzoekers en vluchtelingen.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr. J.Schrijvers & Prof. dr. Ph. Essed.
• Samuel OumaOwuor(Amsterdam, April26, 2006).
  Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide. Multi-spatial livelihoods in Nakuru Town, Kenya.
  Promotor, with Dr. DickFoeken and Prof. dr. R.A. Obudho.
• Fleur Wouterse (Wageningen, June 9, 2006).
  Survival or Accumulation. Migration and Rural Households in Burkina Faso.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.A. Kuyvenhoven and Prof. dr. R. Ruben.
• Eric Schubert Ansah (Amsterdam, December 7, 2006).
  Close encounters between Africa and Asia. Ghana’s Look East Policy andthe making of Malaysia’s Overseas Investors.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof.dr. Mario Rutten and Prof. dr.Gerd Junne.
• EllenLammers (Amsterdam, December 19,2006), cum laude.
  War, Refuge and Self. Soldiers, Students and Artists in Kampala,Uganda.
  Memberof PhD committee; promotors Prof.dr. J.Schrijvers and Prof. dr. Ph. Essed.

2005

• Ahmed Maalim Mohamed(Gembloux, Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques, Belgium, January 31, 2005).
  Towardsintegrated approaches for the sustainable management ofnatural resources in the drylands: the case of Eastern Kajiado and Southern Makueni Districts, Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee, defense in absentia; promotors Prof.S. Dautrebande and Dr. B. Chikamai.
• Ruth Noorduyn (Amsterdam, May 10, 2005).
  The assertion of rights to agro-pastoral land in North Cameroon: a cascade to violence?
  Promotor,with Prof.dr. W. deGroot <Leiden University and Radboud University Nijmegen>.
• Elisabeth Everdina Scheper (Amsterdam,May 11,2005).
  Preventing deadly conflict in divided societies in Asia. The role of local NGOs.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr. C. Hamelink.
• Johan E. Brons (Wageningen,June 1,2005).
  Activity diversification in rural livelihoods. The role of farm supplementary income in Burkina Faso.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.A. Kuyvenhoven and Dr. R. Ruben.
• Nahro Zakarya (Amsterdam, July5, 2005).
  Building urban livelihoods. Two generations in an unauthorized settlement in Damascus.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr. I.S.A.Baud.
• Francis Kwabena Obeng (Amsterdam, Dec 2 2005).
  Things are hard for us, but we see away out of them. Impact of climate variability on geographical and occupational mobility and the effect of mobilityon socialorganization in farming communities in North-Eastern Ghana.
  Promotor, with Dr. David Millar.

2004

• Marleen Dekker (Amsterdam VU, March 11, 2004).
  Risk, Resettlement and Relations: Social Security in Rural Zimbabwe.
  Promotor,with Prof. dr. J.W. Gunning.
• Benjamin Njore Mwasi (Amsterdam UvA, March 31, 2004).
  Landscape Change Dynamics in a semi-arid part of Baringodistrict,K enya, based on Landsat TMdata and GIS analysis.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr J. Sevink and dr L.H. Cammeraat.
• Charles Njomaha (Leiden, June 17, 2004).
  Agricultural Change, food production and sustainabilityin the FarNorth of Cameroon.
  Referent for PhD committee; promotor: Prof.dr. W.T. deGroot.
• LeThi van Hue (The HagueISS, July 5, 2004),
  Coastal resource use and management in a village of Northern Vietnam.
  Member of PhDcommittee;promotors: Prof. dr. B. White and Dr. J. Kleinen.
• Adano Wario Roba & KarenWitsenburg (Amsterdam UvA, October21, 2004), cum laude.
  Surviving Pastoral Decline. Pastoral sedentarisation, natural resource management and livelihood diversification inMarsabit District, Northern Kenya (2 volumes).
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. M.A. Mohamed Salih and -for Adano-Prof. dr. Charles Perrings.
• Heleen van den Hombergh (Amsterdam UvA, November 19 2004), cum laude.
  No stone unturned. Building blocks ofenvironmentalist power, versus transnational industrial forestry in Costa Rica.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Joke Schrijvers, Dr. Ton Salman and Dr. JeanCarrière (†).

2003

• PeterF. Okoth (Wageningen, January 27, 2003).
  A hierarchical method for soil erosion assessment and spatial risk modelling. A case study of Kiambu District in Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof.dr. ir. A.K. Bregt, Prof.dr. ir.E. Smaling and Dr. E.F.Epema.
• N.C. Narayanan (The Hague,ISS, February24, 2003).
  Against the Grain. The political ecology of land use in a Kerala region, India.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof.dr.J.Opschoor, Prof. dr. A. Saith and Dr. D. Gasper.
• Mathew Kurian (The Hague, ISS, March 3, 2003).
  From Project to Process. Participatory watershed management in the Himalayan foothills.
  Promotor,with Prof.dr. Ashwani Saith.
• Omu Kakujaha-Matundu(The Hague,ISS,March 24,2003).
  Common pool resource management. The case of Eastern Communal Rangelands in Semi-Arid Namibia.
  Memberof PhDc ommittee; promotors: Prof.dr. J. Opschoor and Dr.A. v.d. Laar.
• Samson Wokabi Mwangi (Amsterdam, March27, 2003).
  Challenges of urban environmental governance. Participation and partnerships in Nakuru Municipality, Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr. G.A. de Bruijne, Prof. dr. I.S.A. Baud, Dr. J. Post and Dr.I.M. Karanja.
• Judith Hin (Amsterdam, April 23, 2003).
  Ethnic and civic identities. The case of Armenians in Post-Soviet Georgia.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Hans Knippenberg and Prof. dr.Herman van der Wusten.
• Anke van Vuuren (Amsterdam,June 12, 2003).
  Women striving for self-reliance. The diversity offemale-headed households in Tanzania and the livelihood strategies they employ.
  Promotor.
• Leon Bijlmakers (Amsterdam, July 2, 2003).
  Structural adjustment: source of structural adversity. Socio-economic stress, health and child nutritional status inZ imbabwe.
  Promotor, with Prof.dr. Corlien Varkevisser.
• Hein de Haas (Nijmegen,October 13, 2003).
  Migration and Development in Southern Morocco.The Disparate Socio-Economic Impacts of Out-migration on the TodghaOasisValley.
  Promotor, with Prof.dr.Leo deHaan.
• James Gichiah Njogu(Amsterdam, October 21, 2003).
  Community-based conservation in an entitlement perspective. Wildlife and forest biodiversity conservation in Taita, Kenya.
  Promotor,with Dr. Paul Omondi.
• Cindy Horst (Amsterdam, November 6, 2003).
  Transnational Nomads. How Somalis cope with refugee life in the Dadaab camps of Kenya.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Joke Schrijvers.
• Mauro Ivo vanAken (Utrecht, November 11,2003).
  Facinghome. Palestinianb elonging in a Valley of Doubt.
  Member of manuscript committee; promotors: Prof.dr. Dirk Kruijt andDr. WoutervanBeek.
• Jessica Erdtsieck (Amsterdam,November21,2003).
  In the spirit of Uganga. Inspired healing and healership in Tanzania.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.JokeSchrijvers and Prof. dr. Corlien Varkevisser.
• AkwasiMensah-Bonsu (Amsterdam, VU, November 25, 2003).
  Migration and environmental pressure in Northern Ghana.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. J.W. Gunning and Dr.C.P.J. Burger.

2002

• Wondem AsregDegu (Amsterdam, September 10,2002).
  The state, the crisis of state institutions and refuge emigration in the Horn of Africa. The cases of Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr.Gerd Junne.
• Houinsou Dedehouanou(Amsterdam, September 30, 2002).
  Resisting reforms: collective action in the distribution of agricultural input and primary health services in the Couffo Region, Benin.
  Member of PhDcommittee; promotor: Prof. dr. Leo de Haan.
• Abdullah A. Mohamoud (Amsterdam, April23, 2002).
  State collapse and post-conflict development in Africa. The case of Somalia (1960-2001).
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr.Gerd Junne,P rof.dr. Samatar and Dr. Henk Overbeek.
• Antje van Driel (Amsterdam, January 24,2002).
  Sharing a Valley.The changing relations between agriculturalists and pastoralists in the Niger valley of Benin.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof.dr.Ad de Bruijne and Prof.dr. Leo de Haan.

2001

• Ahmed Taouil (Amsterdam, December 17,2001).
  Milieu naturel et utilisation du sol dans le Haouz Mediterraneen de Tetouan, Rif Occidental, Maroc. Facteurs Physiques, Systeme agro-sylvo-pastoral, production et evolution de l’espace.
  Member of PhDc ommittee, replacing Prof. dr.Leo de Haan during public defence;promotors:Prof. dr. Herman van der Wusten and Prof.dr. JanSevink.
• Christine van Wijk-Sijbesma (Wageningen,December 12,2001).
  The Best of TwoWorlds? Methodology for Participatory Assessment of Community Water Services.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof.dr.Patricia Howard and Prof.dr. Niels Röling.
• Mayke Kaag (Amsterdam, Free University, Nov.6, 2001).
  Usage foncier et dynamique sociale au Sénégal rural. L’ histoire d’un bas-fond et de ses défricheurs.
  Memberof PhDcommittee;promotors: Prof. dr.Peter Kloos (†), Prof. dr. D.J. Winslow and Dr. ir. Bernhard Venema.
• Josefien Demmer & Han Overman (Amsterdam, November1,2001).
  Indigenous People.Conservingthe Rain Forest?. The Effect of Wealth and Markets on the Economic Behaviour of TawahkaAmerindians in Honduras.
  Promotor, with Annelies Zoomers and Mirjam Ros-Tonen as co-promotors.
• Peter Oksen (Roskilde, Denmark, May 18,2001).
  Cattle, Conflict and Change: Animal Husbandry and Fulani-Farmer Interactions in Boulgou Province, Burkina Faso.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr.Mogens Buch Hansen.
• Francis Obale-Ebanga (Amsterdam, April9, 2001).
  Impactsof Agricultural Land Use. Histories on Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Related Properties of Savannah Soils in North Cameroon.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.Jan Sevink, Prof. dr.Wouter de Groot and Dr. C.Nolte.

2000

• Michaela Hordijk(Amsterdam,December 20, 2000).
  On Dreams and Deeds.The roleo f local initiatives for community-based environmental management in Lima, Peru.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor:Prof. dr.Isa Baud.
• Abdirizak Arale Nunow (Amsterdam, December7, 2000).
  Pastoralists and markets. Livestock commercialization and food security in north-easternKenya.
  Promotor, with Prof. Jan Hoorweg.
• Allert van den Ham & Jan Veenstra (Wageningen, October 27, 2000).
  Think Big, Start Small. Restricted room for manoeuvre by practitioners in socio-spatial planning of peripheral regions in Third World countries.
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof.dr Dirk van Dusseldorp.
• Valentina Mazzucato & David Niemeijer (Wageningen, June 20, 2000).
  Rethinking soil and water conservation in a changing society. A case study in EasternBurkina Faso.
  Member of PhD committee; promoters: Prof. dr. Niels Röling and Prof.dr.ir. Leo Stroosnijder.
• Joseph Abuodha (Amsterdam, April 25, 2000).
  Geomorphology of the Malindi Bay coastal sand dunes.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. PimJungerius andProf. dr. Mwakio Tole.
• Marieke Kragten (Utrecht,March 24,2000).
  Viable of Marginal? Small-scale industries in rural Java(Bantul District).
  Member of PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr. Jan Hinderink.
  

1999

• Jiang Leiwen(Amsterdam, December 7, 1999).
  Population and  Sustainable Development in China. Population and Household Scenarios for Two Regions.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Anton Kuijsten and Prof. dr. Zeng Yi.
• Paul Quarles van Ufford(Amsterdam, December 7,1999).
  Trade and Traders. The Making of the Cattle Market in Benin.
  Member of the PhD committee; promoters: Prof. dr.Ad de Bruijne and Prof. dr. Leo de Haan.
• Chris van der Borgh (Utrecht, September 8, 1999).
  Wederopbouw in Chalatenango, El Salvador. Ontwikkelingsorganisaties in een naoorlogse maatschappij.
  Memberof  PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Dirk Kruyt and Dr. Kees Koonings.
• Robin Pistorius &Jeroen van Wijk(Amsterdam,June16, 1999).
  The Exploitation of Plant Genetic Information. Political Strategies in Crop Development.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Gerd Junne and Dr.Jean Carrière.
• FrederickNyang (Amsterdam, February 24, 1999).
  HouseholdEnergy Demand and Environmental Management in Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee; promoters: Prof. dr. Jan Lambooy and Dr. JoopOdink.
• Moses Ikiara (Amsterdam, February 24, 1999).
  Sustainability, Livelihoods, Productionand Effort Supply in a Declining Fishery. The Case of Kenya's Lake Victoria Fisheries.
  Member of  PhD committee; promoters: Prof. dr. Jan Lambooy and Dr. Joop Odink.
• Kees Biekart (Amsterdam,February 4, 1999).
  The Politics of Civil Society Building. European Private Aid Agencies andDemocraticTransitions in Central America.
  Member of  PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.Gerd Junne and Dr.A.E.Fernández Jilberto.

1998

• Mariecke van derGlas (Utrecht, December18, 1998).
  Gaining Ground. Land Use and Soil Conservation in Areas of Agricultural Colonisation in South Brazil and East Paraguay.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.JanHinderink andProf. dr. JanKleinpenning.
• Augustine Ayantunde (Wageningen,December 1, 1998).
  Influence of Grazing Regimes on Cattle Nutrition and Performance and Vegetation Dynamics in Sahelian Rangelands.
  Memberof the PhD committee; promotors: Prof.dr.ir.Herman van Keulen, Dr.ir. H.M.J.Udo and Dr.S.Fernandez-Rivera.
• Fred Zaal (Amsterdam, November 25, 1998), cum laude.
  Pastoralism in a Global Age.Livestock Marketingand Pastoral Commercial Activities in Kenya and Burkina Faso .Promotor,with Prof. dr. Leo de Haan.
• Mary Omosa (Wageningen, October26, 1998).
  Reconceptualising Food Security. Interlocking Strategies, Unfolding Choices and Rural Livelihoods in Kisii District,Kenya.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors:Prof. dr. Norman Long and Prof. dr. Jan Hoorweg.
• Maarten Bavinck (Amsterdam,May 14,1998).
  One Sea, Three Contenders. Legal Pluralism in theInshore Fisheries of the Coromandel Coast, India.
  Member of the PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.Ad de Bruijne, Prof.dr. Jojada Verrips and Dr. Isa Baud.
• Annette van Andel (Amsterdam, March 16, 1998).
  Changing Security. Livelihood in the Mandara Mountains Region in North Cameroon.
  Promotor, with Dr. Dick Foeken.
• Marcel Put (Amsterdam, January 23, 1998).
  Innocent Farmers? A Comparative Evaluation into a Government and an NGO Project Located in Semi-Arid Andhra Pradesh (India).
  Promotor, with Prof. Ad de Bruijne and Dr. Meine-Pieter van Dijk.

1997

• Nina Tellegen (Amsterdam, December2, 1997).
  Rural enterprises in Malawi: Necessity or Opportunity?
  Promotor, with Prof. Jan Hoorweg.
• Gudule Boland (Nijmegen, September23, 1997).
  Farmer’s organizations, poverty and the environment in the Sertão, North-East Brazil.
  Memberof the PhD committee;promotors: Prof. dr.Jan Kleinpenning and Dr. Mirjam Ros-Tonen.
• Carey Okal Ombura (Amsterdam,November 25,1997).
  Towards an environmental planning approach in urban industrial siting and operations in Kenya. The case of Eldoret Town.
  Member of the PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.Jan Lambooy, Prof.dr.Ad de Bruijne and Prof. dr. Gerard Linden.

1996

• A.G.Toxopeus (Amsterdam, December 5, 1996).
  An interactive spatial and temporal modellingsystem as a tool in ecosystem management.
  Member of the PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.J.Fanta and Prof.dr. ir.W. van Wijngaarden.
• Purnendo Kavoori (TheHague ,Institute of Social Studies, October 11,1996).
  Rajasthan pastoralism.
  Promoter,with Prof.dr. Martin Doornbos.
• Johan Post (Amsterdam, September26, 1996).
  Space for small enterprise. Reflections on urban livelihood and urban planning in the Sudan.
  Member of PhD committee, promotors: Prof. dr. Ad de Bruijne and Prof. dr. ir. Gerard Linden.

1995

• Jockey Baker Nyakaana (Amsterdam, December 18,1995).
  Kenya’s DevelopmentCentre Policy: the case of Eldoret.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr. Ad de Bruijne.
• Basilida Anyona Mutoro (Utrecht, November 30, 1995).
  Women working wonders. Small-scale farming and the role ofwomen in Vihiga District, Kenya.
  Promotor, with Prof. dr.Jan Hinderink and Prof.dr. ir. Henk Luning.
• Christiaan H.J.F. Eijkemans (Nijmegen, November 20, 1995).
  Profitability or security. Decision-making on land use among Toba Batak peasants in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
  Member of the PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr. Jan Kleinpenning and Dr. Ton van Naerssen.
• Mirjam de Bruijn & HanvanDijk (Wageningen/Utrecht, June21,1995).
  Arid ways. Cultural understandings of insecurity in Fulbe society, Central Mali.
  Member of PhD committee; promotors: Prof. dr.Franz von Benda-Beckmann, Prof.dr. Arie de Ruijter/Prof. dr.A. van Maaren and Dr.Woutervan Beek.
• Johan Aad van Dijk (Amsterdam,May 3,1995).
  Taking the waters. Soil and water conservation among settling Beja nomads in Eastern Sudan.
  Co-promotor, withP rof. Ad de Bruijne as promotor.

1994

• Haile Selassie Gebre Selassie (Amsterdam,November 17, 1994).
  The role of the foreign element in the making and breaking up of local policies in the hornof Africa.
  Memberof the PhD committee; promotor: Prof, dr. Gerd Junne.
• John Ouma Mugabe (Amsterdam, March 4, 1994).
  Technological capability for environmental management.The case of biodiversityc onservation in Kenya.
  Member of the PhD committee; promotor: Prof. dr. GerdJunne.

1993

• Hans Vissers (Utrecht,1993).
  Pökööt religion.
  Member of the PhD committee.

1992

• Marcel Rutten (Nijmegen,December 2,1992), cum laude.
  Selling wealth tobuy poverty. The process of theindividualization of landownership among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado District, Kenya, 1890-1990.
  Co-promotor, with Prof.JanKleinpenninga s promotor.
  

5b4. TEACHING

• Teaching in summer course Utrecht IS Academy Land July 13: forest, food and/or fuel [9]
• Teaching in the 1st year programme Future Planet Studies [2009-2010, in Dutch].
• Teaching in the Environment and Development Courses at Bachelor's level [in Dutch] and at Master's level [in English] [2008-2010].[1]
• Teaching 1st year course Climate,Landscape and Spatial Dynamics[2008 onwards, in Dutch: Milieu,Klimaat en Ruimtelijke Dynamiek] [5]
• teaching in IHE-Institute for Water Development summercourse Sept. 2009: climate-based risks in cities [8]
• Guest lectures in Research Master's curriculum AfricanStudies, Leiden [2006-2007] [7]
• Member of examination committee MSc InternationalDevelopment Studies UvA (ISHSS), and teaching in the Poverty and Development course [2006 onwards; in English] [4].
• Teaching 1st yearcourse Introduction to Human Geography, UvA[in Dutch; 2000 onwards; from 2008 onwards split in 'Introduction to Human Geography', and  'Major themes inHumanGeography]. [2]
• Coordination of, and teaching in the Master's specializationenvironmental geography Dept.of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam [1994 onwards;in Dutch andEnglish]. [6]
• Coordination of the EIA course participation of Amsterdam students in human geography at MoiUniversity, Eldoret, Kenya[1994-1998; in English].
• Teachingin the CERES course for PhD candidates [1993 onwards, in English].[3]
• Teaching introductory course rural development geography (2nd year students human geography), UvA [1993-2000; in Dutch].
• Teachingspecialization seminars rural development(doktoraal/Master’s students) [1988-1998; in Dutch].
• Design of course on Africanagriculture for Amsterdam University Coordination Group Development Issues('werkgroep ontwikkelingsvraagstukken'), and coordination/teaching, UvA [1985; in Dutch].
• Teaching introductory course Geography ofDeveloping Countries for students in Human Geography [1983-1995] and for students in Physical Geography [1983-1984]at the University of Amsterdam [both in Dutch]. 
• Teaching the 'colloquium rural development geography and regional planning' of the Sub-Dept. Human Geography ofDeveloping Countries,UvA [1982-1988; inD utch].
• Supervision of doktoraal/Master’s fieldwork and thesis writing of students specializing in Geography of Developing Countries, UvA [1981 onwards; mostly in English].
• Lectures aboutdevelopment strategies,monitoring and evaluation, participatory planning and Kenya, for Royal Institute for the Tropics, Amsterdam [1977-1988; in Dutch].
• Coordination of student research projects ('leeronderzoek'), fieldwork and thesis supervision of students specializing inGeography of Developing Countries, UniversityofAmsterdam [1976-1988; in Dutch].
• Course in didactics and geographyteaching at theKatholieke Universiteit Nijmegen[1976].
• Teaching propedeuse students in human geography, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen [1973-1975; in Dutch].
  

1 Powerpoint presentation "Geographical Diversity and Competing Landscapes" 23-3-2009

2a Powerpoint presentation "Ontwikkelingsgeografieen - Kernthema's in de socialegeografie" 30-10-2008

2b Powerpoint presentation"De Afrikaanse cultureleeconomie en geografie" 2-10-2008

2c Powerpointpresentation "De tijdlijnvan de mensheid"september2008

3a Powerpoint presentation "PhD students/candidates and Supervisors" 13-2-2009

4a Powerpoint presentation IDS povdev lecture 1 2008

3b CERES lecture household fluidity 2006

2d Powerpoint presentation eerstejaars college Europa 1 2008

2epowerpoint presentation eerstejaars college Europa 2 2008

5a powerpoint presentatie milieu klimaat en ruimtelijke dynamiektoegang tot hulpbronnen2008

6 powerpoint presentatie over politieke milieugeografie 2008

7 powerpoint guest lecture African Studies RESMA Leiden: interdisciplinarity and vulnerability/climate change studies 2007

8 powerpoint guest lecture in IHE summer course climate-based risks in cities, 2009

9: ppt forestsfood and/or fuel Utrecht summer course

Some Master's theses

A few examples of (electronic versions of) Master''s theses that I (co-)supervised

- Alberto Serna Martin: governance clean development mechanism Buenos Aires Argentina (2008, human geography)

Thesis Alberto Serna Martin