dr. Denyse Snelder

Dr

  • De Boelelaan 1105, Main Building

    1081HV Amsterdam

    Netherlands

Personal profile

Personal information

Denyse J. Snelder obtained her MSc in landscape ecology, land suitability mapping and land evaluation in 1985 from the University of Amsterdam and a PhD in 1993 at the University of Toronto, Canada, based on research directed at vegetative control of soil erosion in the semi-arid Baringo District, Kenya. Up to December 2012, she had a dual position, one as senior specialist Sustainable Land and Water Management at the Centre for International Cooperation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and another as associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden (CML), Leiden University, The Netherlands. Since January 2013 she holds a full-time position at the Centre for International Cooperation, Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. Dr Snelder is currently involved in multiple projects in Africa as :

  • Director of the Nuffic-funded project (3C project; NICHE-GLR-264; 2017-2020) on Natural Resource Management and Conflict Resolution for Stability and Inclusive Growth in the Greater Virunga Landscape, implemented by the VU in collaboration with the Ghent University, Search for Common Ground and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) in Rwanda. 

  • Project coordinator of the Nuffic-funded project (SPADE project; NICHE-KEN-284; 2017-2020) on Spatial Planning for Agribusiness and Public Policy Development in Western Kenya,  jointly with Maseno University and consortium partners Moi University, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), and Dutch Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development in Africa (DASUDA).

  • Director of the ASALI programme (2014 – 2019) on research for A Sustainable Approach to Livelihood Improvement, implemented by the VU in collaboration with Moi University (MOI) and South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) in Kenya.

Between 2011 and 2015, Dr Snelder was the project coordinator of the EU-funded FP7 WHaTeR project on water harvesting technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa (including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania as study countries), a consortium of 8 European and African institutes. WHaTeR. Likewise Dr Snelder was project director, jointly with the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre (HoA-REC), of a NUFFIC-funded project (STRONGBOW; NICHE/ETH/023) on capacity building for Higher Education Institutes in natural resource management, tourism, and ecotourism in Ethiopia, running up to December 2015. For the latter project, Dr Snelder led the component on curriculum review and development and a preparatory doctoral training for direct female university staff members. The preparatory doctoral training for female university staff was also held, in formats adjusted to needs and demands of the requesting organizations, in Ethiopia and Kenya funded through EP-Nuffic NFP programme for Tailor-made Training. Up to 2014, she further participates in a project on commoditization of alternative biofuel crops in Indonesia and the Philippines funded by WOTRO and IIAS and until April 2013, in a project on mainstreaming climate change in biodiversity planning and conservation in the Philippines funded by USAID-Philippines and a project on land use planning for sustainable biofuel production in West Kalimantan, Indonesia funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

Before 2009, Dr Snelder was coordinator and later head of the Cagayan Valley Programme on Environment and Development (CVPED), the joint research and  education  programme  of  the  Leiden  University  and  the  Isabela  State  University (Philippines), and counterpart of a similar programme in Cameroon. Dr Snelder has conducted extensive fieldwork in Kenya and the Philippines.

 Summary of work experience:

  • 2009-present: Senior specialist Sustainable Land and Water Management at the Centre for International Cooperation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; co-supervisor of PhD and MSc students at the VU; course leader and lecturer of the VU-UvA Honours course on International Development; course leader and lecturer of the Amsterdam Summer School course on Feeding the Billions: Challenges and Innovation in Food and Water Security;

  • 2017-present: Project director of the NUFFIC-funded project (NICHE-GLR-264; 3C project) on Natural Resource Management and Conflict Resolution for Stability and Inclusive Growth in the Greater Virunga Landscape (Rwanda, DR Congo, Uganda), in collaboration with GVTC, UGhent and Search for Common Ground

  • 2017-present: Project coordinator of the NUFFIC-funded project (NICHE-KEN-284; SPADE project) on Spatial Planning for Agribusiness and Public Policy Development in Western Kenya,  jointly with Maseno University and consortium partners Moi University, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), and Dutch Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development in Africa (DASUDA).

  • 2014-present: Director of the ASALI programme on Research for A Sustainable Approach to Livelihood Improvement at the Trans-disciplinary Applied Research Centre (TARC) for joint collaboration of Moi University (MOI), South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), funded by a legacy through the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  • 2010-2015: Project director of the NUFFIC-funded project (STRONGBOW; NICHE/ETH/023) on capacity building for Higher Education Institutes in natural resource management, tourism, and ecotourism in Ethiopia, a collaboration with the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre (HoA-REC).

  • 2011-2015: Coordinator of the EU-funded FP7 project on Water Harvesting Technologies Revisited: Potentials for Innovations, Improvements, and Upscaling in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • 2011-2014: IIAS researcher in a project on commoditization of alternative biofuel crops in Indonesia and the Philippines funded by WOTRO and IIAS.

  • 1994-2013: Associate Professor, Department of Conservation Biology, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University

  • 2010-2013: Regional site coordinator of a project on mainstreaming climate change in biodiversity planning and conservation in the Philippines funded by USAID-Philippines.

  • 2010-2012: Academic advisor in a project on land use planning for sustainable biofuel production in West Kalimantan, Indonesia funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

  • 2009-2013: Instructor of the course “Environmental Processes and effects of human-induced changes”, Leiden University

  • 1994-2010: Supervisor, co-promoter and instructor of Dutch, Philippine and Cameroon students conducting MSc/PhD research within the field of Natural Resource Management, Protected Area Management, Wildlife- Park Conflicts and Ecotourism in the Philippines and Cameroon.

  • 1998-2009: Head/Coordinator of the Cagayan Valley Program on Environment and Development (CVPED) , a joint research and education program of CML, Leiden University and the College of Forestry and Environmental Management (CFEM), Isabela State University, Philippines

  • 2005:  Coordinator of Training on Agroforstry and Backyard Bio-intensive Gardening, Philippines.

  • 2004-2005: Member of organizing committee of the 5th International Conference on Environment and Development, Cabagan, Philippines, April 11-13, 2005.

  • 2002-2009: Instructor of the course “Environment and Social Change”, Leiden University

  • 1998-2002: Instructor of the course “Introduction to Tropical Ecology”, Leiden University

  • 1994-1998: Coordinator of the field station jointly established by Leiden University, Netherlands and Isabela State University, Philippines

Ancillary activities

No ancillary activities

Ancillary activities are updated daily

Academic qualification

Sustainable land and water management, PhD

Keywords

  • S Agriculture
  • Natural Resource Management
  • Biodiversity conservation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Denyse Snelder is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or