VDSEE Symposium

Affiliation: Universiteit Leiden

Marja Spierenburg is Professor in the Anthropology of Sustainable Development and Livelihoods at Leiden University (the Netherlands), and Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University South Africa. Her research focuses on the role of the private sector in nature conservation and land reforms in Southern and East Africa, and the impacts on local communities’ access to land and livelihood strategies. She has also published on the inclusion of local and indigenous knowledge in biodiversity and sustainability assessments. Marja Spierenburg is a member of the Water, Energy and Food Nexus Knowledge Action Network of Future Earth, and a member of UNESCO’s International Advisory Committee for Biosphere Reserves.

Affiliation: University of Paris-Saclay

Ronny Lauerwald is an Earth system scientist and biogeochemist specializing in the role of inland waters in carbon and nutrient cycles, greenhouse gas budgets of inland waters, and land-surface modeling. His research explores the intersection of climate change, agronomy, and hydrology. He has done pioneering work on terrestrial-aquatic continuums, investigating how carbon and nutrients are laterally transported via river networks, and the role inland waters play in regional and global climate feedbacks. Using advanced numerical tools like the ORCHIDEE land surface model, his work simulates soil erosion, fluvial carbon transfers, and agricultural greenhouse gas dynamics to help predict environmental responses to global change.