Ilse Geijzendorffer succeeds Jan Willem Erisman, who has been working at the Institute of Environmental Sciences in Leiden since September as professor of Environmental sustainability. After studying mathematical biology at Wageningen University, Ilse developed her research on agriculture, ecosystem services and biodiversity. In France she now works at the Tour du Valat institute where she heads a strategic team working on various topics related to sustainability at a national and international level.
"The Supervisory Board is very pleased to have found someone in the person of Ilse Geijzendorffer who fits in the tradition of the Louis Bolk Institute. Someone who, together with the employees, can convey in an inspiring way the importance of using an integrated system-oriented approach to agriculture, nutrition and health. " (Pieter van Geel: Chairman of the Supervisory Board).
Ilse Geijzendorffer obtained her PhD titled "Management strategies to integrate botanical diversity and grassland productivity" in Dublin. From 2007 to 2012 she worked at Alterra (now part of Wageningen Environmental Research), eventually as coordinator of the team "Ecological Networks". Driven to further expand her expertise, she then went to IRSTEA (now part of the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) and soon ended up at IMBE (Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology) to focus on agricultural ecosystem services. From 2016 she has been coordinating a strategic team within Tour du Valat, where she has a broad responsibility and comprehensive range of tasks in both national and international networks.