Young wadden academy

Melanie Bakema

Groningen Safety Region

I grew up on the Dutch Wadden Island Ameland. Currently I work at Safety Region Groningen (Veiligheidsregio Groningen) as a policy advisor on crisis management. I have a BSc in human geography and planning and a MSc in regional studies (summa cum laude). During my studies, my interest in the interactions between nature and societies grew which made me decide to start my PhD on disaster governance. In my PhD research, I studied the social-ecological interactions that led to disasters and transitions that can be triggered by disasters. I conducted three case studies on disasters in New Zealand, Chile and the Netherlands to obtain insights in disaster governance. After completing my PhD in March 2019, I am able to continue with my interest in preventing, mitigating, dealing with and recovering after disasters in my current job at Safety Region Groningen. As the Wadden Sea area is part of our region, I am interested to explore how potential disasters can be prevented and, simultaneously, socioeconomic development can be stimulated.