dr. DM (Vera) Vernooij

I am a social scientist motivated by understanding and informing transformative sustainability and circularity processes in agri-food systems, with a focus on socio-economic and environmental food system outcomes. I am happiest working in interdisciplinary teams. 

I have an educational background in anthropology and development sociology (BSc) and environmental sciences (MSc). During my PhD research, I studied different types of farmers and farming practices in Kenya’s dairy sector and how they can be better included in sustainability initiatives that focus on both socio-economic development and climate solutions.

Key topics I am currently working on as an applied researcher and project leader are food loss & waste monitoring, circular sidestream valorisation and the food-feed-energy nexus, sustainability in the food processing industry; empowering bottom-up roadmap development towards circular economy strategies; and food and nutrition security across cases in upcoming economies.