Coordinators
Robert Martinez Varderi
I am born and raised in Barcelona; a beautiful city full of diversity. It is located in Catalonia, a region that has both the Pyrenees and the Costa Brava, which made me love both nature and cities. I am pursuing a double master’s in Urban Environmental Management and Forest and Nature Conservation because I want to transform cities into greener places where humans can live sustainably coexisting with nature. Apart from studying, I am passionate about art, and I find artistic expression through movement and aerial acrobatics, being part of circus companies both in Wageningen and back home.
In RUW I am involved in the coordination of the Business on Campus event, and will set up new events aiming at bringing Art and Reflection to our science-oriented town. Reach out if you have any cool ideas to do so!
Shevani Murray
I am half-Indian, half-British, but grew up in Brussels, a city that I love. Some of my favourite things are hiking and listening to the silence at the top of a mountain, wall climbing, live music, sharing nice food with friends and family, and my dog of course. My educational background is in International Relations and I have worked in communications at the European Parliament for a few years, but decided to make a very early career change and come to Wageningen to study soil biology. My lack of scientific background has been challenging, but I have no doubt I made the right choice in coming here! I am interested in the sustainable use (and non-use) of land and cannot wait to learn about the important roles of soil life.
At RUW, I am mostly involved in the independent Jester magazine and communications. I want to make sure we are your eyes and ears in Wageningen. Feel free to contact me at shevani.murray@wur.nl if you want to get involved – it would be great!
Oscar Bradley
I grew up in a small town in county Cork in the Republic of Ireland, and the smell of slurry on soft spring mornings in Wageningen is always a nice reminder of home. When I’m not staring at a screen, I love being out and about in the garden, forest or swimming in the Rhine (in the summer – I’m not mad). I’m trying to get out on more cycling trips these days and hoping to do another long trip this summer.
In RUW, I am working with the independent Jester magazine and website. I love interviewing people and hearing people’s experiences. I also want to get more into investigative journalism and research topics so in-depth that objectivity oozes from the data I collect – but that may take some time. If you have any fun ideas for content in the magazine or on the website, please hesitate to get in touch. You can reach me at oscar.bradley@wur.nl and sarcasm is always welcome
Smaranda Filip
Originally, I come from a city situated by the Black Sea, however I have spent most of my summers in the countryside, in the hills of Romania. I have always been surrounded by nature and I feel the most in my comfort zone when I am outside. In Wageningen, I am studying International Land and Water Management. I am a nature lover and I am really interested in exploring different perceptions of nature. I am curious about how systems work and I love puzzles: I am always trying to look at the bigger picture and connect the dots. With RUW I am coordinating the Philosophy Club, through which I hope to bring together different ideas and inspiration, as well as diversity. I think that RUW Foundation is a good platform for that, as it is addressing multiple topics and experimenting with new ideas, but in the end coming back to being critical about our choices and about our system.
All in all, if you have a topic you are really passionate about, you can contact me at smaranda.filip@wur.nl and hopefully we will learn a lot from each other!
Jesse Opdam
Life started on farms in the Netherlands, from the clayey soils in the Flevopolder to the sandy soils in Brabant. This skin of the earth has always intrigued me, it provides the foundations of nearly all life on the planet. It led me to study International Land and Water management in Wageningen. And it has brought me to many unexpected places, from the tropical island Saba, to the semi-arid Altiplano of Spain and the remote Highlands of Scotland. In future work I aim to develop sustainable ways of land management and food production. I would like to do that from the ground up, involving people that are closest to the solutions. That’s where my link with RUW lies, looking critical at current ways of education, research and sustainability.
My interests are broad and I like to be involved in many things. There’s different topics that I would like to bring closer to people. However, my main focus is the Wageningen Academy for Citizens and Science. A new citizen science platform in Wageningen, aiming on sharing knowledge present in the city and the surrounding landscape. Contact me if you would like more information about this platform. We can always use more creative minds, don’t hesitate to send us an email!
Board
Rosanne Onstenk
I grew up in a town called Zutphen and it’s already my fifth year here in Wageningen. And although I did several attempts, I did not yet succeed to leave this little town. Things I enjoy the most in life are climbing, hiking in the mountains, and music festivals. When I don’t need to study, I’m working as a waitress in the hotel WICC. My mission for RUW is to bring it back to life and organize events that bring professors and students closer to each other. I believe that professors have many more other interesting things to tell than they have time for in class and that their life story can be a great inspiration for students.
I’m RUW’s Treasurer, so my main task is to keep RUW financially healthy and being responsible for the contracts. Besides that, I’m organizing several kind of events. A big event I’m working on now is the impact of collaboration between the university and the industry. You can contact me about any financial related questions. This also applies to if you for instance want to get an idea how I setup a year budget and keep track of the finances. Also, if you have any other questions, good ideas or want to contribute to RUW don’t hesitate to send me a message!
Clemens Joham
I am Clemens, 21 and I was born and raised in Austria. My parents are from a village in the mountains and even though I always lived in the city I developed quite a strong bond with nature. Combined with other beautiful coincidences, this is also part of the reason which brought me to Wageningen, knowing that the glaciers in your beloved Alps are melting, just logically makes you an environmentalist. My passion to stand up against injustices made me get involved with several organisations and movements, from the Young Greens in Austria to Extinction Rebellion in the Netherlands. I would describe myself as critical, but open-minded, mostly enthusiastic and eager to learn. Particularly learning from others in informal settings is something I enjoy a lot and I believe RUW is the perfect place for that. In my free time I like to cook & eat, read, climb, visit nature areas, swim in the rhine and spend time with my friends.
I am involved with the Critical Activities Platform and am one of the co organisers of the Journalism for Change Capita Selecta Course. Everybody is welcome to contact me via clemens.joham@wur.nl or ruw@wur.nl with questions concerning previous and upcoming events. Also, if you have an interesting topic you would like to organise an event on, hit me up 🙂
Eric van Bruggen
Eric van Bruggen is an all-round specialist in having opinions. Ask him for an opinion and he will have one. Sometimes he writes down his opinions for the Jester, sometimes he shares them with the RUW team. In general, Eric is a strong believer in the power of science, but if it suits him, he is also not afraid to contradict his own beliefs or to be a hypocrite. Contact him if you have an interest in writing, drawing, or creating any other media for The Jester, WUR’s only student-run critical media outlet: http://www.thejesterwageningen.nl/
Alyssa Pritts
Having grown up on a small strawberry farm in upstate New York, USA, made Wageningen feel just like home. I have been lucky to find homes among farmers and scientists in different parts of the world for the past 7 years, opening my mind to new ways of thinking about social and environmental challenges. RUW Foundation hopes it fosters a space for people to come together with different perspectives on all types of initiatives and challenges to learn, discuss, and grow with each other.
I am the Chair of the RUW Foundation, so I am responsible for supporting the team and making sure everyone has what they need to succeed in their projects. Please reach out if you have any questions about RUW and would like to understand how you can be involved!