The long-awaited new episode of “getting to know ESSET staff” is finally here. In this blog, I present to you, Arjen Boon. Arjen has been working in our programme for 2 years now. Before that, he worked as a researcher in Marine Ecology at Deltares, Delft (The Netherlands). He was (among other things) responsible for monitoring programs and assessments on the impact of offshore wind farms on marine ecology. Now, that explains why Arjen gives the course Ecology (year 1 period 4). Read further below Arjen’s story!
Arjen completed his PhD in Marine Ecology at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research back in 1998. Before joining ESSET, he worked at Deltares for more than 10 years. Interesting career switch, I think. He explained that in his last years at Deltares, he was giving courses abroad (in Kuwait, Denmark) and in the Netherlands on environmental impact assessments, marine ecology, and marine policy to professionals. He enjoyed and liked doing that. And finally, when the universe gave him a chance, he decided to see if he could become a teacher. So here is Arjen now! You probably often see him walk around LD building with his casual style: T-shirt and sandals 😉
I very much enjoy having contact with students, and to bring them my knowledge and experience. Especially the moment when a student “gets it”, is golden…
Arjen Boon
As far as I know Arjen, he is always enthusiastic (almost) about everything. There was a moment when he was doubting the duration of a lecture, thinking that he would not have a lot to talk about and that he would finish quicker than the schedule. If you are reading this and you have been taught by Arjen, you definitely know what happened: Arjen did not stop talking and he run out of time. Don’t get Arjen wrong (no, he does not want you to go home late, he also wants to catch his train to Amsterdam), he just really likes to share his knowledge and experience with the students. Arjen also would like to integrate knowledge development and teaching, because he wants to bring actual issues and solutions even better to our students.
The Amsterdamer Arjen Boon has an inspirational quote for the readers of this blog: Life is a journey. Enjoy it, find your sweet spot and cherish it. All the rest is rubbish. Well said Arjen, let’s hope that we can guide our students to find that “sweet spot”, hopefully within the field of environmental science!
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