You are probably already familiar with the existence of fungi. There are millions of fungal species in the world, but what most people do not know is that some of these species can form a threat to humans. Lucky for us, evolution has given us the chance to develop an immune system that can protect us against... Continue Reading →
50.000 year old viruses revived
Pop culture takes over our minds when we hear the term "zombie virus," the first image that comes to mind is infected individuals who have turned into zombies. That is not the situation. I can offer you something even bigger. Russia's permafrost has been found to contain zombie viruses. After two years of lockdowns, this... Continue Reading →
Plastic-free island, is that possible?
Written by Widya, Karin, and Claudia In December, Widya got a chance to visit two ESSET students working on their internship regarding plastic pollution in Indonesia. This internship was made possible by collaborating with a non-profit organisation Clear Rivers and the University of Pattimura. The students, Karin and Claudia, spent approximately 4 months on the... Continue Reading →
New waste containers @Avans
Earlier I wrote about the new organic waste containers being implemented at Avans. Apparently that is not the only improvement currently being made. In our faculty we now also have new containers which provide visual images to help students and staff separate the waste in the correct waste bin. This kind of visual aid is... Continue Reading →
Sustainability within Avans
Sustainability is not only a relevant theme within our environmental science programme, but also for Avans University of Applied Sciences as a whole. One of the main ingredients of Avans's sustainability efforts is the Mission Zero strategy. With the Mission Zero Avans aims for a fully circular business - this covers topics from catering services... Continue Reading →
Down to Earth: Down Under
One of my favourite 2000's actors has found his life's purpose in highlighting the importance of environmental sustainability through film, and I am here for it. For the last week and a half, I have watched the second season of Zac Efron's down to earth experience. This time, instead of country hopping, the executive producer... Continue Reading →
Creating a problem to fix the problem
Nano plastics have become a recent topic of concern within society. However, there is a knowledge gap on nano plastics related to their concentration in the environment and the harmful effects they pose to ecosystems and living organisms. In addition, there is currently no way of detecting or removing nano plastics from the environment. During... Continue Reading →
We got a new name!
For as long as I can remember, the acronym ESSET always stood for Environmental Science for Sustainable Energy and Technology. But starting from the academic year 2022-2023, we have updated our name to Environmental Science for Sustainability, Ecosystems and Technology! The name change was done as the staff felt this was a better representation of... Continue Reading →
Getting to know ESSET staff – episode 2
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... Continue Reading →
This summer is coming to an end… (a little throwback)
August slipped away. Perhaps you heard (or read) the line above quite often lately, because the month of August indeed just slipped away from us, or just because you are a fan of Taylor Swift, just like me 😉 It felt just a few moments ago that I was so anxious about catching my flight... Continue Reading →
Europe Is Drying Out
Europe is drying out. A shortage of rain in combination with lots of vaporization causes water shortages. The demand for water in the Netherlands is bigger than the supply through rain and rivers. The Netherlands is going to take measures in the coming weeks to divide the water. What’s going on? A European Problem From... Continue Reading →
How Psychedelics May Help Solving Climate Change
LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline, are all psychedelic substances that can lead to mystical experiences and/or a closer connection to the world. People who use these substances often describe feeling more in touch with themselves and the world around them. And by that, I do not only mean fellow humans, but everything: fellow humans, animals,... Continue Reading →