I am Jorge Andrés Moncada. I am doing a joint PhD programme at Delft University of Technology (faculty of Technology, Policy and Management) and at Utrecht University (Copernicus institute). I am researching the effects of (trade/support) policies on the deployment of biojet fuel supply chains, and bioenergy production and trade in the EU. I am trying to understand this complex system and to unravel the hidden code for everyone to see. I hope that my research can help policy makers to design better incentives that allow the creation and further development of renewable jet fuel supply chains in the Netherlands.

As a species we face big challenges such as over population, climate change, and inequality (just to name a few). The complexity imbedded in these challenges makes the quest for solutions a multidisciplinary approach. The opportunity to discuss with people from other (knowledge) domains about these topics is the main reason I decided to participate in this blog.

Technologies to produce renewable energy, energy policy, bioenergy markets development, and methods for energy system analysis will, I expect, be central of the blog posts. Although I also expect to be posting on a lot of other issues such as: Universal Darwinism, economics, and complex adaptive systems.

In fact, let me start this blog off with a picture taken by Jocke Berglund after Hurricane Gudrun thundered across southern Sweden in January 2005 leaving 100000 people isolated and without electricity (follow this link). The devastation’s oak tree – shape is the result of the storm and the impact on the soil by forestry industry activities. What does this picture tell you?

If people ask me what my PhD is about, I generally start with explaining that it’s about ‘the conservation of tropical forests in Indonesia’. The initial reaction is usually whether I then have the privilege to go there? And luckily I have! During the past five years, I have collected data and have had meetings with forestry and conservation experts, companies and government officials in Indonesia, particularly in North and East Kalimantan.

North and East Kalimantan, the two provinces in Borneo I focus on, were until a few decades ago almost entirely covered with forests. You could find mixed agricultural fields scattered here and there, and most of the large-scale activities included logging for timber, pulp and paper. The landscape was still highly diverse: ecologically and culturally. Of course there were already development processes going on, but these weren’t as noticeable as they are now.

At the start of my PhD, I could sometimes feel very sad and frustrated about it – nowadays, I see that it is a reality we’re facing and that we’re all contributing to it, in a way. And I sometimes wonder: Why do we actually worry so much about it? And you may wonder: what can we do about it? (I'll come back to that another time)

Ok, briefly back to the PhD. What am I actually researching and why?

In the past five years, I analysed how agriculture has developed in North and East Kalimantan and how this is related to the loss of forest: the types of agricultural crops that have been planted, how much forest these crops have replaced, and how this may continue in the future. This consisted of analysing interesting scientific articles, reports and satellite images, and multiple field visits. And nowadays, I am mostly writing everything down to finalise my dissertation. I’ll tell more in my next blogs!

My name is Carina and I am finalising my PhD research at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. My research is about the impacts of agricultural development on food production, biodiversity and carbon stocks in the forest landscapes of East Kalimantan, Borneo (all will be explained in future blogs..). This is currently a very hot topic, as we live in an era where the world population is growing rapidly and is over-consuming the land and forests that are still left. And our world population does not only have basic needs*, such as (love,) oxygen, food, water, clothing and shelter, but also feels the need for luxury items*, such as (bio)fuels, paper, rubber, gold and furniture. To fulfill many of these needs much natural land is now being cultivated by humans.

For my research, I’ve visited Indonesia several times to do fieldwork and to meet with my local partners WWF Indonesia, UGM and UnMul. These visits were fun, interesting and inspiring because I felt the positive energy of people who feel connected to their country, to their land and to whom they are deep inside. At the same time, I sometimes felt challenged and confronted because I just didn’t understand why a planet like ours can inhabit so much beauty and so much destruction at the same time.

In the coming months, I will write about what drives me in doing this research, why I selected it in the first place and how the past years of my PhD have been exciting and challenging, and the best learning-exercise I could've ever imagined.

* Whether a need is basic or luxury is of course debatable..

The PhDs of the E&R group are currently writing their blogs and will post about their research subject and field work experiences soon!