Our new columnist Joshua Wambugu is 40, in the final year of his PhD and an active member of the DARE inclusiveness project and has managed to find time to write columns for Resource.
Wambugu has just arrived in Shimoni, Kenya, where he will spend five weeks doing field work when we interview him. Behind him is a wall with a mural of turtles and fish, representative of his PhD research. Artificial coral reefs are being constructed off the coast of Kenya (as seen in last week’s broadcast of NOS news). These natural reefs have suffered severe damage from climate change and unsustainable fishing . The new reefs are to increase biodiversity and enable us to study coral that is more resilient against rising seawater temperatures. The new reefs also impact local communities that depend on tourism and fisheries. It is in this domain that Wambugu’s research is focused.
Tourism and nature conservation
Wambugu was born in the central part of Kenya, the youngest in a family of twelve. He studied Tourism Management and worked in nature conservation for several years. He came to Wageningen to do a master’s in Tourism, Society and Environment in 2016. ‘A dream come true’, he says. After graduating, he served as a board member for the student council party S&I for a year before embarking on his PhD. He is a member of the DARE coordinating team and Social Safety Guide. He enjoys nature and cooking ‘a good Kenyan meal’ in his leisure time.
There is life outside of your PhD
Is there still time left to write columns? ‘The final year of a PhD is, indeed, quite stressful, but I value doing things for the Wageningen community. That is why I joined S&I and why I am now a member of DARE. And I want to do the same through my columns. Topics such as inclusion, mental health and sustainability are important to me, and I feel that I am quite well-informed about what goes on in the Wageningen community. I am quite a curious person. And, with regard to time issues: there is life outside of your PhD.’
You can read Joshua’s first column here.
