Iris van der Meer

My fascination for the natural world started when I was still a little girl, keen on being outdoors and loving all living creatures. This ultimately led to my academic path in biology and nature conservation during which my passion for African wildlife conservation really emerged. Joining the Young Expert Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I landed a job in natural resource management in Ethiopia followed by a job in wildlife conservation with WWF in Zambia.
Realising that successful biodiversity conservation requires the integration of many different disciplines and alignment amongst stakeholders and sectors, I felt the need to enhance my skills and knowledge and applied to the Marina van Damme grant to be able to conduct the MPhil Conservation Leadership at Cambridge University. Because of this grant and therefore the study, I feel better equipped to tackle the global environmental issues and take a leadership role in the conservation management approach.
After a great couple of years with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), I have joined African Parks in 2023 where I am supporting the organisation as ecology specialist in contributing to the 30×30 goal of protected areas. Very excited to embark on this new journey and use all my skills and expertise to have sustainable conservation impact.