Alumnus testimonial
Alumni Jicke Dröge - MSc International Land and Water Management
Specialist in spatial planning and decision-making, Jicke Dröge: “I am a planner at the Arcadis consultancy firm. I work on major infrastructure and improvement projects. My focus areas are dike improvements and nature development. Within these projects, I bring together knowledge from different specialisations and ensure that the proposed solutions are legally correct. A very fun puzzle to put together. For example, I work on nature development along the Afgedamde Maas, and on dike reinforcement for the Pannerdense Waard near Westervoort. We analyse the effects and costs of various options and provide advice to our client, such as a province or water board. Ultimately, this organisation makes the (political) choice for a particular solution.”
My work has an impact on the physical environment and I can see this with my own eyes.
“The projects sometimes take many years, but the first excavators will soon be deployed for the dike reinforcement project. I think it's really cool that what I do has an impact on the physical environment and that I can see this with my own eyes!”
Integrating information flows
“I completed both the BSc and the MSc International Land and Water Management, which gave me a good foundation in many different themes, such as ecology, hydrology and soil science. This allows me to understand, bring together and analyse reports from specialist colleagues.”
“What I also learned during my studies is to look at complex issues from different perspectives and disciplines. Such as taking technical, social, economic and ecological factors into account, and integrating those information flows to arrive at good solutions. I have found that I have become very good at this. “
New world
“I knew little about legal matters when I started here. I have developed myself within Arcadis in recent years, a new world opened up for me. This happened very naturally, because there are always colleagues willing to explain things and guide you.”
“I have been working at Arcadis since I did my internship here as a master's student. I liked it so much that I asked if I could stay. It was an internship in which I could experience whether consultancy would be something for me. During that period I worked intensively on various projects.”
Generalist
“I have developed into a generalist, but I also have colleagues here who have completed a master's degree in International Land and Water Management and have become a specialist; for example, a specialist hydrologist. How you develop further depends very much on who you are as a person and which courses you included in your programme. I have chosen a combination of courses from the Soil Physics and Land Management and Water Resources Management chair groups, because I really enjoy gaining broad knowledge and experience. I don't need to know everything about one subject, but I want to know a little bit about everything. That makes me excited!”