New WIMEK Director Petra Hellegers Appointed

The Board of Directors has appointed Prof. dr. ir. Petra Hellegers as Director of WIMEK, the Graduate School Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research. The appointment will be for 4 years, from 1 March 2024 until 1 March 2028. She is to succeed Prof. dr. Carolien Kroeze, who has been appointed as Rector Magnificus and Vice-President of Wageningen University & Research.

Prof. dr. ir. Petra Hellegers is chairholder of the Water Resources Management group of ESG since 2013 and has been special professor on Economics of Water and Climate Change at SSG and a board member of WASS (Wageningen School of Social Sciences). Petra is looking forward to working with the WIMEK-team and board on further strengthening interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and the science-policy dialogues. Additionally, she is enthusiastic for the implementation of the Sector Plan Earth and Environmental Sciences.
She also anticipates engaging in debates on the role of scientists in transitions and the ethical use of GenAI in research. Her goal is to stimulate an open, inclusive, and safe environment for PhD candidates and supervisors.