Marieke Sassen

Dr. Marieke Sassen is a Research Associate at Wageningen University, affiliated with both the Earth Observation and Environmental Informatics and Plant Production Systems research groups. She holds a PhD and maintains an active research profile with ongoing projects.

Her research focuses on reconciling agricultural production with environmental conservation, particularly in African contexts. Key interests include:

• Biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes
• Deforestation dynamics and land-use conflicts
• Sustainable cocoa and oil palm production systems
• Ecosystem service trade-offs in developing economies

Recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate strong thematic focus on sustainable agroforestry, biodiversity risk assessment in commodity crops, and policy-compliant land management. Her work frequently incorporates spatial analysis and scenario modeling across sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Sassen actively mentors graduate students, currently co-supervising PhD candidate Maney, C. She leads/participates in multiple collaborative projects including:

• 'Incorporating ecological feedbacks into scenarios of agricultural futures' (Active PhD project)
• 'Ground Zero: Transformative Change for Biodiversity & Equity'
• 'Forest or food: climate mitigation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa'

She regularly presents at international conferences on sustainable land-use planning.