This is the education team of BIL and MIL!
Want to contact them? You can get in touch with one of the study advisors for any question you have regarding your study; questions can be, for example, about planning your study, the content of the programme, health issues that may disrupt your study, stress, or any other thing you would like to discuss. If they cannot help you directly, they often know who to refer you to. You can consider them as your first point of reference related to studying at Wageningen University.
Bert Bruins - Programme Director
Email: bert.bruins@wur.nl
Work phone: 0317483706
Office location: Lumen, A233
Office hours: Monday to Friday
My name is Bert Bruins, and I am the BIL and MIL program director. It is my task to ensure that the curricula are of good quality, up-to-date and coherent. For the purpose I advise the Program Commission on possible enhancements of the programs and on educational innovations. I think it is important to remain close to the practice of teaching and learning, which is why I also continue lecturing at Water Resources Management group. Before I started as program director I worked as study adviser for quite some years. Besides, I have been involved in capacity building projects in Benin, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal. Before joining the university I worked with SNV, Netherlands Development Organization, as adviser to local organizations on integrated area development, ancestral domain and coastal resources management in the Philippines and as irrigation engineer in Nepal. I studied Tropical Land & Water Management in Wageningen.
Maaike Breedveld - Study Advisor
Email: maaike.breedveld@wur.nl
Work phone: 0317484117
Office location: Gaia, B.109
Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday morning, Friday morning
My name is Maaike Breedveld, study adviser for BIL and MIL students. Having a background in Food and Social Sciences, I graduated at Wageningen University in Sociology of Development, Gender studies and Communication studies. During my studies I spent half a year in Ghana to do research among cocoa farmers. Over the years, I have worked as a communication officer, journalist and editor for different organisations in the domain of organic agriculture and education. Alongside editing work, I worked as a coach of student groups. I was doing communication work for the International Land and Water Management programme when I got this position as a study adviser in 2018. I am super enthusiastic about working with you and happy that this job enables me to use my skills and experience to your benefit.
Coen van der Steen - Study Advisor
Email: coen.vandersteen@wur.nl
Work phone: 0317486165
Office location:
Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
I am Coen van der Steen and I started as study adviser BIL & MIL in the summer of 2021. I did do the BIL program, followed up with MDR at WUR, graduating on climate change adaption processes and rainwater harvesting in rural Kenya. I have had the chance to work abroad working on salination in drainage in Egypt and building dams in Kenya. In the Netherlands I worked for local governments on sustainable energy and urban climate change adaptation and have coordinated an organic care farm. On the side, I have had the chance to teach at WUR; mostly on research design. I consider it a privilege to work with you and look forward to working together with you to make your studies a great experience.
Dorine Kea - Study Advisor
Email: dorine.kea@wur.nl
Work phone: +31317484938
Office location: Gaia, B.112
Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
My name is Dorine Kea and I am one of the study advisors for BIL and MIL students. I started studying at the Wageningen University in 2007 and did the MIL after my BSc in Economics and Policy. Using my gained skills and knowledge of water, soil, agronomy and policy during my studies, I started working for the Dutch Farmers Organization (LTO Noord) in 2015. As a water policy advisor I intermediated between water boards and farmers and motivated farmers to join sustainable soil and water management projects. Together with water boards we defined problems, solutions and frameworks for water issues and created programs to finance, adopt and monitor soil and water measures by farmers.
Nowadays I am very happy to work with students who develop their own perspective and role in international land and water management and guide them through their studies.
