Clara Lesser is a PhD candidate in the Water and Climate Risk and Environmental Policy Analysis groups at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM). Her research focuses on combining statistical modelling with in-depth qualitative enquiry to take a holistic perspective on drought risk and adaptation. She will contribute to the development of methods for quantifying the risk of anthropogenic drought and its socioeconomic impacts and feedback loops, as well as analysing how communities affected by drought perceive and conceptualise it. Ultimately, she will compare modelled risk and impact with qualitative perceptions and experiences related to drought.
Clara completed a Master of Science in Governance of Sustainability at Leiden University and a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Agriculture at Hochschule Rhein-Waal. For her master's degree, she analysed the socio-environmental impacts of wind energy expansion on peasant and family farming communities in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, and for her bachelor's degree, she examined the links between gender, food sovereignty, and agrobiodiversity in rural communities in Latin America.
Expertise
Food systems, agroecology, mapping, energy transition, political ecology, drought risks and impacts assessment
Education
2025: MSc Governance of Sustainability – Leiden University, The Hague, The Netherlands
2023: BSc Sustainable Agriculture – Hochschule Rhein-Waal, Kleve, Germany
