Chelsea Kaandorp is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Environmental Geography department of the Institute of Environmental Studies (IVM) of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. With a background in physics, cultural anthropology and water management, Chelsea’s research focuses on developing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding how climate change mitigation strategies transform social-ecological freshwater systems.
Chelsea currently works within the WIlDCARD project. She explores the potential of wetland restoration activities in Europe for biodiversity and carbon sequestration. She also teaches in courses from the MSc programme ‘Environment and Resource Management’ and BSc programme ‘Aarde, Economie en Duurzaamheid’.
Prior to joining the IVM, Chelsea was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Anthropocene Laboratory, a research programme of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. She led the ‘Intertwined Biosphere’ research theme with the aim to stimulate research that identifies critical intertwined interactions and feedback loops between people and nature embedded in the biosphere.
Chelsea obtained her PhD from the Water Management Department of the TU Delft. Her PhD thesis presents a study on the Energy Transition in Amsterdam and its associated cross-scalar impacts on water resource use, carbon emissions and energy justice.