Tracy van der Biezen first graduate of the UA Bachelor SISSTEM

July

On Monday July 11, 2022, Tracy van der Biezen has successfully defended her thesis and has obtained the title Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Engineering and Technology with a specialization in Bio-environmental Sciences. Tracy defended her thesis in front of a graduation committee consisting of ms. Alba de Agustin, dr. Lies Jacobs and dr. Nigel John. Present at the defense were the prime minister of Aruba, ms. Evelyn Wever-Croes, vice-dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences dr. Eric Mijts, family of Tracy, invited guests and staff of the University of Aruba.

The title of Tracy’s thesis is “Small Islands and Ecology: How can citizen science contribute to Aruba’s Sustainable Development Goals Indicators?” Tracy has studied the goals and methods of implemented citizen science projects in Small Island States reported in academic literature and she has analyzed how citizen science projects in Aruba (could) contribute to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals. She has learned from case studies in other islands as well as of examples in Aruba, identifying citizen science patterns in the island context. She concludes that citizen science is an opportunity for increasing knowledge production and allowing citizens to interact directly with the data, creating awareness for sustainability topics.

Tracy is the first graduate of the SISSTEM-bachelor program that is being developed at the University of Aruba in close collaboration with the KU Leuven and is funded by the EU. SISSTEM has been set up to train young generations of academics that develop critical capacity to address sustainability-issues in small island states. Soon more bachelor students will graduate, the master program starts in February 2023 and the first PhD-candidates are expected to graduate in 2024.
A word of gratitude goes to the colleagues at the University of Aruba, the lecturers and staff of SISSTEM that have guided and coached Tracy as a student. A word of gratitude also goes to those outside of the University of Aruba who have supported Tracy in the completion of her research.

For more information on the SISSTEM bachelor- and masterprograms, visit the website of the University of Aruba at https://www.ua.aw/sisstem.

‘This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the University of Aruba and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union’.