Raf joined GEDB in September 2022 and works mainly within the Global Health and Biosphere Stewardship theme, looking to better understand systemic risk and how we can steer societal development towards a sustainable future.

Raf holds an MSc in Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. His dissertation involved interviewing conservation practitioners to understand better their opinions on what counts as evidence and how it is used in conservation practice. He also holds an MSc in Ecology and Development from the University of Antwerp. For this dissertation, he worked on carbon capture, experimenting with the capabilities of olivine to draw down CO₂ from the atmosphere and its effects on the functioning of cable bacteria.

Raf has an innate passion for natural ecosystems, where he is often found in his free time. He can tell you quite a lot about dragonflies and other insects. He has been active in a local environmentally conscious youth movement and was its president for two years.