New colleagues! Team Blonk welcomes Gelieke, Anneke, Kurt and Eline

Over the past month Team Blonk gladly welcomed three new colleagues. Gelieke Steeghs joins as Data Scientist & Consultant, Anneke Kraamer as Software Developers within the Blonk Sustainability Tools team and Kurt van der Blom and Eline Disselhorst as Consultants within Blonk Consultants. A very warm welcome Gelieke, Anneke, Kurt and Eline, we are delighted to have you as part of our team. Let’s meet them!

Gelieke Steeghs

Data Scientist & Consultant | Blonk Sustainability Tools

Last year, I've joined the Blonk Sustainability Tools team as a Data Scientist & Consultant! It makes me excited to contribute towards a more sustainable food system through my work. I think the way we work at Blonk is very hands-on and well-connected with both theory and practice.

Working in the Data Team, I am the link between the consultants and the software developers, a role where my background as a Software Developer will certainly come in handy. Next to that, I am happy that this position gives me the opportunity to further develop my skills in database development and consultancy. Furthermore, in this position I can fully make use of my versatile study background. I completed the bachelor Creative Technology, combined with a minor Industrial Ecology in Sweden. During my time in Sweden, my eyes were opened to the subject of climate change. It was then when I realized that I wanted to dedicate my professional future towards sustainable development. Being very interested in the subject of healthy and sustainable nutrition, where else to start than our food system? Therefore, I followed the master Organic Agriculture at Wageningen University & Research. I am looking forward implementing what I’ve learned about sustainable nutrition, agriculture & food systems here at Blonk.

Besides my work, you will often find me outdoors doing sports, mainly survivalrun and running. I like to train towards a goal and participate in competitions almost every weekend. In the time remaining, I like to read about subjects such as personal development and healthy nutrition, and occasionally go on long hikes together with my boyfriend and our tent.

Fun fact: prior to working at Blonk, I hiked the Jordan Trail, which is a long-distance hike of 700+ km from the north of the country all the way to the Red Sea!

Anneke Kraamer

Software Developer | Blonk Sustainability Tools

Starting already at March 2022 as a software developer but being an official employee from January 2023, I am working at Blonk to develop and maintain animal modules for APS-footprint. So far, I have already worked on modules about Fish, Beef, Pigs and Compound Feed. I really enjoyed working with an inspiring team and learning about animal systems and the LCA calculations behind them. Sometimes my job feels like I am a professional puzzler, puzzling my way to user friendly and technically sound software solutions.

During my master Chemical Engineering at the TU Delft, I started focusing on sustainable development by following the Technology in Sustainable Development program. After that, I have worked as a sustainable energy consultant and project manager for solar cell projects, but I missed the technical approach. In my role as software developer at Blonk, my ambition to contribute to a more sustainable world and my affinity with and background in technology are perfectly combined.

In my free time I like to play (board) games with friends and colleagues, and I play Irish music (vocals, tin whistle, low whistle, bodhrán, piano, harp) in various ensembles. In addition to learning program languages, I am currently learning Irish (Gaelic).

Kurt van der Blom

Consultant | Blonk Consultants

I recently started working at Blonk as a sustainability consultant. What drove me here is the data driven approach to sustainability. It is a clear way to determine whether a certain product is more sustainable. I feel like this is an essential tool to developing a more sustainable society.

I studied at Utrecht University. Here, I followed the Environmental Sciences curriculum for my bachelor and later the master Sustainable Development. During these, I focused more on the energy and materials side of my studies. This eventually led me to LCA as an approach to determine impacts of products and activities. During my Msc thesis, I used LCA to compare two micronutrient fertilizers.

After I graduated from Utrecht University, I worked for about a year at Mobilis as a sustainability coordinator. Here, I continued to work on LCA’s. This time specific for the infrastructure sector.

Now that I work at Blonk, I hope to contribute to developing a more sustainable future via the data driven approach used here.

Eline Disselhorst

Consultant | Blonk Consultants

From a young age, I was interested in nature, both far away and in I my own backyard. I grew up in the forests and heather filled Veluwe, which was great fuel for this love for nature. To learn more, I started my study in biology at Wageningen University. During my study I learned about the impact of agriculture and food production systems on our ecosystems, hence why I chose to specialize in agriculture during my master’s degree, by studying Organic Agriculture and Plant Sciences. During this time my interest in sustainable food systems started to grow more.

Previously, I have worked as a cultivation advisor at GreenFood50, where it was my job to advise farmers on how to grow quinoa in the Netherlands in a sustainable way. I also got introduced in the food industry and Life Cycle Analysis, which really sparked my interest. I believe that a change in our food system is necessary to ensure livelihoods of future generations and am very passionate about making my contribution to this change. My new job at Blonk, as a consultant, gives me the opportunity to analyze the impact of food production on our planet and give advice on how to minimize this impact.

Outside Blonk I like to spend my time outdoors on my racing bicycle and explore surrounding cities and nature. My current goal is to cycle through every municipality in the Netherlands. When I get back from a long ride, I treat myself with a good home-made meal, as cooking and baking is my other big passion. I also enjoy bouldering, board-games and making music.