Marjolein Jonges

Office manager

Growing up in South Africa I was constantly surrounded by breathtaking natural landscapes and a wide variety of animals which I was very fortunate to encounter in their natural habitat. I knew from a young age that I wanted to play a role, no matter how small, in nature conservation and preservation. Working at Blonk Consultants allows me to do my part in minimizing the sustainability challenges we face worldwide. Before joining Blonk consultants I worked for various international companies in both the Netherlands and South Africa. It is also in South Africa where I completed my studies in Business and Marketing Management.

In my free time you can find me camping with my family, I also enjoy nature walks, baking and photography.

Delighted to be part of a team that is working on the challenges in creating a more sustainable and healthy society and leaving a better planet for our children.

Daniele Castellana

Model & Data Specialist

The path that eventually brought me to Blonk is not the most straightforward one, especially compared to the ones of many of my colleagues. Motivated by a strong will to understand the basic laws of nature, I enrolled in a bachelor’s program in Physics and pursued my studies with a master’s degree in Theoretical Physics at Sapienza University, in Rome. I have always been interested in issues related to climate change and I realised that a PhD in Climate Physics would have been a great meeting point between my personal interests and my academic background. Therefore, I moved to Utrecht, where I eventually completed my PhD last October, with a thesis on extreme events in the Atlantic Ocean circulation.

I enjoyed research and participating in the large, international community of climate and environmental scientists. At the same time, I realised that abstract academic research will not satisfy me in the long term. In the last years I have become increasingly aware of the extent of the current climate and environmental crises and I believe that society needs immediate and decisive actions to be able to cope with them. This strengthened my motivation to apply my professional skills in a context that can make a more direct contribution to society. In particular, I believe that improving the food system constitutes a crucial lever to address climate change, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation.

I’m enthusiastic about joining my colleagues at Blonk, in their effort to improve the sustainability of agriculture, animal production systems and nutrition. I enjoy modelling and translating real-world problems into quantitative terms, which will be part of my responsibilities as a Model and Data Specialist. Besides my work, I like reading, cooking and going on long hikes with friends.