Valentine Opanga, junior researcher with ZEF’s research group on Cultural and Political Change (ZEF CPC), defended her doctoral thesis on “The Political Ecology and Governance of Green spaces in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements” successfully today. She obtained her doctoral degree from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bonn. Her research was supervised by Professor Detlef Mueller-Mahn (Geography Department, Bonn University) and Professor Eva Youkhana (group leader ZEF CPC).

Gretchen Gonzaga (ZEF's research group on Cultural and Political Change, ZEF CPC) defended her doctoral thesis on “Post-Disaster Recovery in the Philippine Periphery: An Anthropological Approach to the Experiences of Sea-Oriented Indigenous Peoples”. Her doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Arts, Bonn University.  Gretchen’s supervisor was Prof. Eva Youkhana (ZEF CPC), her advisor and reviewer was Prof. Christoph Antweiler, second reviewer was Prof. Kristina Großmann and additional member of the examination committee was Prof. Carmen Brandt.  Her tutor was Dr. Dennis Lucy Aviles Irahola (associated ZEF senior researcher)

Ana Maria Perez Arredondo, ZEF researcher with ZEF’s Division on Ecology and Natural Resources Management (ECOL) defended her doctoral thesis titled “Holistic Health Approaches in Ghana. Essays on the evolution and institutionalization of the One Health concept, the social and environmental determinants of health, and the determinants of technological change” successfully on January 29, 2026. 

Philipo Jacob Mtweve (ZEF ECOL) obtained his doctoral degree from the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences of the University of Bonn on January 21, 2026. “The choice is not whether to build roads in Sub-Saharan Africa, but where and how. This endeavor is demanding evidence-based frameworks that integrate biodiversity conservation with rural development imperatives”, says Philipo about his doctoral research, which he concluded today with a successful defense. 

Fernando Rodriguez-Camayo (ZEF ECOL) defended his thesis on “Climate Resilience Actions and Coffee Households’ Food (In)security in Western Honduras” on January 19, 2026, at ZEF. 

When food prices skyrocket during an economic crisis, urban populations and people with low levels of education are primarily affected. This can have lifelong negative health consequences – such as stunted growth in children.

On December 2-3, 2025, the Right Livelihood College at ZEF brought together 15 selected and invited international young researchers and global experts working on sustainable natural resource use, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and environmental justice at a workshop at ZEF. Contributions highlighted the varied socio-ecological pathways through which communities navigate environmental change and pursue more just, resilient futures.  

December 1, 2025. The project team of „Agrifoodsystems Transformative Research and Policy Guidance” and their partners from the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) project “Knowledge for Nutrition (K4N)” in Brussels held a hybrid workshop titled “Persistent stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa: local insights from three countries” at ZEF in Bonn.