Jolien holds a PhD degree from the Forest and Nature Policy group of Wageningen University. Her Master’s degrees in Development Studies and Advanced Development studies are from Radboud University Nijmegen.

Jolien started her professional career at the Netherlands institute for Southern Africa (NiZA) in 2003, where she co-founded a regional capacity building project and coordinated research and policy influencing on the subject of natural resources in Africa. In early 2007, she took on a research position for the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) in Germany, where she studied the link between natural resources, governance, and armed conflict. In early 2009, Jolien moved to Cameroon to work for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Yaoundé. She participated in studies on forest-product value chains and coordinated research work on woodfuel around urban centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on these woodfuel studies she conducted a PhD with Wageningen University. In 2012, Jolien moved back to the Netherlands where she started her own research company (http://schure-research.com/) that provides research and advice to various international organizations. Her current research interests are: forestry sector, small-scale mining sector, renewable energy sector, corporate social responsibility, sustainability issues, livelihoods studies, value chain analysis, and natural resource management.

Keywords: forestry, mining, renewable energy, livelihoods, value chain, natural resource management