Having a background in BioScience Engineering and in Development Studies from the University of Ghent, Jean Hugé obtained his PhD in Sciences at the VUB and ULB universities in Brussels. He is now assistant professor in environmental sciences at Open Universiteit. His work is centred on human-nature interactions. He is especially interested in tropical coastal social-ecological systems, such as mangrove forests. Understanding how people relate to their environment, and how global change is affecting these relations, lies at the core of his research and teaching.
Jean is a keen ‘environmental social scientist’ and enjoys working at the crossroads of multiple disciplines with a wide range of stakeholders. Having a strong international track record including multiple fieldwork missions in sub-Sahara Africa and south-east Asia, his current academic interests focus on the plural valuation of nature, on social learning in times of global change, and on sustainability skills & competences. He enjoys teaching and mentoring students, and has worked on a range of policy-supporting research projects, in particular in the field of development cooperation.