On June 12 2009, Zoë Robaey, Transatlantic Fellow with Ecologic, was invited to the General Meeting of the Dutch Environmental Professionals Association in Den Haag. She was among the three finalists from Dutch higher education institutions whose Master’s theses were nominated for the Rachel Carson Award. Her thesis “Differing Views of Uncertainty in Environmental Controversies: the Kearl Oil Sands Case, 2003-2008 in Canada“ was awarded second place.

During the General Meeting of the Dutch Environmental Professionals Association (Vereniging van Milieuprofessionals), several pressing environmental themes were discussed such as the repercussions of the economic crisis and workshops with a variety of environmental professionals were held.

The Ceremony for the Rachel Carson Award, which was part of that event, started with a presentation by the winner, Perry van Overveld, alumni at the Technical University of Delft. His thesis is titled: “Countering threats to drinking water quality - strategy formulation for enhanced protection of drinking water”. Professor Henk Moll then read out the evaluations of the jury for his thesis as well as the evaluations of Zoë Robaey’s thesis. The nomination of her thesis underlines the relevance and usefulness of a social constructivist perspective in understanding environmental problems and handling them.

Zoë Robaey wrote her thesis at Maastricht University and Université Louis-Pasteur in Strasbourg in the context of the Master’s programme European Studies on Society, Science and Technology: on governance and cultures of innovation (ESST).

Her thesis looked into different perceptions and dimensions of environmental risks and uncertainties. She worked specifically on an environmental assessment case which went through a judicial review in Canada. Her work was highly interdisciplinary involving research in the ecological, juridical, political and social spheres.

Zoe Robaey’s Master thesis [pdf, 665 KB, English] is available for download.