Dr. Veerle Vandeweerd, Coordinator, Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA), United Nations Environment Programme

Veerle Vandeweerd is Coordinator of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) based at The Hague. She also heads the Regional Seas and acts as Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation of UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr Vandeweerd was a lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Lusaka, Zambia, where she did several research assignments dealing with African Sleeping Sickness (Trypanosomiasis), culminating in her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1991. She has initiated or directed over 100 publications, mainly dealing with environmental monitoring and assessment and on voluntary basis, has initiated and directed several development assistance projects.