Sonja Vermeulen

As Head of Research at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Sonja Vermeulen helps the team to produce research outputs that synthesise across the Flagships and regions, and to engage with policy processes and partners, particularly at the global level.

Prior to her position at CCAFS, Dr Vermeulen served as Director of the Programme on Business and Sustainable Development at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Earlier in her career she worked in research with the University of Zimbabwe, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Center for International Forestry Research. Dr Vermeulen’s work has spanned the natural and social sciences, across the fields of forestry, agriculture and natural resource management. Her career has bridged academic and applied research, with a strong focus on linking science with public policy and private sector strategies, particularly in Africa and Asia.

Dr Vermeulen holds an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Tropical Resource Ecology from the University of Zimbabwe and a PhD in Population Biology from Imperial College London.