On April 23, 2025, the Library received a generous donation of 600 science books, primarily focusing on biology, from Dr. Maarten Kapelle, a renowned scientist and currently the Chief of the Scientific Assessment Branch at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This valuable contribution significantly enhances the Library’s scientific collection and supports academic and research efforts in the biological sciences.
Dr. Kappelle holds a MSc degree in Biology and a PhD degree in Ecology from the University of Amsterdam and has been with UNEP for 10 years. He has over 30 years of experience in science, policy, practice, and programme management. Before joining UNEP, Maarten held positions at universities and research centers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA, the Universities of Amsterdam, Leiden, and Utrecht in the Netherlands, and the National University and University for Peace in Costa Rica.
From 2003 to 2010, he also worked at NGOs in the nature conservation sector, including as Director of Science for Central America and the Caribbean and Lead Scientist for Latin America at The Nature Conservancy, and as Chief Conservation Officer for the Netherlands and Director of Programme Performance for Africa and Asia at the World Wide Fund for Nature. Earlier in his career, he worked as an Associate Expert at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs outposted in Costa Rica and the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute.
Maarten has published over a hundred scientific, technical, and popular articles, chapters, reports, and abstracts in journals, magazines, and technical series, mostly on ecology, biodiversity, and climate, particularly in Latin America. He has authored and co-edited nine English and Spanish books on tropical ecology and biodiversity.
This collection will be integrated into the Faculty of Science & Technology (FST) Library books.