Our team

Raïssa Montois holds a MSc in environmental bioscience engineering, specialised in land use planning (UCLouvain). She joined the Sytra team in September 2022. She contributes to prospective and strategic studies on the ecological transition of agri-food systems. Her systemic approach combines territory and sectors.

Diana Borniotto holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from University of Milan. She has worked during the past years in both the private and public sector focussing on social and environmental externalities of agricultural value chain. Her PhD research now focuses on the implementation of European pollinators protection measures and decision making process.

Océane Duluins holds a Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering (2020) from UCLouvain. Her master’s degree focused on forestry sciences. Her PhD research now focuses on the transformation of the agricultural and food system towards sustainability and resilience. In particular, Océane’s research focuses on the protein transition. She also is a teaching assistant in biology within the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering.

Philippe Baret holds a MSc in agricultural sciences and a PhD in quantitative genetics. A professor at UCLouvain since 1997, his teachings focus on systems analysis, genetics and agroecology. He supervises the Sytra research team with a focus on the characterization of agricultural and food systems, the development of agroecology and the processes of innovation and transition. He is a member of various organizations boards and research groups.

Clémentine holds a MSc in agricultural sciences from AgroParisTech. Her research focuses on the dynamics of ecological transition, with an original approach mixing agronomy and sociology. Her work considers scales from the farm level to the regional and european level.

Céline, a bioengineer trained at UCLouvain, is a PhD Student funded by a FNRS grant. Her work focuses on the systemic study of intercropping in market gardening: How to choose and design them? Her PhD is conducted in a participatory manner, in collaboration with Walloon market gardeners.

Bioengineer in agronomy (UCLouvain) and holder of a master’s degree in contemporary history (ULB), Véronique De Herde explores in her doctoral thesis (FRIA grant) the coexistence between governance and development models in the Walloon dairy sector. In particular, she studies the historical development of cooperatives and the impact of new cooperative models on the diversification of dairy productions. She also studies the relationship of these models to the practices and identity of dairy farmers.

A bioengineer by formation (UCLouvain), Manon Ferdinand is a doctoral student supported by the financing of a FRIA grant. Within the Sytra team, she is conducting a thesis on the characterization and study of Conservation Agriculture models in relation to climate adaptation and mitigation issues.

Anton holds a MSc in agricultural sciences (UCLouvain) as well as in Environmental Sustainability (University of Edinburgh). As part of Sytra, his work ranges over the three research areas of the team: the global analysis of food and agricultural systems, a consideration of the diversity within those systems and discussions around transition pathways.

Louis obtained a MsC. Agricultural Sciences (UGent) in 2016. Since then, he’s working as a junior researcher at ILVO in Merelbeke. In his doctoral research Louis explores how agroecology, in all its dimensions, is and can be put into practice by Flemish beef farmers. He is passionate about the political economic dynamics mediating contemporary food systems transitions both locally and globally.

Caroline holds a MSc in agricultural sciences (ULB) as well as in Climate Change Adaptation. She joined the Sytra team in November 2020.

Following on from her previous experiences with agricultural organizations and farmers unions and in a consulting firm specializing in social risk management, Caroline will carry out prospective and strategic studies on the dynamics of agricultural and food transition.

Anne-Maud holds a MSc in Forest & Nature Conservation (Wageningen University). 

She has worked during several years for sustainable management projects and monitoring of forest ecosystems internationally.

She joined the Sytra team in December 2020. She contributes to prospective studies on the ecological transition of agro-food systems. She particularly appreciates the inclusive processes that combine the knowledge and experiences of all to bring about sustainable agroecological innovations.

Agroecologist (ULiège and ULB) and holder of a master’s degree in theoretical physics (ULB), Noé Vandevoorde is leading a PhD in the Sytra team, funded by the Province of Luxembourg. His thesis focuses on the realization of a state of the art of the use of pesticides and their associated pollutions in the province, as well as on the study of pathways for decreasing the use of pesticides in the Province of Luxembourg.