Members of the Organisation and Sponsors – Kaule e.V. – Organisation for socially sustainable Agro Projects

Alina Schick

I grew up in Bonn and also did my degree in Biology here. After my studies, I worked for the OECD in Paris as a Consultant in the department of agriculture, nutrition and fishery. One year later, in 2006, I decided to go to Nepal as a volunteer. It was my first time in Kaule and I quickly became acquainted with the local farmers. I gained precious insights into their life situation. I noticed at that time that there is a good opportunity to permanently help people using relatively few resources. Since this time, more and more people have shown interest and gathered both in Nepal and in Germany and they want to contribute and offer their help. I derive great satisfaction from working with the farmers in Nepal and I look forward to positive results. Apart from the practical set up and implementation of the project, it is important for me that the process and the results are scientifically documented, in order to be available for other projects in the future. For this reason, I decided to measure indicators such as soil quality, bio diversity, farmers’ labour time, income and expenses. Data will be evaluated and represented in a research paper.

Demet Celik

My name is Demet Celik and I am responsible for the PR work as well as the memberships. Being a teaching profession student (Romance languages and literature, German studies, supplementary course of studies German as a foreign language) at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Bonn, I got in contact with the association through my old friend Alina Schick, who also manages the Kaule project. Since I have always been interested in natural sciences, particularly in biology, and in social projects, the project in Kaule convinced me and I decided to participate in the association. So far, I have never regretted this. We are always happy about new interested and committed members. And if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Patrick Joisten

My name is Patrick Joisten. At the moment, I dress the office of treasurer for Kaule e.V. in the executive committee. I was born on October 15, 1971 in Krefeld on the Rhine, but ever since I was two, I have lived in Cologne, or respectively for a short while very close to Cologne. I am a special education teacher (teaching profession, 1st state examination sec. II), have worked for three years as a social worker/integration companion in the vocational (re-)integration according to the SGB (Social Security Code) II, XII and IX. Additionally, I currently aim to graduate in “social management” from the University of Bonn, which is an extra-occupational post graduate master degree. So far, I have gained experience through volunteer work with the parish youth, managing local sports events, a running club and the social committee, all of which I am trying to effectively bring in to the association. My main focus of interest and key activities lie with sustainable and permanent changes of society within the different fundamental areas of life of all people.

Dr. Klaus Busse

My name is Klaus Busse, I was born in Valparaiso/Chile in 1941 and I am a zoologist. I have worked all my life as a curator for the fish collection at the Museum König in Bonn, where I am still active as honorary member even after having retired. My further interests are with other animals and, as a hobby gardener more and more with plants. I attach high importance to small ecological cycles, to the lasting regeneration of natural resources, as well as the most economic handling, and not regenerating of resources like fossil fuels. Therefore I travel rather little, I don’t read newspapers, particularly since I see on the other hand the forestry monoculture which have to cover the rising paper need of the computer era, and which cause a substantial depletion of flora and fauna. At present, I work on a protection project of a Chilean frog that is equally a victim of this mono cultural economy. The Kaule project appears to me to be exactly the right start in order to be active and not at least in order to learn from it for my two homes in Germany and Chile.

Caroline Louise Imiela

My name is Caroline Louise Imiela. I have studied Biology, Greek and German as a foreign language at the University of Bonn in Germany and am reading for my legal clerkship.
As a biologist, I take a particular interest in the ecological sustainability of our projects. As a future teacher, I see the opportunity to give children and teenagers an insight and the possibility to engage in our developmental projects.
My task within the project is to carry out the project planning and implementation in our trust. In future, I want to motivate pupils to participate in projects, e.g. to collect donations or to directly participate in the project in Nepal as part of an exchange.

Björn von Reumont

As a biologist with an emphasis on evolutionaly biology, bio diversity and its sustainability are at the heart of my preoccupation. The association „Kaule“ brings up for discussion one of the most essential questions, i.e. how to raise awareness for the importance to appreciate and cultivate bio diversity and in the same time promote the standards of the people who make a living from it. It might surprise some that one can quite live on it and often better than our forest and rural economy trimmed on economic factors could make us believe. However, this needs to be scientifically proven and well-grounded projects need to be in place in order to convince sceptics. This is why I am particularly interested in the Nepal project, and it motivated me to become an initial member the association. As my own „well-grounded project “, I advocate biology studies at the research museum Alexander Koenig and the University in Bonn.

Markus van de Sand

Harald Kampen

I am Kaule e.V.’s Internetfreak, i.e., I design the website, write programs for it when needed and am responsible for the conversion of Office documents to Internet-readable codes. I grew up in a suburb with farmers and in which nearly everybody cultivated vegetables or held animals. This settlement had been created by the Social Democrats at the beginning of the 1930’s in order to allow socially weaker classes to be self-sufficient.

The decisive factor of my joining Kaule e.V. was the possibility to offer a few humans on the planet a little social security however with a founded basis. We work in an interdisciplinary team and collect results from which also we can benefit in Western Europe, also with regards to our increasing need for fair trade products.

Apart from my task to provide infomedia, I would also gladly contribute to creating materials required for training purposes for the farmers of our projects.

Aurelia Herder

My name is Aurelia Herder and I am part of the group responsible for the project planning. I was born on April 14th, 1988 in Freiburg im Breisgau and therefore the “pet of the Kaule family’. At the age of 12, my family moved to Barcelona, Spain and I finished college there in 2006. Then I worked for six months on a horse farm as Riding instructor for children and for handicapped people. After that, I spent half a year in New Zealand, where I worked amongst other things for “WWOOF” (World Wide Opportunities on Organical farm). Since 2007, I have studied agricultural sciences in Bonn. I would like to give farmers the possibility to learn how to develop their agriculture so that they can make a comfortable living from it and have enough resources to be able to offer suitable education to their children whilst retaining their traditions and above all their natural environment at the same time. I am pleased to get to know a new country through this project, and in addition to have the possibility to apply the theoretical knowledge of my studies and learn many new and interesting things.

Dr. Raffael Ernst

Bio Sketch: born 1975 in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. From 1997 – 2006 Studies in biology (focus Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology) Universities of Mainz, Marburg and Würzburg. MSc. & PhD received from the Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg. Scientific volunteer at the Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum Stuttgart. Currently scientific assistant at the Department of Biodiversity Dynamics, TU Berlin.

… I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be (Douglas Adams) – an autumn weekend with a good friend (Kaule’s Media PR representative Markus van de Sand) somewhere in the middle of nowhere (more precisely the Brandenburgian Uckermark) and an idea was born. Well, the actual idea had been born already but I decided to get involved in something that I felt was worth spending energy and time on. Having worked on the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on amphibian communities in tropical Africa and South America over the past few years, changing the biome just seemed to be a logical next step. This, in addition to the overall concept of the Kaule project was what got me hooked in the first place. Even though I am pretty much of a newcomer to the project, I hope that my research background has prepared me to be an active and productive member of Kaule e.V. and I am excited about making immediate contributions to the team.
My research, in its most general sense, seeks to elucidate and understand the origin, maintenance, and consequences of biological diversity within and between local biological communities across different gradients (spatial, habitat, and disturbance). The ultimate goal is to reach a more profound understanding of ecosystem processes at large scales and to improve the effectiveness of current ecosystem management strategies. Kaule provides an ideal setting for testing some of the core hypothesis that lie at the heart of this research and moreover the project represents a stimulating platform that will put me in the position to actually take a look beyond my small ecologist’s horizon. … You live and learn. At any rate, you live… (Douglas Adams, again)

Marie Ulrich

My name is Marie Ulrich and in the picture you can see me sitting in the midst of the fields of Kaule. For I have gotten to know the project at first hand on site as a volunteer and have seen how important it is to support the people there and show them the necessity to operate sustainably.
Until my trip to Nepal in 2009 I studied German philology, geography and philosophy to obtain a Master’s degree and also to become a teacher at the University of Regensburg. After my return from Nepal I will be a trainee teacher. Giving English lessons to the farmers in Kaule has sparked my wish to work practically as a teacher prior to doing my PhD.
I was born in Bonn, with a view to the Rhine, but for some years I have been living with a view to the Danube. Therefore, I would like to make Kaule known to people who live by the Danube and show how important it is to help in this way. Furthermore, I hope to be able to convey this missio to serve to my future pupils.

Volkmar Schulz

Jennifer Lux

Karin Puttkammer

Christian Ebinger

Bianca Bauch

Sylvie Tiesler