Gerrit Jan Carsjens did a MSc in Land and Water Use Planning at the Wageningen University. He obtained a PhD degree at the same University, on the topic of GIS-based planning support systems to support strategic spatial planning processes. He was employed at the Winand Staring Centre and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (the Netherlands), after which he became an assistant professor in Land Use Planning at the Wageningen University. In February 2023 he was appointed as associate professor Land Use Planning.
His educational and research activities focus on strategic spatial planning, scenario planning, environmental impact assessment and food and health issues. He is examiner and lecturer of several courses in the bachelor and master programs Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning and the master program Urban Environmental Management. He is regularly involved as a member of scientific and organizing committees of international scientific conferences. Between 2002 and 2009 he was involved as a consultant in projects in South-East Asia (China, Vietnam, Thailand) of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO Livestock Environment and Development initiative) and World Bank Global Environmental Facility.
Currently, his other scientific positions are:
- Chairman of the Examining Board Environment and Landscape (EBEL) at the Wageningen University
- Honorary Vice President of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR) (since 2018)
- Visiting Professor at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece (since 2003)