果冻传媒

Because alumnus Jonas Roothans (1991) felt something was missing in his job, he decided to become politically active after an extensive search. Now, he combines his work as a scientist with serving as a council member for the Party for the Animals in Eindhoven, alongside caring for his one-year-old daughter. 鈥淭he perfect combination,鈥� he calls it. 鈥淔irst, I wanted to be an inventor, and when I achieved that, I thought, now it鈥檚 time to join the resistance and stand up for those who currently have no voice, like animals and the climate.鈥�

His idealism became apparent right after high school. Wanting to do 鈥渟omething meaningful,鈥� he chose to study Biomedical Engineering, where he immediately felt at home. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a broad program, but it has a clear societal goal鈥�, he shares in a council meeting room at Eindhoven鈥檚 town hall. With a cup of coffee in front of him, he reflects on his journey after graduation. He recounts how a guest lecture on deep brain stimulation fascinated him with the brain and behavior, leading to an internship and eventually his current job. 鈥淭he brain is still such a mysterious organ that we know so little about. Even a minor disturbance, like a small hemorrhage, can change people鈥檚 behavior. I wanted to understand that better.鈥�

For the past seven years, he has been conducting scientific research at an academic hospital in W眉rzburg, Germany, focusing on predicting optimal settings for deep brain stimulation in patients with conditions like Parkinson鈥檚.

Paris Climate Agreement

The decision to enter politics alongside his job came after a period of much doubt. 鈥淪hortly after graduating, I wondered what I wanted to do: specialize further as a PhD or broaden my horizons. At the same time, I was struggling with questions about issues like global poverty and hunger, the cruel treatment of animals, and the severity of climate change. If you want to drive change in these areas, you quickly end up in politics,鈥� Roothans explains. Since the Party for the Animals has a consistent and scientifically substantiated narrative, he joined the party. The Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, however, was the turning point for Roothans. 鈥淎t that moment, I suddenly felt deeply connected to all those scientists trying to explain how we are heading towards a climate crisis. What had already been stirring inside me finally pushed me to run for office.鈥�

A scientific lens

This path led him to the city council in 2022. 鈥淢y strength lies in delving into the details and viewing climate and nature issues through a scientific lens. Thanks to my technical education, especially the aspects related to humanity, I鈥檓 well-trained in this area. In this way, I can contribute something meaningful to society, which gives me great satisfaction.鈥�

Achieving Results

Although it鈥檚 difficult for a small party to achieve results, the council member鈥攅xperienced in data-driven predictions鈥攊s especially proud of his contribution to Eindhoven鈥檚 climate budget. 鈥淭hrough a thorough data analysis, I discovered significant errors in the emissions data per sector. And you can鈥檛 make good predictions based on faulty data, so the alderman adjusted it. That鈥檚 when someone who is good with numbers and data comes in handy鈥�, he says with a smile.

Broadening Horizons

According to the council member and scientist, his choice to juggle two roles is a plea for broadening horizons. 鈥淚f your job doesn鈥檛 fulfill you entirely, do something interesting alongside it. Or choose two jobs. You don鈥檛 have to find everything you鈥檙e looking for in one thing.鈥�