Ruben Zondervan is the executive officer of the Earth System Governance Project and programme officer at the Secretariat of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, Bonn, Germany. Zondervan studied political sciences, modern history, economics and law at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Freiberg im Breisgau, Germany, and political science at the University Potsdam, Germany. He holds a MSc in environmental and resource management from the Free University Amsterdam. His current research interests include the governance aspects of geo-engineering.

Ruben Zondervan has also worked at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, the VU University Amsterdam, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Riga and at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.