Freek Vonk facts for kids
.png)
Freek Jacobus Vonk, born on February 24, 1983, is a famous Dutch biologist. He loves animals, especially snakes. Freek travels all over the world to find amazing and sometimes strange creatures. He is known for his exciting adventures. Sometimes, these adventures can be a bit dangerous! He has been bitten by venomous snakes. He even had a close call with a Caribbean reef shark. Freek also studies snake venom, which is a special interest of his.
About Freek Vonk
His Journey into Science
Freek Vonk was born in Dordrecht, Netherlands. When he was 22, he was already mentioned in a Dutch TV show called Noorderlicht. In 2006, he helped write an article for the famous science magazine Nature. He wrote his first own article in 2007. He was also nominated for an important science award. In 2008, he received a big scholarship of €180,000 to help with his research.
Freek studied biology at Leiden University. He focused on how reptiles, like snakes, have changed over time. He earned his PhD by studying Snake evolution and prospecting of snake venom. This means he learned a lot about how snakes evolved and how their venom works. He won the Eureka prize for sharing science with everyone. He helped more people learn about and get excited about science.
Later, Freek worked as a researcher at Bangor University. He studied the genes of the king cobra. He continued this work at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. There, he also studied the genes of the Malayan pit viper. Over the years, he has written many articles in top science magazines. These include Nature, Cell, and PNAS.
In 2020, Freek became a professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is an expert in how animals, especially snakes, have changed over time. He knows a lot about snake venom.
Freek in the Media
Early in his career, Freek appeared on many TV and radio shows. These included De Wereld Draait Door and Vroege Vogels. He also made shows for National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel. In 2011, a Dutch TV show called Uitgesproken even made a whole episode about Freek. It also showed his pet rock monitor lizard named Johan.
Today, Freek is very famous in the Netherlands. He has many TV shows where he shares his love for wildlife. For the past seven years, Freek has been the most popular TV host for children. This is thanks to his show, Freeks Wild World. This show is on the Dutch public channel NPO 3. Over a million people watch it every episode!
Freek also gave special lectures called ‘DWDD University’. In these hour-long talks, he taught about venom, animal evolution, and super senses. These shows were watched by over one and a half million people.
Freek also has his own children’s magazine. It is called “Wild van Freek”. Thousands of children read it every month. Every year, Freek also puts on a big live show. It is called Freek Vonk Live. Thousands of families come to see him perform.
Since 2014, Freek has been an ambassador for the Future for Nature Foundation. This group helps young people who want to protect wild animals and plants. He also has his own group called No Wildlife Crime. It works to stop illegal hunting.
Freek and Scouting
On September 24, 2021, Freek Vonk became the Chief Scout of Scouting Nederland. This means he is the main ambassador and face of the organization. Freek is only the second Chief Scout in the history of Scouting in the Netherlands. Scouting started there in 1911. Before Freek, a naval officer named Jean Jacques Rambonnet held this role from 1927 to 1937.
