After retiring from the World Bank, Pietronella van den Oever was a Visiting Scholar at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, DC where she wrote a book about her experience working in Africa. In addition, she held positions at the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Switzerland and worked for seven years in field assignments in agricultural development for FAO in West Africa. Her main professional focus was on population and economically and socially sustainable development. She holds a Master’s from Cornell University in International Rural and Agricultural Development and a PhD from the University of Southern California in Sociology, with a major in Demography and a minor in Development Economics.