Marine ecologist, photographer, diver, plankton enthusiast.

Welcome to my website! I am a marine ecologist passionate about sustainability, biodiversity, taxonomy and how human-induced changes are affecting marine ecosystems. For my PhD in marine ecology I investigated changes in gelatinous zooplankton (“jellyfish”) communities in Dutch coastal waters by analysing long-term datasets and performing field surveys as well as experiments.

After my PhD I worked for a while at a sustainable fishing NGO, before returning to science where I now specialise in research focused on zooplankton diversity, ecology and monitoring. At NIOZ I investigated the impact of Blue Energy production on zooplankton through monitoring and experiments. At NIOZ and later at Wageningen Marine Research I worked on testing and implementing innovative methods of zooplankton sampling such as in-situ imaging with machine-learning assisted classification.

Currently I work  at Rijkswaterstaat as technical advisor where I  advise on the use of zoöplankton research and monitoring to further our understanding of the status of Dutch marine and inland waters.

Experienced in organising research projects, research cruises and monitoring surveys, analysing long-term data, experiments, and species identification/taxonomy of benthos as well as zooplankton and fish. For more information please see my curriculum vitae and publications.

I maintain several other websites:

  • zooplankton.nl, which provides information and imagery related to zooplankton, their diversity and ecology.
  • plankton.photography which houses my library of plankton imagery showing the bizarre and beautiful shapes and forms you can find in the plankton.
  • planktonoverleg.nl, the home page of the Dutch organisation for plankton researchers of which I am the chair.
  • vliegerfotograaf.nl, which showcases my aerial photos taken from a kite.
An image of a diver looking at a jellyfish

Diving in Lake Veere in a jellyfish bloom.