Born and raised in the South of Holland: Brabant, I like spending my time outdoors and have been playing basketball for years. I enjoy travelling, discovering unknown territory: So far I have visited 69 countries.

After studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology in Eindhoven, my partner and I left for Nicaragua to do volunteering work. There, with the help of the Amsterdam-Managua Partnership Foundation, we built several sports fields and a playground in the Arlen Siu neighborhood.

Upon return, I ended up in Delft, where I am still living today (nowadays with partner and two daughters). From there, I joined Dalsem in Den Hoorn.

Horticulture was completely new to me, but it turned out to be an incredibly inspiring sector for me. The diversity of puzzles and issues; From tiny: Improving the efficiency of CO₂ absorption through plant leaves, to large-scale: Finding solutions of meeting the growing global population’s need for safe food: there’s a tremendous amount of things happening in this sector.

Over the years, I’ve taken on increasingly broad roles at Dalsem. Within a few months, I moved from the greenhouse construction to the heating technology department. From there, through the role of Systems Engineer, I eventually became Innovations and Sustainability Manager. With the Dalsem team, we developed a new type of greenhouse: The decentralized semi-closed greenhouse, for which I helped growers in optimising their energy efficiency in Kazakhstan and the US.

I also represented Dalsem in the industry in the innovation programmes of TNO and Hortivation, as well as (after Cofra‘s acquisition of Dalsem in 2022), the Cofra Impact Leadership Team, which a.o. resulted into signing Dalsem up for the Science Based Targets initiative.

After 19 years, I left Dalsem and have started RV Clima Consult. I aim to contribute into pre-competitive work for the horticulture industry and consultancy in optimisation of greenhouse climate installations and utility buildings. I strive for my work to have a positive and sustainable impact.