I studied biology at the University of Groningen. I obtained my PhD in paleontology at the University of Groningen in 1992, on the systematics of fossil fishes from the Upper Jurassic limestones of Bavaria. The research was partly done at Teylers Museum, Haarlem. With a stipendium of the Humboldt Foundation I did postdoctoral research (Humboldt Fellowship) at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin and the Juramuseum in Eichstätt.

Since september 2001 I'm curator of the natural history collections at the University Museum Utrecht. I'm also responsible for the collection of historic scientific instruments, and all the collections from the science field in broad sense. My research expanded into the field of collection based research in the history of science.

As a curator I'm involved in many aspects of the curation of the collection, such as accession of objects, or deaccession, cataloguing and description of the specimens, but most of all how to make the collection visible for the general public. Another important aspect is to make the collection available for teaching and research within the university, but also for colleagues from outside.

The University Museum takes care of a large and diverse collection, most of the objects originate from Utrecht University. The objects illustrate and tell the history of teaching and research at Utrecht University, but are illustrative for the history of science in a broader sense as well. It's a fascinating collection, with many beautiful, rare and interesting objects.