Esmeralda has studied Medical Biology. Before joining Utrecht University, Esmeralda got her PhD on the development of occupational allergy at the University of Amsterdam. Her research at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences at Utrecht University focused on occupation and environmental exposure. In recent years she moved from research to project management and was amongst others project manager of the OBO-study, a Dutch study on exposure of residents to pesticides and the H2020 EXPANSE project. Currently, Esmeralda is the project manager of the VHP4Safety project and the AFARA project.