Oceanographer and Climate Scientist, whose research focuses on how ocean currents transport heat, nutrients, marine organisms and plastic litter between different regions of the ocean. Also affiliated with the Freudenthal Institute, where he leads research into the effectivity of Public Engagement activities and the role of academics in society, within the context of Open Science.Currently leading "Tracing Marine Macroplastics by Unraveling the Ocean’s Multiscale Transport Processes," a five-year (2023-2028) funded by an NWO Vici grant. Previously led the "Tracking Of Plastic In Our Seas" (TOPIOS) project, funded by a 5-year (2017-2022) European Research Council Starting Grant.Winner of a 2019 James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union and the 2016 European Geosciences Union (EGU) Ocean Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award. Awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) by the ARC in 2013 and a Starting Grant by the European Research Council in 2017.PhD in physical oceanography, using both data from ocean observations as well as from computer simulations of the ocean to understand how different regions of the ocean are connected.Worked in Europe, the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom and now the Netherlands. Authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles on ocean circulation with more than 500 different co-authors. Strong science communicator, with appearances on international television, radio and newspapers. Media Fellow with the Australian Government Climate Commission sought-after international expert on oceanography, having done over 400 interviews on ocean circulation and plastic pollution with media outlets including CCN, BBC, NBC, ABC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, TIME magazine, AP, and Reuters.Lead developer of the OceanParcels code, an open-source framework to simulate how ocean currents transport 'stuff' around.Initiated and developed the website plasticadrift.org where visitors can interact with how floating debris would spread through the ocean. The website has been used internationally in media outlets to illustrate the way plastics and other debris such as from the Fukushima tsunami and from flight MH370 moves through the ocean.