I grew up and studied in Groningen, the Netherlands. My Initial motivation for choosing a career in biology revolved around conservation biology. I have a background in Marine Biology and Evolutionary Biology but have developed a strong interest in genomic research during my academic career. During my masters I developed strong skills in molecular biology and population genetics working on marine mammals.For my PhD I moved to Wellington, New Zealand and worked on population genomics of snapper, a key fisheries species. This project provided me with unique opportunities to develop strong relationships government institutions, museums and other research institutes. During my PhD I developed my strong interest for genomics and bioinformatics. I have worked extensively with whole-genome-sequencing data and a wide-range of well-established software packages for analysing genomic data. This continued developing these skills during my postdoc where I studied various fisheries species and developed pipelines using novel sequencing techniques (Oxford Nanopore Technology). I enjoy working together with master and PhD students and help them achieve their academic goals.I have moved back to the Netherlands (Rotterdam), and am looking continue my career in genomics research. My primary interest is the utilisation of genomics for advancing research in life sciences. I believe the applications for genomics in life-sciences are practically limitless and I aim to be at the forefront of those developments.