PROFILE
Scientist, strategist, and entrepreneur with leadership experience at the intersection of environmental research, innovation, and sustainability. Proven ability to guide breakthrough technologies from concept to global scale, align cross-functional teams, and influence international policy. Strong communicator, bridge-builder, and trusted advisor. Passionate about turning scientific insight into scalable, measurable impact.
EDUCATION
WORK EXPERIENCE
RESEARCH OUTPUT
46 Peer-reviewed publications; >5,100 Citations
CERTIFICATES
Strategic Leadership, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands
RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS
SUPERVISION & MENTORING EXPERIENCE
PhD students:
MSc students:
JOURNAL REFEREE
LANGUAGES
Scientist, strategist, and entrepreneur with leadership experience at the intersection of environmental research, innovation, and sustainability. Proven ability to guide breakthrough technologies from concept to global scale, align cross-functional teams, and influence international policy. Strong communicator, bridge-builder, and trusted advisor. Passionate about turning scientific insight into scalable, measurable impact.
EDUCATION
- PhD in Marine Biogeochemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (2012 - 2016)
- MSc & BSc in Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland (2006 - 2011)
- Matura (Mathematics & Physics), Gymnasium St. Antonius, Appenzell, Switzerland (2001 - 2005)
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Founder & CEO, Empaqtify GmbH, St. Gallen, Switzerland (2022 - present)
- Director of Environmental and Social Affairs, The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2023 - present)
- Lead Scientist, The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2018 - 2022)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University, Denmark (2016 - 2017)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (2016)
- Project Associate, Foundation myclimate, Zurich, Switzerland (2011 - 2012)
RESEARCH OUTPUT
46 Peer-reviewed publications; >5,100 Citations
CERTIFICATES
Strategic Leadership, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands
RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS
- North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, 20.11.-11.12.2019. Maersk Transporter (DK), as chief scientist
- North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, 27.10.-9.12.2018. Maersk Transporter (DK), as chief scientist
- North Atlantic, 16.6-22.6.2018. R/V Pelagia (NL)
- Baltic Sea, 28.5-14.6.2016. R/V Pelagia (NL)
- Bothnian Sea, 3.8.-7.8.2015, R/V Lotty (SWE)
- Bothnian Sea, 20.4.-24.4.2015, R/V Lotty (SWE)
- Bothnian Sea, 18.8.-24.8.2013, R/V Aranda (FIN)
- Black Sea, 7.6.-23.6.2013, R/V Pelagia (NL)
- Bothnian Sea, 20.8.-26.8.2012, R/V Aranda (FIN)
- North Sea (Lake Grevelingen), multiple (>10) expeditions between 2012 and 2015, R/V Luctor (NL) and R/V Navicula (NL)
SUPERVISION & MENTORING EXPERIENCE
PhD students:
- Anne Gaymard (2024 - present), Towards representing microplastic-biogeochemical interactions in a global coupled model", Université de Bretagne, France
MSc students:
- Marleen Vintges (2024), "Occurrence and type of plastic ingestion in fish from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch"
- Marjolein van Vulpen (2022/2023), "Hotspots of plastic and neuston in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch"
- Kiri Spanowicz (2022), "The abundance and diversity of floating plastic debris and neuston in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch"
- Britte Schilt (2021), "Diversity and abundance of plastics and neuston in the North Atlantic Ocean"
- Hannah Kortman (2020/2021), "Using Raman spectroscopy to determine the degree of degradation (i.e. aging) of plastic debris afloat on the ocean surface"
- Lauren Quiros (2019/2020), "Investigating the role of submesoscale eddies for the accumulation of floating plastic debris in the eastern North Pacific Ocean"
- Marloes Schravensande (2019), "Characterizing floating marine plastic debris in the Atlantic Ocean"
- Rein Nijhof (2019), "Buoyant plastic debris in the Gulf of Alaska"
- Roosmarijn van Zummeren (2019), "Beaching of marine debris on a remote Pacific Island (Guam, Micronesia)"
- Annerieke Bouwman (2018/2019), "Microplastics in marine sediments of the Mississippi River Delta (Gulf of Mexico)"
- Dirk Jong (2015/2016), "Early diagenesis in sediments of a seasonally hypoxic coastal basin (Lake Grevelingen, the Netherlands)"
- Annika Vollebregt (2015), "Anaerobic oxidation of methane and its effect on the dynamics of sulfur and iron in the sediments of Lake Grevelingen, the Netherlands"
- Marit van Erk (2014), "Diagenetic signals of the Holocene lake-marine transition in a sediment core from the Bornholm Basin, Baltic Sea"
- Evelien Dekker (2013-2014), "Influence of the lake/marine transition on phosphorus dynamics in Black Sea sediments below the redoxcline"
JOURNAL REFEREE
- Science Advances
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Limnology and Oceanography
- Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
- Biogeosciences
- Frontiers in Marine Science
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Marine Chemistry
- Nature Ecology & Evolution
- Nature Sustainability
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters
- Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
- Environmental Pollution
LANGUAGES
- Swiss German: Native language
- German: Native proficiency
- English: Full professional proficiency
- Dutch: Professional working proficiency
- French: Elementary proficiency
