After my study Biology at the UG, I did a PhD at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Utrecht where I worked on the development of thermoregulation in three poultry species. Thereafter I joined the group of Theunis Piersma at the UG and worked on various ecophysiological topics, focussing on phenotypic flexibilty in red knots. A few years ago I got facinated by host-microbiomes relationships and joined the group of Irene Tieleman.

All vertebrates live with symbiotic bacteria on and in their body. One of the largest symbiotic bacterial communities of hosts are the gut bacteria. This community is of vital importance to hosts, during development as well as during adulthood, and has multiple complex bi-directional relationships with their host. I am interested in how gut bacteria aid their hosts to adapt to changes in their environment, such as seasonal adapatations, and how and when these bacteria are acquired by young animals. My research focuses on birds.