Biography

The Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, formerly known as the CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, in Utrecht is one of the most elaborated fungal culture collections in the world. I'm heading in the Department Food and Indoor Mycology which deals with research on food- and airborne fungi. My work mainly focusses on:

1) Coordination of projects in food and indoor mycology and applied research: acquisition, carrying out and reporting of orders for third parties (industry, private persons).
2) Defining tailor-made projects for a diversity of clients (government, industrial, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and commercial sectors) on various issues, varying from prevention of food spoilage, development of (rapid) identification tools and biodeterioration testing.
3) Polyphasic taxonomy of fungi associated with food and indoor environments using a combination of techniques: macro- and microscopical analyses, biochemical and physiological tests and molecular biological techniques.
4) Supervision of staff, trainees and guests workers.
5) Instructor of (tailor made) courses, e.g. course “Food- and Indoor Fungi” in Utrecht, the Netherlands.