I did my BSc and PhD degrees at Liverpool University (1991 and 1995 respectively) and postdocs at Keel;e University (1995), Wageningen University (1995-1997), University of Wisconsin-Madison (1997-1999) and was briefly an Associate Editor at Nature (1999) before my appointment as Senior Scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (2000-present). I am also a Visiting Professor at the VU niversity in Amterdam (2013-present).