I am a dutch astrophysicist affiliated with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research (TNO) and Leiden Observatory.
As part of TNO Defence, Safety and Security, I specialize on the propagation of EM radiation and particles through the atmosphere and the space environment.
In my astrophysics research, I specialize in the origin of galaxies and black holes. My research has been published in over 100 scientific articles, and featured in talks, interviews, and popular science magazines.
I live in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with my wife and son. From 2013 to 2022 I worked as a professor of astronomy at the National Observatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From 2011 to 2013 I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin (US), from 2007 to 2011 at the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics in Garching (Germany), and from 2006 to 2007 at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (US). I obtained my undergraduate (2001) and PhD (2006) degrees at the University of Leiden studying cosmic radio sources with George Miley and Huub Rottgering.