I am an Associate Professor of Water, Health and Decisions at the Faculty ITC, University of Twente. My research focuses on water- and health-related infrastructure, knowledge and behaviour.

I consider water and health challenges, such as water-related infectious disease exposure and provision of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, from a broader nexus perspective. That includes, for example, implications of inequality, extreme weather events, education and cultural context. I am interested in local knowledge, perspectives and perceptions of water- and health-related challenges and in understanding how such local and contextualized knowledge can be used to inform public health planning, decision-making and interventions.

I conduct empirical mixed methods research from local to global level, across different sectors and with different stakeholders, and collaborate with international organizations, governments and research institutes globally. My regional focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa (esp. Kenya, Namibia), South Pacific (esp. Fiji, Solomon Islands) and Latin America (esp. Brazil, Peru).

Prior to joining ITC, I conducted postdoctoral studies at the Water Institute, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, leading research on water, sanitation, hygiene (SDG 6) and health monitoring in households, schools and healthcare facilities in the context of extreme weather events in Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, funded by UNICEF and in close collaboration with the governments of the three countries (2018-2020). I gained my PhD at the GeoHealth Centre at the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, where I investigated water-related health risks and disease exposures that wetland users, including farmers and nomadic pastoralists, in East Africa are facing, their risk perceptions and their health-related behaviours (2013-2017).

Throughout my career, I conducted consulting projects on water and health with the United Nations (UNICEF, WHO), and with adelphi, GIZ and others.