Biography

I was born in 1960 on the beautiful Island of Aruba and lived a very happy beach life there until 1975, when my family moved back to The Netherlands. After finishing high school In 1978, I started a study in electronics, but did not finish it.

In 1983 I became a tourist guide in Morocco and also started studying geology at the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. From my work in the desert of Morocco I realised how important water was to our society. I decided to specialise in tropical Hydrology and finished my studies in 1989 after doing a research project with Sampurno Bruijnzeel on forest stunting in Sabah, Malaysia.

After ending my studies I got the opportunity to do a PhD study in Fiji on the water and nutrient cycling of Pinus caribaea plantation forests. In 1995 I worked for three months for the Univeristy of Western Australia (Perth), participating in a environmental impact assessment study for the Bakun Dam in Sarawak, Malaysia. I then started working for the Winand Staring Centre in Wageningen and carried out a hydrological study in the rainforest area of South Cameroon within the framework of the Tropenbos Foundation. From 1997 until 2001 I worked on several projects in The Netherlands, the Amazon and Siberia for Alterra.

Presently I am a lecturer and scientist working for the Department of Earth Sciences of the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam.

Dr. M.J. Waterloo
VU University
De Boelelaan 1085
1081HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 5987319
e-mail: m.j.waterloo@vu.nl

Last modified: Fri Sep 21 12:20:21 CEST 2012