My mission is to understand how adaptation at the level of individuals (phenotypic plasticity), population (genetic evolution), and community (ecological sorting) in combination with neutral ecological and evolutionary dynamics shaped the diversity of life in time and space. I am particularly interested in the predictability of this change, both on the short term, which has important applications in managing agricultural and natural systems, and on the long term, which is relevant for our understanding of the origin and diversification of life on Earth. As assistant professor of Evolutionary Ecology in the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam I teach and investigate the evolutionary consequeces of biotic interactions, ranging from sexual communication to animal-microbe co-evolution. I aim to lead a team that studies fundamental questions about the dynamics of biodiversity and engages in transdiciplinary activities to brgin that research to society. My research combines population genetics, experimental evolution, and behavioral experiments to identify the emergent properties of biological interactions. I also engage with people to discuss the amazing and mostly hidden diversity of life, the value of fundamental science, and much more during science fairs, in podcasts, on YouTube, and other media, and pretty much anywhere else