Maarten has over 18 years of experience working as an impartial Senior Consultant, initially in the ‘Process & Cooling Water’ group of KEMA / DNV GL (2000 – 2016) and subsequently for Sweco (2016 – 2018). He has worked for both large-scale industrial surface water users and legislative/permitting authorities.
During his career Maarten has been responsible for consultancy and research projects on the effects of fish passage at hydropower plants and the effects of impingement and entrainment on fish populations associated with thermal power plant and other industries. He has carried out both R&D and feasibility studies of fish deterrent systems at water inlets, as well as assessments of the efficacy of Fish Recovery and Return systems.
He has considerable experience in the assessment and monitoring of biological fouling communities on submerged industrial structures and equipment and its impact on commercial operations, including marine offshore wind turbines, coastal and fresh water cooling water intake systems. This has included investigations into mitigation options to prevent fouling ranging from chemical control to surface treatment technologies, such as coatings. He has been directly involved in leading field studies implementing the Pulse-Chlorination approach, an effective control strategy for mitigating the commercial impacts of macrofouling.
Maarten has particular expertise in the ecological and regulatory considerations relevant to new power plant engineering design and assessment, especially in relation to fish impingement and entrainment effects, the use of fish recovery and return, thermal effects and intake placement. He has made significant contributions on these topics to Environmental Impact Assessments of new power plants in the Netherlands.
Maarten holds a M.Sc. in Biological Sciences (Aquatic Ecology) from the Radboud University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands (aquatic ecology: eco-physiology and eco-toxicology of fish and invertebrates) and, before joining KEMA, led on in the following projects:
- Ecological and physiological characterisation of a new exotic species in the Dutch inland waters, the amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus Sowinsky (Department of: Aquatic Ecology and Environmental Biology, Section Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology, University of Nijmegen);
- Field study on the effects of increased zinc contamination of surface water on the calcium status in different fish species from Rotterdam harbour (Department of Organismal Animal Physiology, University of Nijmegen);
- An assessment of whether or not the decline of eel populations (Anguilla) is being caused by PCB contamination (Department of Organismal Animal Physiology, University of Nijmegen).