I was born in the Netherlands; PhD (1979), and appointed Professor of Ecophysiology at Utrecht University (1985). In 1998, I migrated to Australia, where I was appointed Professor of Plant Biology/Ecology at the University of Western Australia. There, I studied rhizosphere biology and mineral nutrition of Australian native species and crop plants, seeking to discover how some Australian plants acquire phosphorus from depauperate soil and use it very efficiently. 

I have published >490 refereed articles, with an H index of 75, and feature on the current ISI Highly Cited list. In 2003 I was elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2012 to the Australian Academy of Science. I received Honorary Professorships from China Agricultural University (2002), Chinese Academy of Sciences (Research Centre for Eco- Environmental Sciences, Beijing) (2004), Shenyang Agricultural University (2018), and Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China. (2019). I received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Society of Root Research (2018) and was appointed as Distinguished Professor at the National Academy of Agriculture Green Development at China Agricultural University in 2018.