I am currently working as Senior Social Integrity Advisor for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in the Netherlands. I have worked in several (leadership)positions for the MOD since 2008. In my professional work I advise leaders in integrity issues, conduct scientific research, educate servicemen of differing ranks, represent the Dutch Forces in international scientific boards and at conferences, and I give advice for policymaking. How individuals come to make a decision, and how ‘ordinary’ people come to do bad things is my major interest.

Since 2010 I am, next to my job in the Army, affiliated to the University of Twente as a PhD student at the department Psychology of Conflict Risk and Safety. In my PhD project I examine moral functioning of servicemen during deployment. To be more specific: I focus on morally challenging situations that are characterized by so called dynamic complexity. The idea is that the specificity of these situations requires more than what current theories in moral psychology presume. Prof.dr. Ellen Giebels is my promotor, Prof.dr. Desiree Verweij is my co-promotor.

In 2008 I graduated Cum Laude from the University of Twente for my Master’s degree in Communication Studies. For my Master’s thesis I studied group dynamical processes within military units during deployment. I focused on trust and cooperation within tailor made units. In 2008 I also received another Master’s degree, in Psychology also from the University of Twente. In this Master’s thesis, which was of a more theoretical nature, I argued that confrontation with moral dilemmas could cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.