I grew up in Belgium, but as soon as I graduated as an Agricultural Engineer I left my country to work abroad. From 1988 till 1992, I was in charge of an agricultural project in Rwanda. In 1993, I came back to Europe to study in Spain for 6 months, and then I decided to cross the entire American continent from North to South by bike. This took me 33 months. In 1996, I completed a Masters in Environmental Management. Between 1998 and 2001, I worked in two national parks in Venezuela to implement ecotourism activities with local communities.

My career also included a stint at the European Commission (Aidco), after which I embarked on another long bike journey, this time from Brussels to Singapore. This took me 18 months. I was subsequently engaged as a consultant for non-profit organizations in Afghanistan and Rwanda. Since April 2008, I am the coordinator of World Wildlife Fund’s program in Virunga.

For more information go to WWF’s website at www.wwf.org.