Robert holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where his dissertation research considered the effect of vegetation on dike seepage and stability using probabilistic design methods. His educational background is focused on geotechnical engineering, probabilistic design and engineering geology, with a BSc and MSc from Berkeley. Robert is a licensed Civil Engineer (PE) in California (USA), where his private sector geotechnical consulting experience includes a variety of levee, dam and trenchless pipeline projects throughout the state. Having lived and worked in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta in California, he enjoys discovering the similarities and differences for flood defences in the Netherlands.

As a Senior Lecturer, Robert is heavily involved in education, teaching courses on Probabilistic Design (CIE4130) and Flood Defences (CIE5314-19) and supervising bachelor and master students. He is currently designing and building exciting new courses which integrate methods of uncertainty quantification and probabilistic design through theory and practical applications using open access computation tools, which will be offered in the new Civil Engineering and Geosciences MSc curriculum beginning September, 2022.