In 1999 he began his work as a Director of Research at Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein until 2004 when he became in charge of the Master Studies Programme of International Agriculture at Larenstein university, now part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre. His interest in initiating academic collaboration with academic institutions in Arab countries resulted in a joint MSc course in International Agriculture with the University of Cairo in Egypt as well as professional training courses in GIS with the Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre in Jordan.