Maarten graduated from the University of Ghent, Belgium, specialising in ruminant medicine, and has worked in the UK since 2001.

He worked in a farm-animal practice in Wiltshire until 2007. Here he worked on a large number of dairy farms and was particularly involved with mastitis control and prevention. He was the Veterinary Adviser for the Waitrose Dairy Farm on the Leckford Estate, having input into the design, building and transition into a new facility when the herd expanded to 600 cows. Maarten has also worked with large beef herds on Salisbury Plain, where he developed a keen interest in beef suckler management. In 2007 he travelled to South America, Australia and New Zealand, extending his knowledge and skills in the areas of suckler cow production and grass-based dairy farming. Maarten joined the liVEsTock partnership in January 2009.

Over the years Maarten has become an expert in bull and ram fertility examinations. He was one of the first vets in the UK to routinely use an electro-ejaculator for the safe and reliable collection of semen. He has tested more than 800 bulls and spoken at several regional veterinary meetings on the subject.