By training I am a physicist (BSc) and physical oceanographer (MSc), with a strong interest in biological-physical interactions. During my PhD research at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), I studied how interactions between tidal water flow, sediment dynamics and biology shape coastal wetlands (e.g., tidal flats and marshes) through spatial self-organization. The spatial patterns arising from these feedbacks strongly affect ecosystem functioning and resilience. For my PhD, I developed idealized mathematical models and conducted laboratory and field measurements to support model assumptions.