Niels is responsible for coordinating the activities of the World Data Centre for Soils (WDC-Soils) at ISRIC. He also has a special role in managing the World Soil Information Service within the Global Data (WoSIS / SoilGrids) project and contributes to various EU-funded projects such as HoliSoils, ORCASA, and Soils4Africa.

Niels has a background in tropical soil science. He joined ISRIC in 1990 after working as a soil surveyor in East Africa and as a land evaluation expert in the Caribbean.

He has over 30 years of experience in developing and applying land resources information systems in the framework of international research and capacity building projects, e.g. databases and soil mapping (WISE, SOTER, SOTWIS, WoSIS) as well as soil carbon stocks and change, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation (ORCASA, CIRCASA; BSC-SCOPE; GEF-SOC; GEF-CBP; SOCNOP; USAID-SOC).

Niels is a Fellow of the British Society of Soil Science (F.I. Soil Sci.). He is also a member of the Scientific Steering Group of the International Soil Carbon Network (ISCN) and a member of the CoreTrustSeal Assembly of Reviewers. Additionally, he serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 

Niels speaks Dutch, English and French.