After completing my doctorate at Stellenbosch University in 2003, I was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a senior researcher in the Department of Microbiology under Prof. W.H. van Zyl. In collaboration with partners at Mascoma Corporation, Dartmouth College (USA), and VTT Technical Research Centre (Finland), our research focused on engineering yeast strains capable of efficiently fermenting plant-derived sugars to bioethanol.

In 2014, I accepted a lecturing position at the University of the Western Cape, where I established an independent research group as principal investigator. My research has since centred on yeast molecular biotechnology, with the aim of improving the industrial conversion of plant biomass sugars into biofuels and commodity chemicals. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019.

In January 2026, I was appointed Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Stellenbosch University. In this role, I continue to advance my yeast biotechnology research in collaboration with colleagues within the department and in Chemical Engineering, with a strong focus on interdisciplinary and translational research.