Yvonne van der Meer has over 15 years of experience in sustainable chemistry. She obtained her Master degree in Molecular Sciences from Wageningen University in 1997 and her PhD degree on the characterization of NiW and CoW hydrodesulfurization catalysts from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in 2001. She worked at the Dutch research council NWO for six years where she initiated and managed national and European public-private research programs in sustainable and biobased chemistry.

Yvonne joined Maastricht University as an advisor to the Executive Board in 2008. She is co-founder of the Maastricht University Master program on Biobased Materials and two research institutes: Chemelot Institute for Science and Technology and the Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials. As of 2015 she is department head Biobased Materials and associate professor Sustainability of Biobased Materials. She is principal investigator “Sustainability assessments of biobased materials” within the Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials. She is also chair of the Educational Program Committee of the master Biobased Materials and she teaches bio-based materials and sustainability at bachelor and the master level. In May 2017 she was appointed member of the scientific committee of the Biobased Industries Joint Undertaking.