In 1996, Kathleen graduated as a civil mining engineer from the University of Leuven in Belgium and successfully completed a Master in Marine Sciences at the University of Cantabria in Spain in 2001. In 1998, she joined IMDC, a water and dredging consultant in Belgium, and in 2001 began working abroad as a superintendent for Jan De Nul Group. She returned to IMDC in 2004 and became involved in dredging projects as project manager and later operational head of the offshore, dredging and environment department, and is currently a principal engineer and dredging expert on projects worldwide. Since 2005, Kathleen has been actively involved in Young CEDA (YC), CEDA Communications Commission (CCC) and Dredging Management Commission (DMC), and has been a member of CEDA International’s board since 2011.