After receiving a M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Technical University Delft, The Netherlands in 1974, Marian Geense worked at the Harbour Works in Rotterdam as a Research associate and then manager till 1989, and then became a National Expert for the European Commission for a year. From 1991 to 1993 Ms. Geense was the manager of the department on soil and groundwater pollution at Fugro. Since 1993 she has joined CUR-Gouda as a research manager on environmental and hydraulic engineering, and is a lecturer on port development and environment both at Technical University Delft and at UNESCO-IHE also in Delft.