Dr. Munnik is head of the department of Plant Cell Biology of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. He is a world leader in the field of plant stress signalling, where he pioneered the role of lipid second messengers in plant stress and development, using molecular, biochemical and genetic tools to unravel the physiology involved. Dr. Munnik has published >135 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, edited two books, and has presented >150 seminars world-wide. He is an Associate Editor for the American Society for Plant Biologists (ASPB) journal, Plant Physiology, and editorial board member for several other journals. His current H-index is 62. Currently, Dr. Munnik is interested in the uptake of organic nitrogen and the use of the common nettle (Urtica dioica. L) as novel protein crop.