Hilde Toonen obtained her PhD degree in December 2013, her research focus was on informational governance in the marine world, focusing on spatial conflicts between economic activities and nature conservation at the North Sea. She studied Anthropology (MSc) and Environmental Sciences (BSc).

Currently, Hilde is Assistant Professor Marine Governance at the Environmental Policy group. She is coordinating the Aquaculture Governance project, carried out in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch, and involved in two EU funded projects PADDLE and PERICLES. She has worked as a post-doc researcher in the NWO funded Smart governance programme, specifically on the project "Assessing capacities and performances".