Professor Maria Koelen is Professor Emeritus of the chairgroup Health and Society. She studied Social Psychology and Methodology at State University Groningen and received her PhD at Wageningen University. She has special interest in the social, natural and built environment of health and its interaction with lifestyle, health development and quality of life. Most of her research is based on salutogenesis and the life course perspective. Specific themes are: the relation between health and the natural and built environment, lifestyles, and the implications of ageing for society.