Mark Aarts is full professor at the Laboratory of Genetics of Wageningen University (The Netherlands). At Wageningen University, he also obtained his PhD with a thesis describing the development of a heterologous transposon system in Arabidopsis, which was successfully used for the isolation of tagged mutants and the corresponding genes. In his post-doc he applied this system for the analysis of disease resistance loci against downy mildew. As a researcher at the PRI in Wageningen, he investigated programmed cell death related to plant development. Upon moving to the group of Maarten Koornneef at Wageningen University, he set up a new research line on the evolution of heavy metal adaptation in the Zn/Cd/Ni hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens. Since a few years, he is interested in the genetics of plant photosynthesis. He is currently heading a research group investigating different aspects of natural variation in plants (Arabidopsis thaliana, Noccaea caerulescens and other Brassicaceae and Gomphrena sp./Amaranthaceae), related to adaptation to the abiotic environment (drought, cold, nutrient deficiency, heavy metal exposure, varying light regimes), with a strong focus on the environmental effects on photosynthesis.