Charles is a Dutch national born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. He first moved to the UK in 2015 to study BSc Biotechnology at University College London before moving back to Brussels to work for AstraZeneca. After a brief stint at a med-tech startup in New York City, Charles moved to Edinburgh to complete his MSc in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology where he also competed in the iGEM and iDECteams. He then worked as a research assistant with Dr Joanna Sadler to produce hydroquinone from cellulosic waste, before finally joining the Wallace lab in 2022 as a PhD student funded by Lubrizol. His research focuses on the bio-production of adipic acid from lignin waste.