What are your long-term principles? Now that I’m in my final year before turning 60, I thought it was a good time to learn from others, take on board new ideas, inspire one another and share that with everyone around us. With an emphasis on each other’s ‘long-term perspectives’. For me, these are transparency, reliability, resilience, accessibility and connection. I have reached out (and will continue to do so) to a few people I didn’t really know, who have piqued my curiosity, and with whom I’d like to have a conversation. The first connection I made was on 26 August 2026, with Peter Kuipers Munneke, a meteorologist.

At the last minute, Peter changed the destination I was travelling to – I was now heading to the “Kromme Rijn” tram stop, linked to the spot where people and goods were once transported in ‘large volumes’ across the water by towboat. From this stop, we walked via Amelisweerd to “De Veldkeuken”, where we rounded off our conversation with a fresh lemonade. Building on my introduction about the ‘long-term principles’ and the stage of life I’m currently at, Peter spoke about what drives him.

Study

After a very brief stint studying Urban and Regional Planning (chosen because he couldn’t decide between humanties/arts and sciences, and it seemed like a very broad education), he eventually went on to study Physics. The latter decision was based on the advice of his old maths’ teacher, who told him that with a physics degree, you could go on to do anything. And indeed, Peter’s fellow students have ended up in a wide variety of fields. Which is quite remarkable, actually, because I myself also wanted to continue the diversity of my secondary school curriculum, and was advised by my school counsellor to study Materials Science (that way, you’d at least have chemistry, physics and maths, he said). Whilst studying in Utrecht, he also took a few modules in science communication and became particularly interested in the (macroscopic) world around him – far more so than in anything (sub-)atomic. He was much more keen to be able to explain the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds.

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Peter Kuipers Munneke on 26 August 2026, at “De Veldkeuken” in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Making research accessible

After completing his PhD research (on the interaction between ice caps and the climate) and a long postdoctoral position (also in Utrecht), a vacancy came up at the NOS about twelve years ago to be responsible for the daily weather forecast two days a week. And now, well: who doesn’t know Peter as a weather presenter? It’s an ideal combination: spending 60 per cent of your time conducting research as a meteorologist and glaciologist, and 40 per cent sharing some of that acquired knowledge with the general public. And for him, it brought together his interest in the macroscopic world with science communication. Because that is precisely one of Peter’s two driving forces – making research (knowledge) accessible. His strength – which came across particularly well during the NOS Live broadcast on 12 August 2026 covering the (partial) solar eclipse – is his ability to explain a ‘rather complicated subject’ in a way that’s understandable and straightforward. That’s important, and it’s also enjoyable to do. In doing so, he can make the world a little wiser and enable people to make choices based on facts. He now explains things in simple terms to what we call the general public, but sometimes also to a specific target audience, such as a primary school class, a group of first-year higher professional education students studying Forestry and Nature Conservation, or library staff. That is, in fact, where we first met – at the national library conference on 18 June 2026, where Peter gave a talk. It is a driving force for him, and it comes naturally to him, because he has been building up his knowledge of the climate for twenty years and knows what he knows.

Do not lose the connection

And with that, we touch on the core – but also the dilemma – of Peter’s second driving force (which he feels very deeply), where there is a certain tension. He is keen to share facts so that other people can gain a clear understanding of the choice that lies ahead. The role of science as an ‘honest broker approach’ – you lay everything on the table and leave it to the other person to draw their own conclusions. He has strong views on how the world works and how we are collectively destroying it, on how some people are deliberately enriching themselves at the expense of our world, and believes we should stop overconsumption. But when he speaks – as he did on the subject of public libraries – he takes a more nuanced view, because he is also aware that it is important to remain credible and to continue seeking connection.

We talked about the lovely spot where we were walking, and the fact that the A12 motorway (which you can hear quite clearly) had been prevented from being widened, which is why we were able to walk there in the first place. It’s good that there are people who stand up against such developments, but that doesn’t mean you can always do this yourself. Your position (and with it your other motivation, accessibility) then comes under pressure. So sometimes you have to put a motivation or long-term goal on hold or set it aside because something else takes precedence. Or, as I realized afterwards, it might be something like the tension between openness and security – both are important and valid, and you need a narrative that brings them together. That also brings us to some of the guiding principles he shared with the audience at the national library conference, namely to ensure that you share facts (and make them accessible), and continue to seek connection (he put it as ‘be apolitical’). Seeking connection sometimes means keeping quiet – as a library, stay ‘in the middle’. And yet … Peter wants the word ‘fight’ to feature in his eulogy in one way or another.

Conducting research and sharing a great deal of it with society is wonderful work; it’s remarkable how the two roles Peter holds complement each other so beautifully. Inspiration? It’s hardly surprising, of course, that Peter draws his from nature. He walks a lot, and has even recommended the long-distance walking route ‘het Groene Hart’ to me, because it visits my own Delftse Hout as well.