Diederik van Liere is a biologist, statistical analyst and interested in ethics and engineering. He obtained his PhD in ethology/behavioural biology focusing on animal welfare. He saw that among population biologists, hardly any attention was paid to how differences between animals within a species come about. Knowledge about that is very important to understand choices and possible problems caused by them. Especially in wildlife. However badly needed, universities were not interested in pooling expertise in this applied field. So in 2001, he started CABWIM for himself. A consultancy and research company. His motivation is to find non-lethal solutions by adjusting choices in animals that cause problems. 

Diederik also founded the Institute for Coexistence with Wildlife. This institute provides (international) teams of experts in engineering, animal behaviour, biology and robotics for various projects, aimed at innovation, inspiring collaboration and developing new non-lethal methods to protect wildlife and promote coexistence.