[1] He studied soil science at Wageningen University and Research Centre, obtaining his degree cum laude in 1966.
Bouma subsequently moved to the United States and became a postdoc at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he also held teaching positions until his return to the Netherlands in 1975.
[2][3] In 1986 Bouma was appointed professor of soil science at Wageningen University and Research Centre.
[2][3] In 2020 together with former Dutch Minister for Agriculture Cees Veerman he was a part of think tank of the European Commission which published a vision called "Mission on Soil, Health and Food".
[6] Bouma won the 2017 Alexander von Humboldt Medal of the European Geosciences Union.