Rens van Beek

Dr. Rens van Beek is an Associate Professor in Physical Geography at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University. His research focuses on hydrology, groundwater modeling, and climate change impacts. He leads projects like the ERC-funded 'Physical Limits to Global Groundwater Use' and investigates dike stability in delta regions through STW grants.

His work emphasizes integrating geo-computation and high-resolution modeling frameworks (e.g., PCR-GLOBWB). Key research areas include groundwater availability, flood risk assessment, and socio-hydrological systems in historical contexts (e.g., Roman water trade networks).

Van Beek collaborates globally on projects such as Amazon basin dynamics, offshore groundwater potential, and conflict risk projections linked to climate change. He teaches courses on land surface hydrology and earth process programming.