Daphne van der Wal

Roles: Full Professor at the Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente. Senior Scientist at NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Yerseke).

Education: PhD in Physical Geography from the University of Amsterdam (1999). Postdoctoral research at Royal Holloway, University of London (1999–2002).

Research Interests: Earth observation of coastal, estuarine, and delta systems; physical processes in coastal zones; climate change impacts; nature-based solutions for flood risk reduction. Key methods include satellite remote sensing, statistical modeling, and big data analysis. Focus areas: sediment dynamics, bio-geomorphology, and mangrove ecosystems.

Projects: EU Horizon Europe project REWRITE (DOI: 10.3030/101081357), focusing on restoring wetlands for climate resilience. Active in long-term earth observation studies of suspended particulate matter and intertidal systems.

Advising & Grants: Supervised 6 academic works. Collaborates on grants related to coastal dynamics and remote sensing applications. Leads interdisciplinary teams integrating remote sensing with ecological and hydrological models.

Labs/Teams: Leads research groups at ITC and NIOZ, focusing on coastal systems and estuarine processes. Collaborates with international partners on UN Sustainable Development Goals related to climate action and life below water.