Maria van Schaik

Maria van Schaik is a lecturer-researcher in the Water Technology research group at HZ University of Applied Sciences since 2017. She holds a BSc in Water Management (2014, HZ), an MSc in Water Technology (Wetsus Academy), and a PhD from Wageningen University (2022), titled "Model-based decision making for resource recovery from urban wastewater."

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Water Management, HZ University of Applied Sciences (2014)
• Master of Science in Water Technology, Wetsus Academy
• PhD in Environmental Engineering, Wageningen University (2022)

Research Interests: Maria focuses on wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and sustainable water management. Her work includes recovering alginate-like exopolysaccharides from Nereda® sludge via membrane filtration (thesis focus) and applying life cycle analysis (LCA) to water treatment processes. She emphasizes data-driven modeling and governance strategies for freshwater systems.

Key Projects:

• Clean Watercourses by O3G (Interreg VL-NL, 2023–2026): LCA for ozonation and GAC filtration to remove microplastics (MP) from treated wastewater.
• Digital Twin for Water Management (TKI, 2021–2024): Data-driven modeling of the Ede WWTP to predict effluent quality.
• AquaConnect (NWO, 2021–2026): Developing governance transitions for resilient freshwater systems in Zeeland.

Professional Contributions: Maria teaches in the Water Management program at HZ and collaborates with industry partners like Royal HaskoningDHV. She actively engages in student assignments and interdisciplinary research initiatives within the Water Technology group.