Mark Dekker

Dr. Mark Dekker is a Researcher at Utrecht University's Faculty of Geosciences, specifically within the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Environmental Sciences department. He also holds a position at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). His work bridges data science, mathematical modeling, and environmental policy, with a particular focus on climate change mitigation strategies.

Dr. Dekker completed his PhD in 2022 with a thesis titled 'Macroscopic Dynamics in Complex Systems,' which examined interactions between microscopic and macroscopic phenomena across various complex systems including climate tipping points, railway disruptions, ecological patterns, neuroscience data, and pandemic interventions. His educational background has equipped him with strong analytical skills in mathematical and computational modeling.

His research interests span Dynamics of Complex Systems, Climate Dynamics, Critical Transitions, and Integrated Assessment Modelling. Dr. Dekker applies data science and mathematical techniques to climate change questions, particularly focusing on climate justice and mitigation effort-sharing. He distinguishes normative considerations from climatological uncertainties to understand what determines fair national emission reduction targets. His work includes developing the Carbon Budget Explorer webtool for visualizing fair climate targets.

Dr. Dekker's publication record shows a clear evolution from fundamental complex systems research during his PhD (2017-2021) toward applied climate policy analysis. His recent work (2022-2025) focuses on energy system modeling, climate scenario analysis, and effort-sharing frameworks. He has made significant contributions to understanding variance in climate policy scenarios and identifying 'model fingerprints' in mitigation pathways. His interdisciplinary approach connects climate science with social considerations of fairness and justice.

As an educator, Dr. Dekker contributes to several bachelor-level courses including Introduction to Adaptive Systems, Graphics, Image processing, Introduction to Complex Systems, and Introduction Project. His teaching reflects his expertise in complex systems and computational approaches.

Dr. Dekker is actively involved in the IMAGE team within the Horizon-2020 ECEMF project, working on scenarios describing future energy economy evolution and identifying potential routes to climate neutrality. His research combines data analysis, network analysis, computational modeling, and mathematical modeling using Python and Matlab. His work has significant policy relevance, particularly for national and international climate target setting.