Marthe Wens

Marthe Wens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Water and Climate Risk at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on water security and societal impacts of drought, emphasizing agent-based modeling and machine learning to simulate human-nature interactions. She explores drought risk mitigation strategies in Europe and Africa, with recent work extending to ecosystem and social impacts (e.g., children, migration). Wens co-leads projects like 'Green adaptation pathways' and 'I-CISK', aiming to integrate climate science with local knowledge for resilience.

Education:

• Master of Science in Geography (Earth & Climate Studies), KU Leuven and VUB Brussels (2016)
• Thesis: 'Cost-benefit evaluation of soil and water conservation techniques in Tigray' with fieldwork in Ethiopia

Research Interests:

• Socio-hydrologic agent-based modeling for drought adaptation
• Climate change adaptation in agriculture and ecosystems
• Disaster risk reduction through data-driven approaches
• Global South partnerships for climate resilience

Projects:

• Green adaptation pathways for flood/drought resilience (2024–2027)
• I-CISK: Integrating scientific and local knowledge in climate services (2021–2025)
• EDORA: Drought risk assessment methodology (2021–2023)

Data Contributions:

• African countries drought/flood risk profiles dataset (UNDRR, 2019)