Serkan Girgin

Dr. Serkan Girgin is an Associate Professor at the Department of Geo-information Processing, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente. He leads the Center of Expertise in Big Geodata (CRIB) and contributes to global initiatives in geospatial big data, cloud computing, and disaster risk assessment. His work bridges academic, private, and scientific sectors with over two decades of experience since 1996.

• M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering
• Second M.Sc. in Geodetic and Geographic Information Technologies

Research interests span geospatial data science, machine learning for remote sensing, open science frameworks, and Natech risk assessment. He has designed systems like ITC's Geospatial Computing Platform, eNatech Database, and RAPID-N for risk mapping.

Recent publications focus on digital twins for soil-plant systems, SAR benchmark datasets, and automated workflows for Sentinel-1 interferometry. His projects include ESA EO AFRICA R&D Facility, SURF's Next Generation Data Repositories, and Netherlands eScience Centre's EcoExtreML.

• eScience Center Fellow (2022)
• SURF Research Support Champion (2022)
• Multiple early-career awards in programming (1993-1996) and thesis excellence (2005)

He actively develops tools for citizen science (e.g., QGIS Light) and advocates for FAIR data management. His collaborations extend to Zenodo datasets and international conferences on geospatial resilience.