Global Delta App
Loading...
We study how tides, waves, and sea level shape coastal environments. We focus on the past and future of barrier islands and river deltas, and apply our research to investigate coastal hazards and adaptation.
Jaap Nienhuis is originally from the Netherlands, where he obtained his BSc and MSc degree in Civil Engineering. After completing his engineering degrees Jaap moved to the US and obtained his PhD degree from MIT and WHOI working on coastal sediment transport. Following postdoctoral research on the Mississippi River Delta at Tulane University in New Orleans, Jaap Nienhuis started a faculty position at Utrecht University in 2019.
Kiara Lasch is originally from South Africa where she completed her BSc in Zoology. In 2021, she moved to the Netherlands where she pursued an MSc in Marine Sciences at Utrecht University. Kiara is now a PhD candidate under Jaap’s supervision and is working on adaptation of global deltas to sea-level rise. She is specifically looking at the physical potential and limits of strategies under future climate scenarios.
Jelle Bulens is from Belgium and holds a BSc in Geography from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and an MSc in Earth Sciences from Utrecht University, specializing in coastal and river systems. After 2.5 years as a Junior Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, he returned to Utrecht to join the WADWAD project as a PhD candidate, supervised by Jaap. He will use field data and numerical models to investigate coastal adaptation to sea-level rise on the Wadden Islands. The goal is to research physical adaptation strategies that can prolong the lifespan of these barrier islands.
Marloes Bonenkamp is from the Netherlands and holds both a BSc and MSc in Civil Engineering from Delft University of Technology, specializing in coastal and river systems. During her PhD research, she uses idealized Delft3D simulations and global datasets to study the morphodynamics of estuaries. This work aims to understand (the rate of) estuarine responses to natural and human-induced changes, ultimately contributing to improved management and protection of these critical ecosystems.
Jiejun Luo was born in Guangdong Province, China and obtained his BSc degree in Marine Science at Sun Yat-sen University. Now he is a PhD student from East China Normal University, working on hydro-morphological processes in coastal wetlands (e.g. Salt marshes and mangroves). Jiejun has been co-advised by Jaap since November 2024, focusing on deltaic eco-morphodynamics.
Connor, originally from the Great Plains region of the US, obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from Fort Lewis College and Indiana University, respectively. Connor is currently a PhD student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at the University of California, Irvine, where he uses satellite imagery and Delft3D models to study the morphodynamics of wave-influenced river deltas.
Minsik Kim is originally from the South Korea, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree and doing his Ms. Ph.D combined course in department of Earth System Sciences, Yonsei University in South Korea. Minsik is co-advised by Jaap since July 2023, regarding the sediment retention change during delta evolution.
Ahmed is originally from Egypt where he completed his BSc in Civil engineering. In 2016, he moved to the Netherlands where he pursued an MSc in coastal engineering and port development at IHE Delft. During his PhD, he is working on increasing the predictive capacity of shoreline model (ShorelineS) to be able to predict future changes of sandy coastlines at short and long timescales and better understand how coastlines change where relevant processes are dominant, such as tidal inlet migration, barrier island migration, and wave diffraction.
Most vacancies are listed here, but other opportunities may exist. Contact us if you're interested.
Jie Wang was a postdoctoral fellow working on river delta morphodynamics and coastal erosion. He received his PhD from the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research at East China Normal University.
Yonggui Yu is a marine geologist and spent two years as a visiting researcher from the First Institute of Oceanography, Qingdao. Yonggui looks at sediment dynamics and carbon storage on the Yellow River deltafront.
Caroline is from coastal South Carolina, US and has a B.Sc. in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston. After completing undergraduate, Caroline worked for various US government agencies focused on marine and aquatic research. In her M.Sc. work she focused on the morphodynamic evolution of the Colville Delta, AK, under sea ice using Delft3D.
Xuejiao Hou was a postdoctoral fellow, studying coastal suspended sediment concentration dynamics in river deltas.
Jana Cox was a PhD student in the Rivers2morrow project, interested in sediment budgets of urban river deltas
Joey was an MS student and sand fanatic, working on openDelve.
Born and raised in Texas, I earned a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Austin where I conducted research in coastal and fluvial geomorphology. After completing my undergraduate degree I worked as an Environmental/GIS Specialist for a civil engineering firm. I studied at UNC-Chapel Hill where I use Delft3D to evaluate the response of Arctic continental shelves to a rapidly growing wave climate, focusing on potential feedbacks between shelf morphology and wave propagation toward the coast.
I did my undergrad in Civil Engineering in Trinidad and Tobago and practised as a Coastal Engineer in Jamaica before leaving for Europe to further my studies. There, I did my MSc in the Netherlands and my PhD in Germany, with stops along the way in Norway, Spain and New Zealand. After a few postdocs, I moved from last position in France to FSU and then to Florida Gulf Coast University in Florida. As a Coastal Geomorphologist, I use a combination of fieldwork and numerical modelling to understand hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes on beaches and coasts, mainly as a result of wave forcing.
Juan F. Paniagua-Arroyave, "Pani", is originally from Colombia, where he obtained a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and a M.Sc. degree in Earth sciences. After completing his degrees in Colombia, Pani moved to the U.S. as a Fulbright scholar and obtained his Ph.D. degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville working on inner-shelf hydrodynamics, and a postdoc at FSU on river deltas. Pani is now faculty at EAFIT, working on morphodynamic models of river delta evolution in Columbia and elsewhere.
Mingyang Chen received his PhD from the College of Engineering Ph.D. program at the Florida State University, working on remote sensing of storm impacts on barrier islands. He is originally from China, where he obtained his first BSc in Civil Engineering. After 2012, he moved to the US and graduated from the Northern Arizona University in 2015 with BSc in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Engineering and from Florida State University in 2017 with a MSc in Civil Engineering. His research interests involve image processing and analysis, intelligent transportation systems, weight in motion analysis.
Kevencia was an undergraduate researcher at Florida State University, working on remote sensing of sea-level-rise driven coastal change using the Google Earth Engine.
Jacob Harm 'Jaap' Nienhuis
Vening Meinesz Building 4.88
Utrecht University
Princetonlaan 8a
Utrecht, 3584 CB
+1 (774) 521-8097
+31 (30) 253-2367
j.h.nienhuis (at) uu (dot) nl
