‘How climate-proof is our water management and how should we adapt it to cope with climate change? In concrete terms, this means that we look at our current water management arrangements to see where, and in which respects, they are adequate in the long term, and where we need to adopt a different strategy.

Our coastal defences are good for many years yet. The annual beach replenishment is an effective coastal defence method and we have adequate stocks of sand in the North Sea. Freshwater supplies in some parts of The Netherlands are a different story. We will have to take steps to safeguard adequate supplies of fresh water in dry periods for agriculture, drinking water and shipping. So we are submitting a range of options for new strategies to policymakers, such as the Ministry of Infrastructure and and the Environment, so that choices can be made. This is a wide-ranging project involving collaboration with colleagues from various departments and with Rijkswaterstaat.

The teamwork is excellent, because we are all people who are motivated by the subject. For me, the social relevance of the work counts too. For example, the results of our project were included in the report of the Veerman Commission, a national report on the future of water defences in The Netherlands.

I studied Environmental Hygiene in Wageningen, specialising in meteorology and air quality. I went on to my doctorate, looking at the impact of substances and air pollution on climate change. During my career, I switched from a research job at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute to working as a project manager for Rijkswaterstaat. Now, at Deltares, I can choose from several career options: management, more concentration on the actual subject matter, or a combination of the two.’