Curriculum Vitae

As a consultant at Rijkswaterstaat, I bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the table. With over 10 years of research experience at the University level and 2 years of consultancy at the Arcadis NL department of Rivers, Coasts and Seas, I have been involved in several interesting projects. 

As part of the Vici-project, "Turning the Tide" led by Maarten Kleinhans, I studied the impact of shoal margin collapses on channel-shoal morphodynamics. My research involved first identifying the origin of shoal margin collapses in the Western Scheldt and then using Delft3D to model their effects on the system's development. Additionally, I explored the role of other disturbances such as dredging and disposal on the long-term development of the channel-shoal system.

At Durham University, as part of the Changing Water Cycle project, I helped develop a regional-scale understanding of aquifer geometry and connectivity in the northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains, as well as its evolution over Holocene time scales.

For my PhD research, I focused on how meandering rivers can be formed in a laboratory setting. I conducted experiments to simulate river patterns by varying discharge regimes and adding vegetation or cohesive fines to the environment. The results of my research provided valuable insights into the role of scaling problems and our limited understanding of meandering rivers.

October 2021 - present: Advisor North Sea and Western Scheldt at RWS Z&D
June 2019 - September 2021: Consultant at Arcadis NL
May 2016 - April 2019: Post-doctoral Research Associate at the department of Physical Geography, Universiteit Utrecht
Oct 2013 - Feb 2016: Post-doctoral Research Associate at the department of Geography, Durham University
April-August 2013: Post-doc position at the department of Physical Geography, Universiteit Utrecht

5th July 2013: PhD defense Dissertation Title: Meandering rivers - feedbacks between channel dynamics, floodplain and vegetation.
2006-2009:  MSc-degree: Physical Geography,                    MSc-thesis: Effect of bank strength on experimental meandering rivers
2003-2006:  BSc-degree, Earth-science,                              BSc-thesis: River deltas on Earth as analogues for Martian river deltas

During my Masters, I did a internship at Deltares, Delft. Here, I worked at the department of River science and transport on water.

ResearcherID K-9411-2013                  citations: 1022, h-index: 18
Scopus Author ID 55550583100         citations: 1143, h-index: 20
Google Scholar Wout M. van Dijk     citations: 1695, h-index: 23  
Researchgate Wout M van Dijk   citations: 1475, h-index: 23
ORCID 0000-0002-7276-1824 

Awards Union Outstanding Student Poster (OSP) award EGU General Assembly 2012 (Geomorphology)

Media

Dutch journal for ingenieurs (De Ingenieur)

Dutch newspaper, science (NRC-weekend)

Live interview on national radio (Dutch radio 1, Tros)

Dutch television-program shows labs at the Utrecht University (RTV Utrecht, Bij ons in....)

Dutch VideoBlog (www.wetenschap101.nl)

Our research on Dutch national television told by Maarten Kleinhans (De Wereld Leert Door)