My Mission
Mainstream the use of open-source software and open data in academic education.Biography
I’m a senior lecturer in GIS & Spatial Data Management at IHE Delft. I received a Master’s degree in Physical Geography at Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2002 with a specialization in GIS and Remote Sensing. In 2002 I was appointed at the Faculty of Geosciences of Utrecht University as a junior lecturer in GIS. In 2009 I defended his PhD at Utrecht University on the integration of remote sensing in spatial dynamic modelling of soil moisture using data-assimilation techniques implemented in the PCRaster Python framework. From 2007 to 2012 I worked at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) where I was appointed as a researcher in spatial dynamic environmental modelling. I have participated in projects related to water quality modelling, land-use change modelling, and the use of remote sensing for urban applications. As a guest lecturer I’ve supervised BSc students in a hydrological and geomorphological fieldwork as part of the curriculum Earth Sciences at Utrecht University. Since April 2012 I work at IHE Delft. As a QGIS certified lecturer I actively promotes the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) by young professionals from the Global South. I am also involved in many research and capacity development projects related to GIS, remote sensing, spatial data infrastructures, Python, open data, and citizen science. Together with Kurt Menke I have published the book QGIS for Hydrological Applications (Locate Press) and I am a board member of the Dutch QGIS Users Association. In April 2022 I founded QWAST-GIS for consultancy on open-source GIS.
