Postdoc: multi-risk adaptation pathways for river delta systems

About this position

River delta regions worldwide are increasingly threatened by sea-level rise and extreme hydrological events. Water managers must adapt to these hazards while balancing competing sectoral priorities, such as maintaining clean and affordable drinking water supplies, minimizing flood damage, and preserving ecosystems.

Your job

The Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning for Multi-Risk (DAPP-MR) framework helps decision-makers navigate these challenges by identifying low-regret near-term actions and avoiding costly decision lock-ins. Building on this framework, this position focuses on designing robust multi-risk pathways for complex multi-sectoral delta systems.

Your job

In this 2-year postdoc, you will explore new approaches for developing multi-risk adaptation pathways that inform robust decision-making while balancing multi-sectoral trade-offs. You will start by working with decision-makers and stakeholders in the Netherlands to characterize current and future risks in the Dutch delta and identify trade-offs between sectoral priorities. You will then develop methods for designing adaptation pathways that navigate these risks, and evaluate your approach against state-of-the-art adaptive pathway planning.

You will share your results in stakeholder meetings, scientific conferences, and academic journals. Your work will help Dutch water managers plan adaptation under uncertainty and contribute approaches that can be transferred to deltas worldwide.