Postdoc

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• Postdoc: Co-creating Shared Narratives for Sustainable Sediment Management

Working at Utrecht University Postdoc: Co-creating Shared Narratives for Sustainable Sediment Management

Faculty: Faculty of Geosciences Department: Department of Physical Geography Hours per week: 32 to 40 Application deadline: 25 October 2026

The Wadden Sea and the Ems-Dollard and Western Scheldt estuaries have nationally important navigation channels and globally important ecosystems on tidal flats and coastal wetlands, that also protect the coast against storms. However, dredging costs are escalating, biodiversity is declining, and the sea level is rising. These three threats are magnified by a surplus or deficit of sand and mud, which requires sediment management. The knowledge and tools needed for this pose profound scientific challenges.

Your job

The aim of the WadSED project is to develop the urgently needed system understanding, data analysis tools, and forecasting models for science and expert users, and co-create common ground among stakeholders for future-proof coastal management.

One the project outcomes is to explore and co-develop narratives and conceptual models that show development of the basins and estuaries under SLR and human interference with specific attention for the sediment budget and habitat development.

As a postdoctoral researcher you will organize and facilitate the participatory process to co-develop these shared narratives and conceptual models for sustainable sediment management. This will be done for two case studies, namely Western Scheldt and Wadden Sea. To facilitate knowledge exchange and the learning process, interactive workshops will be organized on location (Western Scheldt and Wadden Sea) to enhance science-society interactions.

Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of the postdoctoral researcher are to engage with the project team members and the participa...