Jasper is a hydraulic engineer with a keen interest in interactions between hydrodynamics, morphology and biology in all kinds of environments. For his MSc-thesis at Delft University of Technology (TUD), he combined fieldwork and numerical modelling to study the effect of riparian vegetation on the development of the Volga River, Russia. During his PhD-candidacy at the same university, he shifted his focus towards estuaries and coasts and got more involved in ecology while working with Radboud University Nijmegen (RU) and NIOZ. Here, he further developed his numerical modelling skills to couple biology to sediment dynamics (e.g. extensions to Delft3D), but also performed physical experiments in laboratory flumes and in the field. Besides, he acted as a guest-lecturer for two MSc. courses and a fieldwork course.
At Deltares, Jasper is involved in more practical applications related to nature-based solutions as well as basic research on eco-hydraulics and biogeomorphology in e.g. the latest instances of the EU-Hydralab projects. He oversees the implementation of capabilities for vegetion-related modelling in Deltares software. Examples of practical applications are various applied research projects on how natural processes modify the environment, the assessment of human impacts on morphology and ecology in the Ems-Dollard, Western Scheldt and Mississippi estuaries and the development of the MI-SAFE viewer in the EU-FAST (Foreshore Assesment using Space Technology) project that enables a quick scan of the cost reduction potential of vegetated coasts.