open TELEMAC-MASCARET The mathematically superior suite of solvers

The WADER (Wetland Avian bioDiversity & ClimatE Resilience) project applies state-of-the art knowledge of bio-geomorphodynamics to improve our ability to predict avian biodiversity and climate resilience in coastal wetlands, using birds as indicators for evaluating the ecological status of a wetland. The project falls under the Belgium-China cooperation in the domain of science and technology, bilaterally funded by BELSPO (Belgium) and MOST (China). Coastal wetlands are increasingly put forward as so-called Nature-based-Solutions (NbS) reducing the need of hard engineering solutions in coastal management. However, thus far there are no consistent frameworks in place able to predict the development of coastal resilience and biodiversity of NbS. Thus, limiting possibilities to optimize their design for specific target ecosystem functions.
This project will develop a numerical modelling tool (in TELEMAC-GAIA) to understand how large-scale processes influence the development and resilience of wetland morphology and how wetland morphological development drives biodiversity. You will focus on the impact of large-scale driving forces such as the coastal sediment budget driven by tides and storms on wetland development (including vegetation) and resilience and predict bio-morphological wetland development and habitat suitability for birds (wetland, migratory and overwintering) over engineering time scales of half a century. Reference sites providing calibration and validation data have been selected at the Belgian coast and the Yangtze estuary, China.

See www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60306256 for more details and online application.