Student & Early Career Scientist Profile Series - Tim H.M. van Emmerik
Lets get the basics. Name, where you are from, and your current affiliation and advisor?
Tim van Emmerik, PhD student at Delft University of Technology, supervised by prof. Nick van de Giesen and Dr. Susan Steele-Dunne. Although I was also born in Delft, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many corners of the world.
What is the research you are currently working on?
I am currently researching how water stress affects the dynamics of crops and trees. I want to find out how this influences radar backscatter, to investigate the potential of water stress detection using radar.
What got you started on this current research? Was there some epiphany or light bulb moment?
Actually it was a lucky shot. I was looking for an M.Sc. project when I first heard the idea of water stress detection using radar. Intrigued, I was sent to the field to do five weeks of 6 A.M. and 6 P.M days worth of measurements. When the data was processed, and our hypothesis corresponded with reality, I decided that I wanted to continue working on this!
When in San Francisco for the AGU Fall Meeting, what is one place you have to go to?
I am not going to share my ultimate favorite place in SF, as I it already gets quite crowded. However, for breakfast go to Little Griddle (triple cheese-avocado hash browns), eat some genuine Southern food at Hops & Hominy, and end the night singing your all-time favorites at Bow Bow Cocktail lounge!
If you were not a young hydrologist, what would you be doing?
When I was younger I always wanted to become a philosopher. However, being in geosciences for a number of years made me realize that I cannot do without fieldwork. My guess for an alternative profession is either volcanologist or paleontologist.
This was the first profile in our Student & Early Career Scientist series, an initiative by the Hydrology Section Student Subcommittee. To learn more about the subcommittee, follow @AGU_H3S on Twitter.
