Daphne van der Wal is full Professor of Spatial Water Quality and Aquatic Systems in the Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC) of University of Twente, Enschede. In addition, she is senior scientist at NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, in the Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Yerseke.

Her background is in physical geography. She obtained her PhD in 1999 from the University of Amsterdam, and was a postdoctoral research fellow from 1999 up to 2002 at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Daphne van der Wal is an expert in earth observation of coastal, estuarine, and delta systems. Using earth observation, her main interest is in understanding the functioning of aquatic systems, with focus on the physical processes in the coastal zone and their interaction with biology. Topics also include the response of aquatic systems to climate change and human impact, as well as risks (e.g., flooding) and services (e.g., nature-based flood risk reduction) of the coastal zone.

Approaches include satellite, airborne and near-surface remote sensing in the optical, radar/SAR, and TIR domain, combined with big data analyses and modelling tools.

Key qualifications: Remote sensing, geo-information, spatial patterns, coastal processes, river-sea interactions, water quality, wetlands, bio-geomorphology, morphology, sediment dynamics, aeolian dynamics, nature-based solutions