Michelle Van Vliet

Biography

Michelle T.H. van Vliet is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar with IIASA’s Water (WAT) Program. She is participating in the World Water Scenarios Project and focusses on the ‘water-energy nexus’ (i.e. complex linkages among water and energy security) under future climate and socio-economic changes. Global and regional water assessments of water resources and cross-sectoral water uses are performed with the aim to develop management strategies for sustainable water, food and energy supply under future climate and socio-economic changes. Dr. van Vliet obtained her MSc in physical geography at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, with a focus on hydrology and climate change. She graduated (‘cum laude’) in 2006 and started working as a hydrologist at the research institute for delta studies, Deltares, the Netherlands. In July 2008, she started her PhD study at the Earth System Science - Climate Change and Adaptive Land and Water Management Group of Wageningen University and Research Centre. Her thesis covers the impacts of climate change on global river flows and water temperatures, and the consequences for cooling water use in the energy sector and freshwater ecosystems. In this study she produced global scenarios of water availability and river water temperature under future climate using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model. These global scenarios where used to address conflicts for water between the energy sector and freshwater ecosystems under future climate. As part of her PhD study, she worked at the Land Surface Hydrology Research Group of University of Washington, United States (summer 2009 and autumn 2010) and collaborated with Prof. Dennis Lettenmaier and his group on the hydrological and water temperature modelling. Dr. van Vliet received her doctoral degree with distinction (‘cum laude’) in December 2012. Since January 2013, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher both at IIASA and at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Research Interest

Her research focusses on the ‘water-energy nexus’ (i.e. complex linkages among water and energy security) under future climate and socio-economic changes.