As the end of the year approaches, we’re proud to share that our colleagues Tim Busker and Shahana Bilalova have defended their PhD theses, marking the end of a remarkable chapter in their academic journeys!
On November 7th, Tim defended his PhD thesis, “Anticipating Weather and Climate Extremes,” in the Aula of VU Amsterdam. His research focuses on using seasonal forecasts to help local communities predict the impacts of droughts.
As part of the H2020 Down2Earth project, Tim explored how predictions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) could be used to anticipate drought impacts. His findings showed that seasonal forecasts have the potential to reduce these impacts by providing early warnings 1-2 months in advance, giving communities valuable time to prepare.
For more details about his work, you can visit this page from the VU website or explore his publications on food security and drought impacts.
Congratulations Tim on completing this important research!
On the same day, Shahana defended her PhD thesis, “Toward Sustainable Water Governance: Paradigms, Context, and Sustainability Performance,” at Leuphana University Lüneburg in Germany. Her research aimed to advance the understanding of effective water governance by exploring the interplay between governance paradigms, sustainability outcomes, and contextual factors—a critical focus given the crucial role governance plays in addressing global water crises.
“The defense was a milestone moment, capping four years of my PhD research. It allowed me to distill my work into a 30-minute presentation, followed by a thought-provoking discussion with the examiners. While it felt like the conclusion of an important chapter, both the insightful questions posed by the examiners and my reflections during the preparation process opened up exciting new directions for future research. This experience has renewed my excitement to keep exploring the challenges of sustainable water governance.”
We are happy to have Shahana on our team now to apply her expertise to the GreenAdapt2Extremes project, focussing on developing adaptive strategies for river basins. Congratulations to you as well, Shahana!
The new year, 2025, will also kick off with significant milestones:
On January 10, our colleague Raed Hamed will defend his research titled “Crop impacts from compound weather extremes in major breadbaskets under climate change.” A week later, on January 17, Teun Schrieks will present his research titled “Living with drought: Understanding adaptation decisions in African pastoral communities.” Both defenses will take place at 11:45 AM in the Aula of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Good luck to both with the final stretch!
Hydrological extremes @ Amsterdam 
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