Tim Busker is a PhD Researcher at the department of Water and Climate Risk of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Tim has a background in drought and flood risk management, remote sensing and hydrological forecasting. Tim graduated from his MSc Earth Surface and Water in 2017, with a specialization in Natural Hazards and Earth Observation. His previous scientific work experience includes work at the Water Resources unit of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Here he developed a methodology in the Google Earth Engine to monitor lakes and reservoir volume changes for 350 water bodies over different continents, which is now used to improve flood and drought modelling. After that, he worked as a project coordinator and lecturer in the Flood Resilience group of IHE-Delft.

As part of the DOWN2EARTH project, Tim’s research will contribute to improving anticipatory drought measures based on seasonal ECMWF forecasts in the Horn of Africa. A first step he wants to take is to attempt to improve agricultural drought impact forecasts, using machine-learning algorithms.