Üwe Best

She is an experienced Civil Engineer with in excess of four years of a demonstrated history of working in the civil engineering industry. Uwe has further specialized in Coastal Engineering and Port Development and worked on research projects through collaborations with Deltares, Delft University of Technology, Utrecht University  and the Twente University. During her doctoral studies, Uwe will be assisting in provision of lectures and mentorship to students at the Master’s Level as this will provide initial training in her passion to strengthen STEM related disciplines. Uwe is skilled in Conference presentations, Delft 3D, Delft3D-Flexible Mesh, MATLAB, AutoCAD and XBeach among others. Throughout her years in the civil engineering industry, she has worked on a wide range of projects spanning roads (both primary and secondary) and bridge (local and capital projects) construction, and sea and river defence projects ( local and foreign funded). This gave her a strong footing with regards to managing projects to their timely completion as she maintained a high level of professionalism and integrity in her work. Currently her interests extends to the following:

• Integrated Coastal Zone Management: Hybrid Designs and Restoration Techniques
• Sea Level Rise Impact on low lying coasts
• Waves and Storm Impacts on vegetated-mudflat systems

Coastal vulnerability is amplified by the effects of climate change such as sea level rise and the increase of unpredictable extreme events such as storm surges and tsunamis. The increasing coastal vulnerability is expected to continue throughout the 21st century and could incur high economic costs if the traditional approach to coastal protection measures are maintained. To adequately cope with these hazards, flexible and adaptive solutions are needed to ensure the resilience of mangrove mudflat systems. This is crucial as studies project that by 2080, more than 500 million people living within the coastal zone will be exposed to the threats of coastal flooding as the sea level rises. Therefore, the main objective of this research is “to enhance the behavioural knowledge and to strengthen the adaptation framework governing the vulnerability reduction measures for fringing mangrove-mudflat systems under the impact of sea level rise and storms”.

The goal of this project is however twofold. The first being to understand the collective scope of existing projects and to address gaps in literature on the ecosystem services provided by mangroves within mudflat systems. While the second seeks to advance vulnerability assessment tools by developing and validating a biophysical vulnerability indicator for to asses to resilience of hybrid protection measures against storm surges and sea level rise.

• Best, U. (July,2020). CSDMS Summer Science Series II: Mangrove interaction with tidal flow, waves & long term sedimentation: mechanisms governing adaptation. https://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Presenters-0487
• Best. U (March, 2021). Mangrove Mudflat Dynamics & Rehabilitation of Eroding Coastlines, Guyana. Guyana Association of Professional Engineers Weekly Discussions. Coastal Zone Vulnerabilities, Protection and Management.
• Penning, E., Berends, K., Dijkstra, J., Best, U. (November, 2021). Quantifying vegetation dynamics for designing and managing Nature-based Solutions. Deltares, Ecosystems and Sediments Dynamics. https://www.deltares.nl/en/webinars/webinar-vegetation-modelling-2/
• Best, U., van der Wegen, M., Dijkstra, J., Reyns, J., & Roelvink, D. (2021). Multi-Time Scale Mangrove-Mudflat Modelling: Exploring Guyana’s Unique Dataset & Numerical Modelling. Coastal Dynamics. Oral Presentation.

• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Reyns, Johan; Dijkstra, Jasper; Roelvink, Dano; van Prooijen, Bram (2022): Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastline (ARM4VEG) , Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Collection. https://doi.org/10.4121/c.5715269
• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Dijkstra, Jasper; Reyns, Johan; van Prooijen, Bram; Roelvink, Dano (2022): Concentration data of Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastlines (ARM4VEG), Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/18131459.v1
• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Dijkstra, Jasper; Reyns, Johan; van Prooijen, Bram; Roelvink, Dano (2022): Wave data of Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastlines (ARM4VEG), Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/18131366.v1
• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Dijkstra, Jasper; Reyns, Johan; van Prooijen, Bram; Roelvink, Dano (2022): Bed level data of Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastlines (ARM4VEG), Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/18131336.v1
• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Dijkstra, Jasper; Reyns, Johan; van Prooijen, Bram; Roelvink, Dano (2022): Sediment properties data of Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastlines (ARM4VEG), Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/18131222.v1
• Best, Uwe; van der Wegen, Mick; Dijkstra, Jasper; Reyns, Johan; van Prooijen, Bram; Roelvink, Dano (2022): Mangrove data of Advancing Resilience Measures for Vegetated Coastlines (ARM4VEG), Guyana. 4TU.ResearchData. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/18131204.v1