Research

Following water below the surface.

My research asks how soils and groundwater control water availability, how climate change is altering those controls, and how better evidence can improve adaptation.

Published · HESS · 2026

Reconstructed soil moisture droughts reveal that 2011–2020 was the driest decade in Belgium since 1970

A national reconstruction of soil-moisture drought and recovery, showing how subsurface memory sustains water stress after meteorological conditions improve.

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Manuscript

Climate change intensifies the seasonality of groundwater recharge in Belgium

An ensemble assessment using ten global climate models and four emission pathways to explain why annual recharge can decline even as winter precipitation increases.

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PhD research · Boechout

Quantifying the water-retention benefits of nature-based solutions

A coupled observation-and-modelling framework that measures how restored areas change infiltration, soil-water storage, runoff and groundwater recharge.

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Agricultural Water Management · 2024

Climate change and crop water use in the Nyando basin

SWAT+ modelling of how anthropogenic warming changes crop-water requirements and water availability in western Kenya.

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DOCTORAL THESIS

Dynamics of subsurface water in a changing climate

An assessment of subsurface controls on water availability and climate adaptation in Belgium.

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