Jan Willem Foppen

Jan Willem Foppen (1965) received his M.Sc. degree in Hydrogeology from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in 1990. Before joining UNESCO-IHE in 1998, he worked at the Vrije Universiteit, Natuurmonumenten (nature conservation organization), and as a consultant at the Institute of Applied Geosciences of TNO. There he did a lot of groundwater modeling studies, design of groundwater quantity and quality monitoring networks, ecohydrological systems analysis of river valleys, and groundwater quality assessments. Also, he was involved in court and insurance cases as an expert witness.

In June 2007, he obtained his PhD degree from the same University. His research focused on the transport of Escherichia coli in saturated porous media, whereby the aim was to extend the well known colloid filtration theory, by incorporating straining, geochemical heterogeneity, variable deposition rate coefficients as a result of population heterogeneity, and preferential flow mechanisms. The case of Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, served to evaluate the importance of bacteria transport processes in a field situation.

He has extensive experience in projects on curriculum development, post-graduate education, institution building and research. His geographical focus has been on the Arab region, where he worked in projects mainly in Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Jan Willem is teaching parts of the Water Quality module, the Hydrological Systems Analysis module, and recently he became involved in the distance learning courses on Ecological Sanitation and Sanitation-related urban groundwater pollution. Also, he is involved in the instruction fieldwork program in the area of Digne-les-Bains in the South-East part of France.

• Publications