Meet our new Researcher: Daniela Benedicto van Dalen

Imagen

On November 1st, Ms. Daniela Benedicto van Dalen joined IGRAC as Researcher. Daniela was born in Brazil, but has already been living in the Netherlands for fourteen years. She adds many years of experience to the IGRAC team and will try to use her extensive network and experience to initiate and lead new projects. 

Background and experience

Daniela has academic background in geology and she graduated at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil. In the last year of her studies, she followed the disciplines needed to specialize in hydrogeology. "After graduating, I came to Europe and followed the International Programme on Environmental Technology at University of Greenwich/UK," Daniela says.

After finishing her studies, Daniela temporarily worked as Hydrogeologist for few companies: BAM, TNO, Oranjewoud and Aveco de Bondt. "After a couple of years I found a job at ARCADIS, where I worked for almost 9 years as Hydrogeologist," she says. "My work was mainly advising on groundwater issues related to both quantitative and qualitative aspects with an integral water management approach." In this period, Daniela was involved in some international projects.

These projects made her realize that such international environment suits her very well and have driven her to start working at IGRAC. "The international character of this organization has made me enthusiastic about applying for the job," Daniela explains. "I love the dynamics of working in an international setting!" Another aspect that drew her attention was the vision of IGRAC. "IGRAC is an organization with very noble goals, which strive for sustainable management of the groundwater resources. Working to archive such goals makes me feel very proud of it."

Responsibilities

As Researcher, Daniela will use her network and experience to initiate and lead new projects at IGRAC. "I will put some efforts on cooperating with South American, and more specifically with Brazilian authorities, for a sustainable groundwater resources management." In addition, one of the topics she will focus on is 'droughts'. "I will explore as well the possibilities of using groundwater resources to mitigate the consequences of droughts (MAR)." Groundwater governance is another subject that interests her as well.