Thomas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Utrecht University. His research focuses on the hydrogeology of sustainable subsurface use by developing concepts, methods, and tools that facilitate or enhance sustainable practices.

Research interest

Thomas' research focuses on transport phenomena and subsequent coupled processes in the subsurface, using numerical modeling, experiments, and field tests. Fundamental topics include the flow of groundwater, solid-fluid interactions, particle dynamics, changing pore-structures, gel dynamics, mechanical aspects, and reactive transport phenomena. These processes occur at the field-scale, where we observe upscaled phenomena, from processes at the pore-scale to their subsequent effect on column- and aquifer-scale. 

On-going projects: 

• Erosion of silicate grouting in construction pits (NWO-funded project SilPit).
• Upscaling of clay interfaces in shallow groundwater systems
• Fine Particles in Shallow Groundwater Systems; Origin, Mobilization, and Particle Clogging in Utrecht ATES wells
• Modeling of groundwater dynamics and transport phenomena in urbanized, coastal areas.
• Grain-scale modeling of hydromechanical coupling in unconsolidated sandy materials.

• Development of an electric resistance tomography method for grouted sands (SiO2Volt project), by means of field testing, numerical modelling and laboratory experiments