The Scientific Committee of PiE2025 consists of members of the organising institutes
Dr. Ole Mikkelsen - Sequoia Scientific Inc.
I initially aimed to become a theoretical physicist, inspired by Stephen Hawking. However, a phenomenal high school geography teacher led me instead to study physical geography in college. My Ph.D. thesis (2001) focused on suspended particle dynamics in Danish coastal waters, using LISST results. Professor Morten Pejrup, my supervisor, was one of Sequoia's first customers, intertwining my career with Sequoia since 1997 when he bought LISST #9.
Visits to Sequoia during my Ph.D. (1998-2001) and postdocs in Canada (2002-2005) and the UK (2005-2007) led to my hiring by Sequoia in 2007. My Ph.D. work included pioneering studies on flocculation time scales, remote sensing estimates of particle concentration and a new settling velocity model. I also worked on randomly shaped particle studies together with Sequoia, culminating in a 2008 JGR publication. During my postdoc in Canada, I developed the INSSECT sampling platform and initiated work on Schlieren, finalized during my postdoc in the UK.
I relocated to Seattle to work for Sequoia in 2007, continuing work on randomly shaped particles, leading to publications in Applied Optics. I left Sequoia in 2013 but returned as President in 2019 after Yogi retired.
Dr. Nore Praet - Flanders Marine Institute
Nore Praet (°1990) is a postdoctoral researcher (marine geologist) at VLIZ. Nore received her PhD degree in 2020 from Ghent University. During her PhD, she reconstructed the seismological history of Alaska through the study of lake sediments using a combination of multibeam bathymetric, subsurface seismic and sediment core data. After her PhD, her research focus transitioned to analysing suspended particles (turbidity) in Belgian coastal waters. Within the framework of the finished TIMBERS and ongoing TURBEAMS projects, she gained experience in acquiring and processing multibeam water column data and in-situ sensor data.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5567-3718
Dr. Michael Fettweis - Institute of Natural Sciences
I have worked for more than 35 years in oceanography and engineering, from which 8 years at a consultancy company (IMDC) and the rest in academic research (KULeuven and since 1999 at RBINS). My expertise is the dynamics of fine-grained particles caused by physical and biological processes along the land-ocean transition. It includes the interaction of organic and mineral particles in suspension, flocculation, sinking and transport, and the coastal ocean carbon cycle. My research is embedded in the sustainable use of marine ecosystems and in understanding and quantifying the threads due to human activities and climate change. I have been the chief scientist of more than 100 measuring campaigns at sea and was the coordinator of several national research projects and partner in national and international ones. In 2019 I received the JJ Mehta award for outstanding contributions to observations and insights on coastal cohesive sediments transport.
Dr. Yves Plancke - Flanders Hydraulics
Yves Plancke is an expert research engineer (VUB, 2002) at Flanders Hydraulics. He is involved (project leader, research engineer, revisor) in a large number of studies focusing on hydrodynamics, sediment transport and morphology, mainly in the Schelde-estuary. The combination of research tools (field measurements, physical scale model, numerical model and expertise) form a crucial aspect in his research philosophy.
In the last decade he has been program manager at Flanders Hydraulics of the Flemish-Dutch research program “Agenda for the Future” within the scope of the Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission (VNSC). He is also member of different working groups within the Research and Monitoring group of the VNSC.
Recent projects include the development of a multicriteria tool for selecting the most appropriate disposal sites for the maintenance dredging works in the Westerschelde, the sand-mud balance for the Zeeschelde and research on sediment characteristics using physical installations (eg. miniflume).
Beside his work at Flanders Hydraulics, he is guest lecturer at the University of Hasselt and the Antwerp Maritime Academy. The combination of theoretical background and practical experience in real life projects, is a crucial advantage in his research work.