About

Dr. Riaan van der Merwe is currently employed as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi. He led efforts across the multi-disciplinary areas of desalination, ecological- and coastal engineering, coastal resilience, marine habitat enhancement/restoration, and sustainability science. Riaan is also conducting complex applied research-, and has significant Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) & consultancy experience. He successfully led and completed more than 40 comprehensive EIAs (in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) across various domains, incl. social-ecological systems, marine environments, desalination, oil & gas, and a broad array of renewable energy projects. He is also been invited to talk at high-profile meetings on the topics of decarbonizing desalination, the recovery of minerals from brine, and nature-based approaches (specifically about desalination discharges).

Career Type:

Scientist/Researcher/Academic

Organization Type:

Universities and Academia

Expertise Fields/Interests:

Ecological Engineering Marine Conservation Desalination Coastal Engineering

Major Achievements: