Irene Benito Lazaro is a PhD candidate within the Water and Climate Risk department of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research focusses on global-scale coastal flood modelling. Irene has interest in extreme hazard events, their impacts and the societal response to their consequences.
Irene obtained a BSc in Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. During her Bachelor she had the chance to study abroad at the Nottingham Trent University for one year, and to carry out research on hydrology at the University of California, Irvine. Afterwards she obtained a MSc in Hydrology and Water Resources Management at the Technical University of Delft.
Prior to joining VU Amsterdam Irene worked for almost two years at Deltares, in the Operational Water Management department. At Deltares she worked on consulting and research projects related to flood modelling, forecasting and early warning systems in Europe, America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, she contributed on the development of remote sensing solutions for water-related problems mainly for the World Bank, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and national and local governments.
Expertise
Flood forecasting, flood risk modelling, operational water management, remote sensing.