Join our Research team as a geologist or geophysicist for the FWO SBO project ‘TESTEREP’ (TEsterep REconstructed for Policy making and Public engagement), which aims to reconstruct and map the evolution of part of the Flemish Seascape since c. 5000 BP.
You will perform research on the offshore paleo-geomorphological change off the Flemish coastline, in an area where once a peninsula (Testerep) was located. Within the larger project, offshore geophysical and sedimentological data will be combined with other intertidal and terrestrial geological and archaeological data to extend our spatio-temporal understanding of the evolution and demise of this former Testerep peninsula. Results of these data will be communicated to various stakeholders, including the wider public.
Researcher nearshore palaeolandscape exploration
In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing interest in the study of drowned landscapes and maritime geo-archaeology. This challenging research field integrates the study of climate and sea-level change, paleogeography, marine geology, oceanography and archaeology to study human presence and landscapes that were once located on dry land, but are now preserved in the intertidal or marine environment. VLIZ is one of the pioneers in Belgium of this challenging interdisciplinary research field, exploring the submerged landscapes of the North Sea.
The FWO SBO project TESTEREP is a 4-year scientific research project, led by the Free University of Brussels (VUB), in close collaboration with the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), KU Leuven and HoWest. This consortium brings together archaeologists, marine geoscientists, hydraulic engineers and virtual reality specialists. They will study the evolution and eventual demise of the Testerep peninsula over the past 5000 years from an archaeological, geological and hydrodynamical viewpoint. The resulting reconstructions and models will be used to raise public awareness on coastal dynamics and current threats, to stimulate blue tourism, to support heritage management, and to inspire sustainable coastal management strategies for the future. As such, the project will have a large stakeholder engagement and outreach component to it.
The main task of VLIZ in the TESTEREP project concerns the collation and analysis of existing offshore data, the collection and analysis of new geophysical and sedimentological offshore data, assisting in the development of a GIS database and providing the necessary seabed parameters for input in morphological/hydrodynamic models which will test hypothesis of the past evolution of the coastal landscape. Input will also be provided for the envisaged visualization outputs aimed at public engagement. VLIZ will also take a leading role in the stakeholder interaction and outreach component. A close collaboration with the other project partners will be essential to the success of the project.
Underwater Archaeology and Maritime History jobs 