About Lieke Meijer

Lieke Meijer is an expert in extreme weather impacts and infrastructure resilience. She contributes to Deltares’ mission of Enabling Delta Life by helping governments, infrastructure operators, and humanitarian organizations prepare for the increasing risks of climate change. Her work focuses on understanding systemic risks, strengthening infrastructure networks, and enhancing societal resilience.

With a Master’s in Earth Sciences: Global Environmental Change and Policy and a Bachelor’s in Global Challenges, Lieke combines a strong interdisciplinary foundation with technical expertise in Python, GIS, and quantitative modelling. She applies these skills in stress testing, network analysis, and stakeholder engagement, translating complex data into actionable insights.

She develops knowledge at the intersection of climate risks and infrastructure, with a particular focus on cascading effects, vulnerabilities, and adaptation strategies. Her work spans both strategic policy development and operational modelling, contributing to Deltares’ moonshots on flood safety (moonshot 2) and resilient infrastructure (moonshot 5).

Internationally, Lieke has worked on projects in Mozambique, Nepal, Sint Maarten, and the United States. She co-developed tools for impact modelling, evacuation planning, and crisis response in collaboration with local and international partners. For example, she supported the World Food Programme Nepal in developing an operational tool for rapid logistics decision-making after flood events, and contributed to social vulnerability assessments for compound flooding in the U.S.

In the Netherlands, she has led national research on climate risks for emergency response organizations, analysed cascading infrastructure failures in urban settings, and modelled the impact of large-scale rainfall on the national road network. She also contributes to knowledge and policy development for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management on natural hazards affecting critical infrastructure.

Lieke is known for her analytical thinking, clear communication, and ability to bridge science and practice. She regularly facilitates workshops and trainings, including for international organizations such as the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration. Her work empowers stakeholders to make informed, future-proof decisions in the face of climate uncertainty.

A selection of projects Lieke was involved in:

• Climate risks for resilient emergency response organizations (NL) – Project lead, workshop facilitator.
• Cyclone evacuation planning in Mozambique – GIS specialist, stakeholder engagement.
• Roadfire adaptation modelling for Dutch highways – Department of Waterways and Public Works – Modelling vulnerability and performing cost-benefit analysis.
• RA2CE platform development – Resilience modelling in NL, Nepal, Mozambique, Sint Maarten.
• Cascading effects of critical infrastructure – Municipality of Amsterdam – cascading impacts of critical infrastructure failure, urban resilience, climate risks for critical infrastructure.
• Large-scale rainfall impacts on the Dutch highway road network – Department of Waterways and Public Works – Scenario modelling, accessibility analysis.
• Rapid logistics decision support for flood response – World Food Programme Nepal – Developed and implemented the RA2CE tool to support 72-hour post-disaster logistics assessments, enabling WFP Nepal to identify accessible routes and affected populations after flood events.