Kryss Waldschläger

dr. ir. Kryss Waldschläger

Assistant professor Environmental Fluid Mechanics

With my research, I want to advance our understanding of the behavior and fate of microplastics in aquatic environments, with the ultimate goal of reducing plastic pollution and its impact on ecosystems. To achieve this goal, I believe it is essential to adopt a multidisciplinary approach that combines knowledge from fluid mechanics, sediment transport, environmental science, and engineering. We need to leverage existing knowledge on natural sediment transport processes to gain insights into the behavior of microplastics in rivers, lakes, and oceans. By studying the comparability of microplastics and mineral sediments, we can identify the key factors (e.g., turbulence, biofouling, aggregation) that affect their transport and fate.

During my PhD at RWTH Aachen University (Germany), my research has focused primarily on fundamental, aquatic transport processes (settling, rising, resuspension and infiltration behaviour) of microplastics, which are indispensable not only for understanding the distribution of microplastics in the environment, but also for determining the exposure for ecotoxicity studies and to identify suitable locations for mitigation strategies.

At WUR, I have now broadened my focus to also include the impact of turbulence, biofouling and microplastic-sediment aggregation on microplastic fate, to get a more realistic understanding of microplastic transport.