Paul Vriend is an external PhD candidate at Rijkswaterstaat. His research focuses on developing methods to monitor riverine plastic pollution, aiming to study its fundamental behavior, composition, distribution, and trends over time.

More information about Paul Vriend

Professional experience

Paul earned his BSc in Earth, Energy, and Sustainability from Leiden University College in 2018. Following an internship with the river research team at The Ocean Cleanup, he pursued an MSc in Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University, where he deepened his focus on plastic pollution. His experience includes working as a junior researcher on a plastic research project for Rijkswaterstaat, holding a research position at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and completing a master’s thesis in which he developed a global model to predict the export of macro- and microplastic pollution to the seas.

In 2021, Paul joined Rijkswaterstaat as a scientific advisor, leading efforts to establish a national monitoring strategy for riverine litter in Dutch rivers. Together with his team, he implemented this strategy at over 60 locations across the Netherlands. In addition, Paul represents the Dutch delegation at the OSPAR regional sea convention, where he heads the riverine litter expert group and leads negotiations on international harmonization of monitoring methods across Europe.

Research topic

Paul is developing innovative techniques for monitoring macroplastic pollution in rivers. His PhD research aims to optimize these methods and to establish quality criteria for effective research. Ultimately, this work seeks to enhance data accuracy and make the monitoring of riverine macroplastics more accessible.