I have just wrapped up my second week of the internship and I am in full research/study mode. I have spent many hours at UNESCO-IHE organizing the structure and content of my research. I have never done so much reading in one week! Good thing it is on a topic that I am passionate about. I am studying in an office with the Flood Resilience group at UNESCO-IHE. During my time here I have been given an amazing opportunity to contribute to a journal article that will be published at the end of the summer in the Journal of Hydrology. My research will directly contribute to the content of the article and if all goes well then I will be listed as a contributing author.
I am really enjoying my time so far in Holland. Delft is such a classic European city. I am soaking in the differences in the language and in the culture. Life seems to move at a slower pace. UNESCO-IHE on the other hand is very international. Many of the researchers in my office are from the Netherlands, but the school as a whole is very international. I have met people from Vietnam, China, Ethiopia, Sudan, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the list goes on. It is literally a melting pot of cultures.
I have finally learned my way around both the school and the city of Delft. I even took a couple of trips to Rotterdam and Amsterdam this week with another USF student who happens to be in the Netherlands right now. We saw the sights of the cities and some of the water infrastructure that makes this country so unique.
- Jennifer Smith
Erasmus Bridge - Rotterdam
Floating Pavilion - Rotterdam (A Rotterdam Climate Proof pilot project)
For more info on the Floating Pavilion: