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In 2010 I obtained my PhD degree after four years of research at IMAU on regional climate modeling of the Greenland ice sheet. Although the Greenland research was pretty intriguing, I decided to refocus my academic career. I started an assistant professorship (UD) at the faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Twente (UT). Here I work in the department of Earth System Analysis, where it is my task to study the link between climate change and natural hazards.

ITC is a full faculty of the UT, and its mission is “the international exchange of knowledge, focusing capacity building and institutional development in developing countries and emerging economies”.  Following this mission, ITC has built a large international MSc and PhD student community. All our MSc students are non-Dutch. They have an enormous drive, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Obtaining a MSc degree at ITC will greatly enhance their carrier prospects. For me as lecturer, it is very rewarding to educate these students as they eagerly absorb all the knowledge you provide.

As the only meteorologist in a research group on natural hazards and disaster risk management, my colleagues ask all kind of questions related to weather and climate. One moment I could be working on a basic lecture on monsoons, while the next meeting can be on local climate change scenarios for flash flood hazard in the Alps, or on remotely sensed rainfall extremes in India, or climate impact on food security in Indonesia.  This great variety of topics makes my job very diverse and interesting. My role often is one of climate knowledge broker to other disciplines relates to natural hazards.

One of the great things of working at ITC is that I get ample opportunity to travel the world. Over the past five-and-a-half years, I visited Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, next to regular conferences and workshops in Europe and USA. Starting a long-term collaboration in these countries often brings one beyond the obvious tourist attractions. Projects that I am currently contributing to deal with e.g. university curriculum development, tailor-made trainings, or climate related research.

My work then is situated at the intersection of climatology and hydrology, with a focus on weather extremes related to hydro-meteorological hazards.  It is a privilege to contribute meteorological knowledge to other disciplines involved in risk assessment. In this multidisciplinary environment I learn and teach every day; something I enjoy very much.

As you can see, the professional link to Greenland has vanished. However, walking our Siberian husky and Alaskan malamute sometimes still makes me feel as if I am in the Arctic.

Janneke Ettema