Floris Reinier Calkoen

Coastal Science | Earth Observation | Climate Resilience | Cloud Technology | GeoAI

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| Website | LinkedIn | ORCID | Google Scholar | GitHub

A coastal scientist with a PhD and a broad background in geology, philosophy, data science, and marine sciences, specializing in Earth Observation, global geospatial data analysis, and GeoAI, usually with a focus on climate risk. Experienced in applying new technologies at scale, like mapping the world’s coast using deep learning from petabytes of satellite data. Co-developer of the EU Horizon 2020 CoCliCo web portal, with contributions to its cloud data architecture, and an author of multiple peer-reviewed publications and open-source scientific software. I have a vision of how to turn big geospatial data into products that can inform policymakers, effectively bridging Earth observation to policy. Looking for a role where I can grow towards technically leading a team working on climate resilience. I value working with people, have lived and worked across continents, and like speaking multiple languages.

Professional Experience

PhD Researcher | Deltares & Delft University of Technology | 2021–2026

• Developed a scalable, cloud-native analytical framework to analyze petabytes of satellite imagery, leading to the first usage of deep learning to map the world’s coast.
• Conducted a global impact assessment of future coastal erosion under different scenarios of sea-level rise, moving from studying coastal erosion as a natural process to where it becomes a societal risk.
• Co-developed the cloud data infrastructure for the European H2020 CoCliCo project, harmonizing climate projections, exposure data, and satellite-derived data products into one data system serving different end-users, from practitioners to policymakers.

Visiting Researcher | U.S. Geological Survey, Santa Cruz (USA) | Dec 2023 – Jan 2024

• Worked on global coastal classification using satellite imagery and deep learning.

Visiting Researcher | Water Research Laboratory, UNSW Sydney (Australia) | Dec 2022 – Jan 2023

• Collaborated on satellite-derived shoreline mapping methods.

Research Intern | Instituto Dom Luiz, University of Lisbon | 2019

• Studied decades of coastal change along the Portuguese coast using satellite data, with results presented in an interactive web-based visualization.

Competencies & Skills

Professional Skills

• Collaboration & Leadership: Work collaboratively towards shared goals within international, multidisciplinary teams. Take a leading role in technical developments and am not afraid to speak up when I have a basis to do so.
• Research & Project Delivery: Conduct independent research from proposal to publication while contributing to multi-year international projects with fixed deadlines, such as the EU H2020 CoCliCo project.
• Early Adopter: Whether curiosity or a natural drive, understanding where technological developments are heading has been a constant throughout my career.
• Analytical Thinking: Translate complex real-world questions into smaller subquestions that can be addressed systematically. A philosophy degree provided what turned out to be one of the most useful skills: distilling the essential from large quantities of information.
• Communication & Mentorship: Author of peer-reviewed publications and open educational resources; experienced in public speaking and supervising MSc students.

Technical Skills

• Geospatial & Earth Observation: Global, cloud-native coastal monitoring; analysis of satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel, ICESat-2); proficient with DuckDB, Dask, Xarray, Pandas, Open Data Cube, Pangeo, and Planetary Computer.
• Cloud & DevOps: Cloud-native architecture (Azure, AWS); cloud-optimized data (Parquet, COG, Zarr); experienced with STAC, CI/CD, Coiled, and Azure Container Apps.
• Machine Learning: Deep learning for image classification (PyTorch, Lightning, Wandb), experience with multimodal LLMs, and traditional ML, such as Scikit-learn.
• Fieldwork & Instrumentation: Experienced in geological fieldwork (multiple multi-week campaigns in Spain). Hands-on with 12V off-grid power systems, solar charging, lithium batteries, and remote sensor monitoring - skills applicable to field observation setups.

Education

• PhD in Coastal Science | Delft University of Technology & Deltares | 2021–2026
• MSc in Data Science | University of Amsterdam | 2019–2020
• MSc in Marine Environment and Resources | Erasmus Mundus Consortium | 2017–2019
• BA in Philosophy | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | 2015–2017
• BSc in Earth Science (Geology) | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | 2012–2016

Dissertation

• Calkoen, F. R. (2026). Living by the Coast with Accelerating Sea-Level Rise. Doctoral Thesis, Delft University of Technology. Promotors: S.G.J. Aarninkhof, R.W.M.R.J.B. Ranasinghe, A.P. Luijendijk. https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:2b81ed48-3ac7-435b-acbb-30e625c0c586

Peer-Reviewed Publications

First Author

• Calkoen, F. R., Luijendijk, A. P., Hanson, S., et al. (2025). Mapping the world’s coast: a global 100-m coastal typology derived from satellite data using deep learning. Earth System Science Data Discussions [in review]. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-388
• Calkoen, F. R., Luijendijk, A. P., Vos, K., et al. (2025). Enabling coastal analytics at planetary scale. Environmental Modelling & Software, 183, 106257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106257
• Calkoen, F. R., Luijendijk, A. P., Rivero, C. R., et al. (2021). Traditional vs. Machine-Learning Methods for Forecasting Sandy Shoreline Evolution Using Historic Satellite-Derived Shorelines. Remote Sensing, 13(5), 934. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13050934

Co-author

• Hanson, S. E., Nicholls, R. J., Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). A geospatial database of coastal characteristics for erosion assessment of Europe’s coastal floodplains. EGUsphere [in review]. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2371
• Thiéblemont, R., le Cozannet, G., Rohmer, J., Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2024). Sea-level rise induced change in exposure of low-lying coastal land. Anthropocene Coasts, 7(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44218-024-00041-1
• Hulskamp, R., Luijendijk, A. P., van Maren, B., Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2023). Global distribution and dynamics of muddy coasts. Nature Communications, 14(1), 8259. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43819-6
• Vos, K., Splinter, K. D., Palomar-Vázquez, J., Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2023). Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01001-2

Datasets

• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). Future Shoreline Projections. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16928881
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). The Global Coastal Transect Repository (GCTR): An Analysis-Ready, Cloud-Native Data Repository for Coastal Analytics. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16928269
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). Mapping the World’s Coast: A Global 100 m Coastal Typology Derived from Satellite Data Using Deep Learning. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15607678
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). CoastBench: A Global Training Dataset for Coastal Classification Using Satellite Imagery and Elevation Data. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15800285
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). Sentinel-2 L2A Annual Composite (2023). Deltares. https://github.com/TUDelft-CITG/coastpy
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). Global Coastal Grid. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16925825
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). ShorelineMonitor: Satellite-Derived Shorelines (1984-2024). Deltares.
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2025). ShorelineMonitor: Satellite-Derived Shoreline Series. Deltares.
• Calkoen, F. R., et al. (2024). Global Coastal Transect System (GCTS). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14056925

Software

• Calkoen, F. R. (2024). CoastPy: A Python library for scalable coastal analytics. GitHub Repository. https://github.com/TUDelft-CITG/coastpy
• Calkoen, F. R., Bosboom, J., Pearson, S., et al. (2023). Coastal Dynamics Open Codebook. GitHub Repository. https://github.com/FlorisCalkoen/CoastalCodebook
• Contributor (2021-2025). CoCliCo Data Repository. GitHub Repository. https://github.com/openearth/coclicodata

Talks, Workshops & Proceedings

• Talk: Living by the Coast with Accelerating Sea-level Rise | PhD Defence, Delft | Apr. 2026
• Talk: Living by the Coast as Sea-Level Rise Is Accelerating | Advances in Predictions of Sandy Interventions, Delft | Oct. 2025
• Talk: Future European Shoreline Retreat in the 21st Century | CoCliCo H2020 Final Event, Brussels | Jun. 2025
• Talk: Enabling Coastal Analytics at Planetary Scale | NCK Themadag Remote Sensing, Leiden | Oct. 2024
• Workshop: Introduction to Cloud-Native Earth Observation | Planetary Computer Workshop, Delft | Mar. 2024
• Talk: Cloud-Native Coastal Monitoring Using Earth-Observing Satellite Data | GeoParquet Community Day, San Francisco, USA | Jan. 2024
• Talk: Mapping the Coast from Space: What Can We Learn from Pixels? | AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco | Dec. 2023
• Convener: Coastal Change Monitoring with Earth-Observing Satellites | AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco | Dec. 2023
• Talk: Coastal Monitoring at Continental Scale | Coastal Imaging Research Network (CIRN) Workshop, North Carolina | May. 2023
• Talk: A Novel Data Ecosystem for Coastal Analyses | EGU General Assembly, Vienna | Apr. 2023
• Talk: The Need for Cloud-Native Coastal Data Repositories | Hydraulic Engineering Colloquium, Delft | Apr. 2023
• Talk: Mapping Coastal Typology Using Deep Neural Networks | International Conference on Coastal Engineering | Dec. 2022
• Talk: Data-Driven Coastal Change Modeling at Continental Scale | Deep Learning Symposium, VU Amsterdam | Oct. 2022
• Talk: CoCliCo Workbench Demonstration | CoCliCo H2020 General Assembly, Orléans | Oct. 2022
• Workshop: Mapping Building Footprints Using Modern Cloud Technology | CoCliCo H2020 General Assembly, Orléans | Oct. 2022
• Talk: Guiding Principles for Data Management and Stewardship | CoCliCo H2020 General Assembly, Webinar | Jun. 2022
• Talk: Multi-Decadal Evolution of Continental Portuguese Beaches | Coastal Imaging Research Network, Toulouse | Jun. 2019

Teaching Experience

Teaching Assistant, Coastal Systems | Delft University of Technology | 2021–2024

• Led the development of the CoastalCodebook (Jupyter Book), supporting the Coastal Dynamics Open Textbook.
• Assisted in practical sessions, guiding MSc students during exercises, supported exam preparation and grading.

Grants & Awards

• TU Delft Education Innovation Projects Grant (2024)
• TU Delft Open Education Stimulation Fund Grant (2023)
• Prof. Collins Award for Best EMMER MSc Thesis Presentation (2019)
• Erasmus+ Traineeship Grant (2019)
• MER Consortium Scholarship (2018 & 2019)
• VSBfonds Scholarship (2017)

Languages

• Dutch: Native
• English: Excellent
• Spanish: Working Proficiency
• French: Basic

References are available upon request.