About Björn Backeberg

Björn Backeberg is a physical oceanographer with over 15 years of diverse experience in academia, applied sciences, and industry. He specialises in ocean-climate dynamics, numerical modeling, data assimilation, and satellite remote sensing.

Björn has a rich publication history, including contributions to international peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Nature and Nature Climate Change. Additionally, he has actively contributed to international committees, such as OceanPredict’s Coastal Ocean and Shelf Seas Task Team, the Clivar Atlantic Panel, and GMES & Africa’s Technical Committee.

After completing his PhD at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Björn continued his academic journey as a Research Officer, securing funding for both himself and a team of post-graduate students to develop an ocean forecasting system for South Africa’s regional ocean. In 2015, he transitioned to the role of Principal Researcher at the Coastal Systems Research of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. In this capacity, he spearheaded R&D and industrial projects focused on operational oceanography.

He served as Scientific Lead for the South African National Ocean and Coastal Information Management System, leading and contributing to the development of decision support tools for Coastal Operations at Sea. Additionally, Björn holds an adjunct research position at the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway.

From 2013 to 2018, he served as the Director of the Nansen-Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research, a Norwegian–South African joint venture hosted at the University of Cape Town, supporting African researchers and post-graduate students. Following his move to the Netherlands in 2019, he worked at the EGI Foundation, advancing his expertise in advanced (cloud) computing solutions supporting research and big data analytics.

Presently, as a Senior Researcher and Project Leader in the Hydrodynamics and Forecasting Department of Deltares, Björn is actively engaged in European Commission projects. His work centers on the development of digital twins of the Earth, where he coordinates and contributes to developments of Deltares’ models and tools to align with project requirements.

He also serves as the Product Owner for the BlueEarthData Platform, designed to facilitate the study and collaborative sharing of integrated water and subsoil-related data. In addition, he is a member of the Deltares Young Science Council.