Cold – Communities – Wildlife – Conservation
These are the four words that have been in my mind from the moment I realized there was more than being a veterinarian if I wanted to help protecting the biodiversity around us. Growing up in very rainy and flat Normandy in France, I have always dreamt and longed for the dry cold and mountainous landscapes of the world. I grew up travelling to Canada by reading Jack London’s books, and I was 9 when my mom and I watched a documentary about a young female scientist staying in a remote rustic cabin in the middle of Russia to study wolves. While my mother whispered “oh my goodness, how terrifying must that be for the parents”, I shouted “This is exactly what I want to do when I grow up!”. The next 20 years ended up being terrifying for my parents.
Studying how climate impacts tundra vegetation in Abisko, Sweden.
If you wish to directly have access to my research CV, please click on the photo above. For a more detailed version of what I did, where and when, please see below. I’ll keep it brief but not as brief as the CV!
France
The premises
Born and raised in Paris, my sister and I moved to Normandy when I was 9. My mom a teacher, my dad a movie producer at the time, brought us into a village where there were more cows and horses than humans. Being born in the 90s meant books and the outdoors were my main ways of diving into other universes. I grew up dreaming of foreign places, wondering what could be beyond borders. At the age of 15, I had the immense privilege to leave for a year to experience living in a different culture. I landed in Minnesota where I spent a year with a host family and got my first experience learning a different language and experiencing new places. I was hooked.
Choosing the right Bachelor Program
After attending the national scientific high school program, I enrolled in the University of Nantes. When I started, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and therefore enrolled in the Life Science Program. However, I quickly got to discover the field of Ecology and it was more than obvious that it was the field I actually wanted to pursue. So, after I finished my first year in the Life Science program, I enrolled again but this time in the Biology and Ecology program.
Founding the AZEN
The program at Nantes was much more marine biology focused than what it was advertised. A lot of students were missing a broader zoology group to work on projects together. In 2014, I started discussing with more professors and students about what we could create. After one year of hard work, we founded the Zoological Association of the Students from Nantes (AZEN). I presided the first year to launch the first projects and coordinate teams. These included renovating the university museum collection and doing research on the current accuracy of the specimen classification, taking the lead on the animal care facility with students trained by lab technicians on how to perform the tasks, leading scientific outreach projects through artistic and writing projects, as well as doing conferences within the University as well as outside. The goal was to almost merge the gap between students, professors and the industry. Internships within research labs and in the external network we were building was key. The AZEN is still active today and continues to be the first student led group to work hand in hand with professors.
BSc Thesis
I started doing volunteer internships at the Bioparc of Doué la Fontaine in 2015. This Bioparc was known to be one of the first in France to include conservation at the top of its priorities. I started by working with the veterinarian at first, focusing on doing autopsies and daily monitoring to find out about any potential health issues. Simultaneously, I worked on spider monkey to evaluate how efficient the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria's breeding program was. In 2016, I went back for my BSc thesis. I was offered to work on the importance and role of the Bioparc in the conservation of either vultures or snow leopards. You might be surprised, but I chose vultures. I have always had this thing about species that have bad reputation. I did extensive research of what the conservation of vultures had been looking like for the last 40 years and led daily activities in the Bioparc with folks visiting the parc to make them fall in love with the vultures we had in the rehabilitation centre as much as I did. I finished my BSc with honours and straight away drove South to see the vultures flying freely. It would be my last time South before spending an extended period of time North…
Sweden
The midnight sun and northern lights
In 2016, I accomplished what I had been dreaming of doing since 2010: going abroad to study again. I did not mention that previously, but at the age of 15, I left for one year to live in the U.S. in a host family. I stayed in Minnesota where I did the equivalency of my senior year before going back to France to finish the more strict (i.e. less flexible) program. It was as difficult as it was good and I was longing for another experience out of my comfort zone like this. Therefore, when I could apply for Erasmus for the first year of my degree, I went for it. I chose the University of Umeå because I could hit two birds with one stone: explore the North and discover a totally different culture and language.
I will focus the following paragraphs on the projects I worked on rather than the life up there – which is worth mentioning due to the incredible work/life balance and the concept of fika that has changed my life. Something to note about the Master program at Umeå University is that each course is 2-months, except for the thesis that is 6 or 12 months. Students can take one course at a time, which involves one month of theoretical training and one month for a project – in the lab or in the field, or both. This makes these courses very intense and complete.
Forest Ecology
Taught by lichen expert, Per-Anders Esseen, this course introduced us to the biodiversity of boreal forests, lichen and moss diversity and the interactions between vascular plants, lichens, mosses and herbivores (e.g. moose, reindeer). Under the supervision of former PhD student, Dr. Dagmar Egelkraut, my group worked on an exclosure/inclosure study with sampling of various plant, herbivory and soil variables along transects. We led the lab analyses to learn the process and submitted an extensive written report in the format of a manuscript.
Ecological Dynamics
Supervised by Dr. Barbara Giles, Pr. Jon Moen and Dr. Tim Horstkotte, I performed a literature review to evaluate the impacts of climate change on reindeer herding in both Sweden and Mongolia.
During my research, I came across Daesung Lee's work, presented below. To date, Daesung's work remains my best example of the power that photography holds in storytelling. Please check his work!
Photo Essay by Daesung Lee
Analysis of Field Data
The infamous Master degree statistical course we’ve all had to do one way or another. The interesting nuance with this one was to combine R Studio and Matlab. Led by Johan Olofsson, I worked with Christine Godeau and Helena Lorentzdotter on "C : N ratio in soil as a long-term legacy from Historical Milking Grounds on tundra vegetation"
Ecosystem Management
Focusing on different case studies showing the social dimensions of ecosystem management, landscape ecology, management and restoration of populations and ecosystems. Project-based and field excursions to visit how dams and forestry impact Sweden’s boreal landscapes.
Awards
The Dieline
AIGA
Cannes Lions
Contact
email@domain.com
000-000-000
Arctic Ecosystems
My favourite
Sunset in Abisko, Sweden
This is course was the reason I decided to turn my one-year Erasmus experience into a full master degree in Sweden. I really wanted to join this course that would take me for 2 months in the Abisko Research Station, about 200km north of the arctic circle. At the time, I was not interest at all about doing research. However, after two months in this incredibly more than intense course, I was hooked.
As soon as the 13 students set foot on the station property, we straight away went in the mountains to get an introductory lecture by Keith Larson, Director of the Arctic Centre. Within two days, we had to 1) choose a topic for a research project in between decomposition rates and climate change impacts on tundra vegetation, 2) define clear research questions and hypotheses, 3) set up a large scale experiment, 4) present the questions, experiment and rationale to the group and 5) get the keys to the car to go on our own in the field (except the first day).
Awards
The Dieline
AIGA
Cannes Lions
Contact
email@domain.com
000-000-000
We were thrown out there and it was great.
I worked on the impacts of climate change on tundra vegetation along elevation transects with the supervision of Dr. Svetlana Serikova. We used two valleys that were known to have two different precipitation regimes, and used a pre-existing experiment set up for a long monitoring of climate change impacts on the vegetation, study led by Maya Sundqvist. We spent days in the field, alternating with lectures at the station, late night projects and soon lab work.
Using an NDVI pole, the point intercept method, temperature data loggers (iButtons) and soil sampling, we tried to capture a more holistic understanding of the situation at various elevation. It was my first time fully diving into R in such a way and I-loved-it. It wasn’t easy, but I loved the struggle. Nothing more rewarding than a code that works… And it was even better when you would go out of our little house and have Northern lights all over the sky.
Awards
The Dieline
AIGA
Cannes Lions
Contact
email@domain.com
000-000-000
Svetlana, David and Katrina
Svetlana and David
Photo taken by Svetlana of David, Katrina and I
Best working view
Master Thesis
"Estimating changes in animal and plant phenology in a boreal landscape in Northern Sweden using camera traps"
The Thesis
For many years, I liked to think I am an efficient person. As I grow older, I become comfortable with the idea that I am lazy. Or some sort of lazy. I like to have modular tools, to use my gear in a way that can answer several questions without always having to purchase more or need more. When I reached out to Dr. Tim Hofmeester at the Swedish University of Agriculture (SLU), we talked about this project to test for the first time the use of camera traps to monitor simultaneously plant and mammal phenology in boreal ecosystems. I was very thrilled with the project, and we started straight away. For 8 months, I worked on the data already collected over the last year by Tim and helping out with some other field deployments. I have very few photos from this part of my education as I was either in front of a screen or playing beach volleyball with friends during my breaks.
The unexpected outcomes
During my time at SLU, I met Dr. Navinder Singh, another professor in my department whose office was right in front of the room Master students had. We started chatting and he became a mentor very quickly. I told him the dream peak of my career would be to work in the Himalayas on snow leopard and community conservation with an NGO such as the Snow Leopard Trust, but that all of my applications so far for an internship (remaining course for my degree I was keeping to set a foot out the door) had been answered. He didn’t say a thing, and continued to mentor me and see how I would perform throughout my thesis. When the time came, he asked if I would be interested in getting the email address of the international coordinator of the Snow Leopard Trust who is an old friend of his. I said yes, sent my CV along with an hopefully not too excited email and 48 hours later I had a Skype call resulting in an internship offer in Kyrgyzstan. I was beyond thrilled. I graduated, got a summer job in Norway as a field technician and said goodbye to Sweden for a final goodbye.
Awards
The Dieline
AIGA
Cannes Lions
Contact
email@domain.com
000-000-000
NORWAY
First professional experience
August 2018
I joined Dr. Francesca Jaroszynska and Dr. Ragnhild Gya who were PhD students at the time to help them with the plant sampling they needed for their research. Weeks in the rainy fjords close to Bergen that are now detailed in the team's 2022 paper The role of plant functional groups mediating climate impacts and biodiversity of alpine grasslands
It was a very interesting and rewarding experience that made me fall more in love with plants and Scandinavia in general!
Kyrgyzstan
A dream come true
September 2nd, 2018
I could write a book about my Kyrgyz experience, but instead, I will say little and mostly share photos (for now).
Long story short, the two-month internship turned into a full year of work for the Snow Leopard Trust and its exclusive partner organization, the Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan. I spent time in the high, incredibly beautiful mountains of the Tien Shan and the Ala-Too ranges to deploy and retrieve camera traps and to identify snow leopards for the ongoing snow leopard population assessment. To read more about what an expedition looked like, click here or scroll below (or both)
My main focus outside of field work and data analysis was to help in the fundraising and higher level discussions with Kyrgyz and international politicians and groups. I was attending events with the French, British and American Embassies, as well as with the French Institute of Central Asian Studies, United Nations Environment Programme, the World Food Program, the University of Central Asia and the American University of Central Asia and the European Union.
The more time I spent with community members, in the field and with the data, the more I wanted to understand what were the broader impacts of climate change and land-use on snow leopards through resource availability and prey distribution. Thanks to the Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan team and community members for sharing their stories, I conceived a research project, which ended up being perfect for a PhD.
I gathered part of the funding, prepared all the necessary collaborations and enrolled at Simon Fraser University for a PhD for a start in January 2020. Thanks to the enthusiasm of folks and the increasing press coverage, I was invited to spend 2 months in Costa Rica and Panama to compare snow leopard conservation with the conservation projects done in Central America. Exactly a year after my arrival in Kyrgyzstan, I was leaving for what was supposed to be only 6 months, just taking a small bag with me, leaving all my suitcases behind.
Central America
Connecting across the world
After a quick visit in France to give a few talks, I joined Adolfo from Costa Rica Por Siempre who coordinates the grant and conservation programs. From Monteverde, to Corcovado and in between, we met with teams of conservationists to discuss similarities and differences between conservation projects on similar species but in different systems. I obviously took time to be in this part of the world I had never visited to make a short video of what we did and how everything looked.
Canada
Since 2020
Landed January 17th, 2020, with only one bag, ready to be briefly get acquainted with Canada before flying back to Kyrgyzstan two months later. The project is well defined, scholarships are coming in, partnership documents with local universities and non-profits are ready to be signed, I newly joined the UNEP Vanishing Treasure Snow Leopard team unit and Head of Communications for the Snow Leopard Network. Everything looks ready to go back to the field and launch the new framework combining field and remotely sensed experiments in full partnerships with local groups.
Until COVID-19.
Field seasons cancelled for 2020 and 2021, my supervisor left the university without signing the partnership documents, scholarships to reimburse due to a lack of supervision for almost a year and no field work perspectives, no funding coming with the new supervisor and no scholarship available for international students. Chaos.
But, I wouldn't be a true French if I wasn't stubborn and also deeply passionate about the things I do. In 2022, my new supervisor, Dr. Ron Ydenberg, and my committee members, Dr. Chelsea Little, Dr. Jon Moore and Dr. Cole Burton helped design a new project. Thanks to some robust partnerships I maintained, OSI-Panthera agreed to send the camera trap data they have collected since 2016.
Awards
The Dieline
AIGA
Cannes Lions
Contact
email@domain.com
000-000-000
You can use this la
Since everything picked back up again, I have been focusing on getting my Geographic Information System (GIS) skills on point. Using ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth Engine and R Studio, I am evaluating the impacts of global warming and change in precipitation regimes on grassland phenology in alpine ecosystems of the Naryn State Reserve and adjacent area in Kyrgyzstan. I am also using camera trap data sent by the OSI-Panthera team that works in my study area to ground proof what is shown using the satellite images, and also testing how these cameras deployed for snow leopard monitoring can contribute to broader, more holistic monitoring of the ecosystem.
I have also had the great pleasure of presenting my research at my first academic conference, during which I received 3rd place for the best 12-minute talk award!
Pacific Ecology and Evolution Conference in Vancouver – 2023 – Photo courtesy of Kiara Kattler
After 2.5 years of being mostly indoors, I have been enjoying discovering more of Canada. A stunning country with a lot to see in terms of landscapes and to learn in terms of history. While I do not have any field work, I have been extremely lucky to be invited to join scientists across BC and the Yukon to see their research. From kelp to boreal forests, I incredibly thankful for the awesome community members that have taken me along.
With a graduation date planned in the Fall 2024, I am now looking for post-doctoral and other project opportunities across BC. My interests are once more to work with Indigenous communities, using remotely sensed and field methods to assess anything relating to community ecology, population assessments and spatial dynamics, phenology, etc. If I have learned something from this PhD, outside of the science, is that I want to work with great people who are deeply passionate about the natural world, and that I want to wake up every morning to do something to work on a project I believe in and that drives me.