As an undergraduate student, I pursued a BA combining Environmental Sciences with Literature and Linguistics at University College Roosevelt (UCR) in Middelburg, the Netherlands. My final bachelor project focused on how different literary texts present the marine environment.
I then joined the International Master of Marine Biological Resources (IMBRSea) and had the opportunity to study at the University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal), the Sorbonne University (Banyuls-sur-mer, France) and the University of Gothenburg (Gothenburg, Sweden). I was introduced to marine mammal acoustic research during an internship focusing on the acoustic signature of Chilean blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus chilensis) at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Naples, Italy). For my master’s thesis I then investigated the foraging behaviour of Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) using DTAGs at the University of Plymouth (Plymouth, UK).
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD at the Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC). The research uses acoustic data to investigate the impact of anthropogenic activity on harbour porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena) in Dublin Bay.