Side quests ⚔️

Learning, connecting, and growing beyond the main storyline

Beyond my core research and professional work, I invest time in continuous learning, community building, and knowledge sharing. These experiences have shaped how I think, collaborate, and contribute to the field of ecological science.

Alternet Summer School Network of Women Lunch Lectures UNICEF Student Team Extracurricular Certified Courses Conferences

Alternet Europe Summer School

When: 2024 • Where: Peyresq, France

The Alternet Europe Summer school was on the theme Biodiversity and society: transforming science and policy. It was a 10-day intensive program in a small village of Peyresq, which included workshops, field visits, and collaborative projects.

Key takeaways:

I learned firsthand how co-creation works in complex socio-ecological systems through interactions with diverse stakeholders such as shepherdess, local business owners and local park rangers.
I gained skills in participatory frameworks in socio-ecological systems for effectively informing conservation policy.
I developed an understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in integrating scientific knowledge with local and indigenous knowledge systems.

An unexpected side quest during a field visit was helping to find lost puppies — and we found them! It only added to the experience.

Network of Women at Workplace

Role: Member

This network was established to create safe space and gender equal workplace. But also to foster collaboration and support among women in the field.I helped organising and supporting sessions and workshops for the 30+members.

Lunch Lectures

Role: Member

As part of the lunch lecture committee at PBL, I co-organized and facilitated knowledge-sharing sessions to learn from experts of various discplines. Here are few examples of the lectures I helped with:

Reflections of Nature Dialogue workshop

Bas Verschuuren and Maria Tengo returned to PBL to share insights they gathered during the workshop and understand how the workshop might have shaped research approaches at PBL.

What is the role of law making in sustainability transitions?

Laura Burgers shared her expertise on understanding developments in climate change litigation and rights for nature.

Shifting Tides

Karin van Boxtel talked about navigating just transitions in a changing world. Her expertise lies in strengthening the voices of the civil society to promote fair and green practices and bring about systemic change in trade, financial systems and global supply chains.

UNICEF Student Team Wageningen

When: 2020–21 • Where: Wageningen, The Netherlands

The UNICEF Student team Wageningen was a student-led initiative to raise awareness about child rights and education in developing countries. The team organized events, workshops, and fundraising activities to support UNICEF's mission.

Role: Board secretary and Social media team member

Maintained administrative support to the Chair and board members.
Led a team of 10 for the Inclusivity: Dream or Reality? event during NoOtherism week at Wageningen University.
Enhanced social media engagement of Facebook and Instagram pages by 40%.
Raised awareness and funds for Maman Lumiere Project in Burundi.

Extracirricular activities

Writer

Institute for greater Europe • 2022

I wrote about ecology and related articles with a focus on the Americas region. With my articles, I aimed to translate the knowledge from the core scientific research such that it is easily accessible to everyone, bringing the awareness about ecological issues with ease. Read my article here: Who is in your backyard?

Participant

Blue city water challenge • 2022

Collaborated in a 5-person team to decrease the wood waste stream by 30% for Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, developing a profitable product through stakeholder networking within the circularity principles.

Workshop Moderator

Future for Nature Academy • 2022

Moderated and facilitated an interactive workshop for 15 participants focused on the perception of species and local engagement in conservation.

Buddy

Buddy to Buddy • 2022

Supported integration of asylum seekers and strengthened cross-cultural communication.

Certified Courses

Supervised Machine Learning: Regression and Classification

DeepAI • 2026

Machine learning

Introduction to Git and GitHub

Google • 2025

GitHub

Visual Skills for Communicating Science

Transmitting Science • 2025

InkScape · Science communication

Nederlands als tweede taal – Programma I

College voor Toetsen en Examens • 2025

Dutch

Evaluating and Validating Species Distribution Models with R

Transmitting Science • 2023

R programming · Ecological modeling

Using Spatial Data for Biodiversity

UNDP • 2022

Spatial ecology

Prepare Data for Exploration

Google • 2022

Data analysis

Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere

Google • 2022

Data analysis

Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions

Google • 2022

Data analysis

Introduction to ESG

CFI • 2026

ESG

Conferences & presentations

I've had the opportunity to share my experience and research with various audiences.

Master's program presentation

Type: Career fair • Where: Leiden, The Netherlands • When: February 2025

Represented PBL at career fair for Master's students at Leiden University.

Master's program presentation

Type: Oral presentation • Where: Nijmegen, The Netherlands • When: September 2023/2024/2025

Presented my work experience at PBL as part of Master's orientation for students at Radboud University.

Emerging voices - Young researchers webinar on wetland restoration

Type: Oral Presentation • Where: Online • When: November 2024

Developing and validating a species-level biodiversity assessment model for wetland vegetation.

Ecological Forecasting Initiative

Type: Oral Presentation • Where: Helsinki, Finland (online) • When: June 2024

Developing and validating a species-level biodiversity model for wetland plants across Europe.

Power to the Peatlands

Type: Oral Presentation • Where: Antwerp, Belgium • When: September 2023

Developing and validating a species-level biodiversity model for wetland plants across Europe.