I am an environmental scientist and a freshwater ecologist. My interest in diatoms started during my Ph.D. at the Environmental Change Research Centre at University College London and deepened during my postdoctoral appointment in Dr. Evelyn Gaiser’s laboratory at Florida International University. In the last ten years my research focused on patterns and drivers of algal species diversity and distribution in the Okavango Delta and the Everglades as well as on wetland conservation and restoration. I have recently started to work in the Plastic Rivers programme at Earthwatch Europe.