For my PhD, I am studying the immune system of houseflies as part of the InsectFeed consortium. The overarching goal of the consortium is creating a more sustainable food production system by using insect protein in feed instead of soy or fishmeal.

I have done various temporary jobs, from server to clerical work.

I did my second Masters internship at the Max Planck institute in Nijmegen. Here I studied gene expression in the brain of zebrafinches to learn more about vocal learning in these birds. Vocal learning in birds can be used as a model for vocal learning in humans, and thus aid our understanding of speach disorders.

As part of my Masters, I did an internship at Naturalis studying the evolution of the brain in extinct jawless fish. To do this I created 3D models of the brain cavity of a fossil using micro CTscans.

For this internship projectI studied the immune system of the beetle, Tribolium castaneum.