Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and the work you do in ELI?

My name is Margaux Darja. I’m a teaching assistant at the School of Veterinary Medicine, where I mainly run the practical sessions in anatomy and embryology, which are the students’ favourite courses! 

Alongside this, I’m doing a PhD at the Earth and Life Institute (ELI), in the ELI-V Biodiversity & Conservation division.

Could you tell us a little about your research team and your research topics?

In ELI-V, we study evolutionary processes and how species function within their environment. Our research topics are very diverse. They cover single-celled organisms and invertebrates, from butterflies to aphids, as well as vertebrates ranging from primates to lizards and birds. 

My PhD is co-supervised by Professors Hans Van Dyck and Ruben Evens, and focuses on nutritional ecology. That means studying how organisms acquire, process and use food resources in their environment, in this case in a predator-prey context. My study models are moths and the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), a crepuscular bird whose conservation status is of concern. 

Since the start of this academic year, I have also been a CORSCI representative on the SST Sector board, a role I share with Alexandra Spinel. Through this position, I hope to improve communication between the university’s scientific staff, the researchers in our sector and the academic authorities, so that their interests are properly represented.

What was your path before taking up your current post in ELI?

I did my bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine in Louvain-la-Neuve from 2016 to 2019. I then did my master’s at the University of Liège and graduated in 2022. 

After that, I worked as a veterinarian in France for two years in small-animal practice. That meant dogs, cats, rodents, birds and pretty much every quirky animal people decide to keep as a pet.

Little by little, between consultations and surgeries, I became more and more interested in wildlife and the environment. In 2024, I took the opportunity to move into research, specifically ecology, while still passing on my veterinary skills through my teaching assistant position. 

In practical terms, what is your day-to-day life like?

A typical day… I’m not sure I have one! No two days are the same. 

In a single week, I can wear many different hats. I might teach anatomy to 60 students, organise a conference one day and attend one the next, plan a team-building event for 120 students, learn entomology, visit museum collections for various projects, perform necropsies, prepare the practical sessions and their equipment, or go out into the field at night to collect data. I’m learning and doing new things every single day! 

So if I had to sum up my daily life, which turns out to be a lot like my former life as a vet, I’d say it’s about preparing every day for the unexpected!

Do you have a hobby, a passion, a hidden talent, something you enjoy doing or care deeply about outside of work?

I discover a new passion every day... I read a lot, and a bit of everything. I recently took up watercolour painting and found how satisfying it is to put what’s in my head onto paper, even if it doesn’t always turn out quite as I imagined. 

I try to run whenever I have time and to do one marathon a year, although I haven’t picked my 2027 race yet. 

Otherwise, for the past three years, I’ve spent most of my weekends renovating a 19th-century farmhouse with my partner, doing all the work ourselves.

My real passion, though, is enjoying a simple life in the countryside, surrounded by my animals, my family and a good wood fire. 

Can you name one thing you particularly appreciate at the Earth and Life Institute?

The interdisciplinary spirit within the institute, which leads to really great collaborations between the different divisions. And the friendly atmosphere, thanks to the many activities that are organised. 

Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and the work you do in ELI?

My name is Violette Zunz, and I am a member of ELI’s administrative staff. 

As the Institute’s EU Research Project Manager, I support researchers throughout the entire lifecycle of their Horizon Europe projects, from the early stages of proposal development and submission to the management of funded projects. 

What was your career path before taking up your current post in ELI?

I graduated from UCLouvain with a Master's degree in Physics and a PhD in Science within ELI-C (under the supervision of Prof. Hugues Goosse). During my PhD I studied the variability and the predictability of the Southern Ocean sea ice. 

After my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher within the same team in ELI-C for one year, then in a private company on the analysis of satellite observations and later at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, focusing on Greenland ice sheet modeling. 

After taking a career break to care for my two unschooled children, I joined Interface3.Namur, a Belgian non-profit organisation. There, I managed projects aimed at encouraging women and girls to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

This experience strengthened my interest in supporting research and innovation from a different perspective, ultimately leading me to my current position in ELI. 

In practical terms, what is your day-to-day life like?

No two days are exactly alike in my job. A typical day can involve discussing a new proposal with a research team, helping solve an issue in an ongoing project, or advising researchers on Horizon Europe requirements and opportunities.

I work closely with researchers, UCLouvain’s central administration, and ELI’s administrative staff to help projects run smoothly from proposal to implementation.

Another aspect of my role is developing resources related to project management for the ELI community, whether by organising training sessions on specific topics, such as research data management, or by creating practical tools and guidance, including the ELI project management toolbox available on ELI’s SharePoint.

Do you have a hobby, a passion, a hidden talent, something you enjoy doing or care deeply about outside of work?

Outside of work, I spend a lot of my time with my two children, aged 6 and 10. Sharing activities and discovering new things together is a constant source of inspiration. 

I also enjoy learning and creating through a variety of hands-on projects (electronics, programming, 3D printing, digital cutting, sewing, etc.). I am always excited to develop new skills and projects, so my list of passions keeps growing.

Can you name one thing you particularly appreciate at the Earth and Life Institute?

One thing I particularly appreciate about the Earth and Life Institute is the diversity of research topics covered across its five research poles. 

ELI brings together expertise from a wide range of disciplines. I find it inspiring to work in such a multidisciplinary environment, where there are always opportunities to learn something new and discover different perspectives on the challenges facing our world. 

Peux-tu te présenter brièvement, nous parler de ton rôle et du travail que tu fais à l'ELI ?

Je suis le responsable administratif et technique de la plateforme SeFy (Serres et Phytotrons).

Peux-tu nous en dire un peu plus sur la plateforme que tu gères et les recherches qui y sont menées ?

La plateforme est avant tout un outil mis à la disposition des étudiants (travaux pratiques, mémoires, ...), des chercheurs (doctorants, ...) et des professeurs tant des facultés AGRO ou SCIENCES. 

Les thématiques de recherches sont très variées; elles vont de la compréhension du mode de fonctionnement des plantes aux mécanismes de résistances aux stress. Le but majeur des recherches étant l'amélioration culturale par la sélection de plantes résistantes à ces différents stress, qu'ils soient nutritifs ou environnementaux. 

Depuis l'inauguration de nos serres en 2014, de nombreuses entreprises font appel à nos services que ce soit pour le simple accueil de leurs essais ou encore pour le partage de savoir de nos chercheurs. 

Quel a été ton parcours avant d'arriver à l'ELI ? 

Je suis arrivé en 1995 dans le laboratoire d'Ecologie et de Biogéographie, actuel ELI-V. En 2006, après 11 années de recherche en arboriculture fruitière, j'ai eu l'opportunité de reprendre le poste de responsable des serres en Sciences. Finalement, en 2013, j'ai pu contribuer à la création de la plateforme SeFy. 

Concrètement, à quoi ressemble ton quotidien ? 

Mes journées sont assez variables; pas mal d'administratif (réservations, facturations, créances, ...), assez bien de conseils aux utilisateurs (mise en place des essais, soins aux cultures, ...), quelques interventions techniques (petites réparations, ...) et de temps en temps des activités de sensibilisation à l'attention de la communauté universitaire mais aussi du grand public.  

As-tu un loisir, une passion, un talent caché, une activité que tu aimes pratiquer ou qui te tient particulièrement à cœur en dehors du travail ? 

Je suis naturaliste passionné par l'entomologie et l'ornithologie et, depuis 2014, je suis formateur Guide Nature (en cours de Promotion sociale à Huy). 

J'aime partager mes connaissances avec le grand public mais aussi avec nos étudiants. C'est ainsi que depuis près de 4 ans, j'anime en compagnie de Nicolas Biot des sorties ornithologiques en matinées (LBIR1354). 

Depuis plus de 15 ans, j'épaule les assistants du TP d'entomologie appliquée à l'agriculture (LBRPP2102) dans la correction des boîtes d'insectes. 

Enfin, depuis deux ans, François Renoz m'invite à donner une heure de cours sur l'entomologie dans l'anthropocène. 

Peux-tu citer une chose que tu apprécies particulièrement à l’Earth and Life Institute? 

L'Institut est un vivier de savoir toujours en renouvellement dans lequel le naturaliste que je suis peut puiser de nouvelles connaissances sur des sujets très divers. 

Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and the work you do in ELI?

My name is Maxime Thomas, I’m 30, and I love coffee, laughs, barbecues, biking, mountains and music.

I am a postdoc research assistant in ELIa & ELIe. I’m stationed at the PEPA lab in ELIa.

My role is to carry out and support research in phenotyping, envirotyping and remote sensing. In practical terms, this involves coordination, literature reviews, fieldwork, data processing, modelling, and scientific communication. I also supervise Master’s theses, which I particularly enjoy doing.

Could you tell us a little about your research team and your research topics?

I am currently working under the supervision of Xavier Draye and Pierre Defourny on the European Union’s Horizon Europe PHENET project. PHENET stands for “tools and methods for extended plant PHENotyping and EnviroTyping services of European Research Infrastructures”. Phenotyping is the quantitative & qualitative assessment of plant traits (e.g., plant height & architecture, grain yield per unit area) & envirotyping is the quantitative assessment of environmental factors that influence plant growth, development, and productivity (e.g., air & soil temperature, incident radiation, soil type). 

Basically, a large part of my time involves designing and calibrating ultra-low-cost instruments for field measurements that enable envirotyping and phenotyping automatically. My current work covers a wide range of tasks, including microelectronics soldering, spectroradiometry, drone surveys, and a great deal of data management & analysis (both from the field and from satellite).

What was your career path before taking up your current post in ELI?

I did a bachelor's and master’s degrees in biosciences engineering at UCLouvain in Environmental Sciences and Technologies, with an Erasmus at USherbrooke in Canada.

After graduating in June 2019, I spent six years working as a research and teaching assistant at the AGRO Faculty. There, I supervised practicals in mathematics, soil science, fluid and energy transfer, topometry and photogrammetry, smart technologies for environmental engineering, and pollution management, as well as coordinating the Master’s theses training. 

In April 2025, I completed a PhD thesis in permafrost geochemistry under the supervision of Sophie Opfergelt (lab website) at the ELI-e department. My thesis contributed to quantify the abundance, nature and controls of mineral-organic carbon interactions in permafrost soils and sediments. Broadly speaking, the aim was to help constrain the permafrost-carbon-climate feedback, which is the extent to which carbon exposed by thawing permafrost amplifies climate change. 

Along the way, I did fieldwork in Sweden and Alaska, extensive collaboration with excellent local and international teams, a lot of conference presentations, lab work, basic upscaling models and remote sensing.

I have also been involved in a number of service roles, namely as co-chair of the Teaching Assistants’ Association at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, member of the Faculty Board, member of the Doctoral Commission (CDD), and member of the ACELI and ELI-e boards.

In practical terms, what is your day-to-day life like?

Since I started my postdoc, I’ve been doing less teaching and service work and much more fieldwork and methodological development, which takes up a lot of time. Generally speaking, no two days are ever the same, as is the case with many of us in ELI. That’s one of the things I appreciate most about this job: you learn loads every day and you never get bored.

Do you have a hobby, a passion, a hidden talent, something you enjoy doing or care deeply about outside of work?

I really love music; I used to take singing lessons (a lot) and piano lessons (a bit less) when I was younger... yet it’s been ages since I actually performed. I also really enjoy spending time in nature and cycling.

Can you name one thing you particularly appreciate at the Earth and Life Institute?

What I like best by far is the working environment; I was lucky enough to do my PhD in an incredible lab full of lovely, caring people; for my postdoc, too – even though the vibe is very different – I’ve ended up in a lab that’s just as great, as illustrated by the message displayed upon entry:

It’s extremely rare for me to go to work without a smile on my face. 

Photo credit: Aurore Delsoir

Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and the work you do in ELI?

I'm a geographer, working as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Science and as a PhD student at ELI since 2022.

Could you tell us a little about your research team and your research topics?

I'm supervised by Hugues Goosse (ELI-C) and Mathieu Jonard (ELI-E).

Together, we study droughts here since the preindustrial period: how they have evolved over time, what drives them from a climate perspective, and how they affect forests (first paper published here).

What was your career path before taking up your current post in ELI?

I'm a full product of UCLouvain's School of Geography (bachelor, master, teacher training certificate).

After graduating, an experience at the Stockholm Environment Institute in Tallinn, working on climate research and outreach, also made me want to pursue both teaching and research.

In practical terms, what is your day-to-day life like?

On the teaching side: practicals, fieldwork, supervising students and giving them feedback.

On the research side: coding, writing, reading, and discussing with my supervisors/colleagues/AI.

Do you have a hobby, a passion, a hidden talent, something you enjoy doing or care deeply about outside of work?

I love playing football. The intensity, team spirit, accessibility, and history of this sport have made me experience a huge range of emotions for as long as I can remember.

My weird hidden talent is applauding: I co-hold the world record for the longest applause (10 hours - not in Guinness yet).

Can you name one thing you particularly appreciate at the Earth and Life Institute?

Its people, of course. And I have to say, I really like its logo too.