Mieke Sterken
Education & Outreach Coordinator
International Polar Foundation
MENTOR
I’m a science communicator in the fields of polar, marine, climate-related and/or environmental science. I currently work at the International Polar Foundation as an Education and Outreach coordinator, and I’m one of the mentors for the APECS-Belgium group. I studied Physical Geography (2002) and got an additional Msc. degree in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences (2003) from the University of Gent. I then pursued a PhD in Paleoclimatology at the same university, working on fossil diatoms from lake sediment cores as a means to reconstruct past climate changes along a transect from Chilean Patagonia to the Antarctic Peninsula, for the latest 18,000 years. In 2007 I got involved in APECS International during the International Polar Year, both as the chair of APECS-Belgium and as an active member of the APECS Education & Outreach group.
After my PhD, I started a Science Communication journey at the International Polar Foundation and in different places related to environmental research. In the past few years I focused mainly on the field of citizen science, with emphasis on the aspects of education and data-management therein. I recently returned to the International Polar Foundation and am looking forward to continue working with APECS-Belgium!