This is me.
Whether it’s diving to 90 m depth on a single breath of air, teaching about sustainable sanitation at university or passionately speaking about water protection, water plays a significant role in my life. At my day job at Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, I research how we can improve access to water and sanitation in refugee camps and disaster areas. My passion is to share my knowledge and message with as many people as possible to inspire others also to become water enthusiasts.
HUMANITARIAN AID
Since 2009, I have been part of the Emergency Response Unit for Water and Sanitation. This rapid deployment unit of the Red Cross consists of water and sanitation experts that can instantly respond to humanitarian crises worldwide. I have been on multiple humanitarian aid missions to Eastern Europe, Africa and South Asia. During these missions, I have designed and operated water and wastewater laboratories, built a wastewater treatment plant in a refugee camp and taught laboratory technicians. This exposure to the manifold, complex disasters, political and cultural contexts, and operating under immense pressure requires a high degree of cultural awareness and robust stress management techniques. Skills that I am delighted to pass on to people that can benefit from them.
FREEDIVING & PERFORMANCE
Since the start of my freediving career in 2007, I have participated in more than 15 national and international competitions, three of which were world championships. I am a two-time Austrian Freediving Champion, ranked Top 10 three times at the World Championship, am a freediving instructor and judge and served as the Vice-president of the Austrian Freediving Federation for two years. My work history as a safety diver at the Freediving World Championship in Greece and as a lifeguard in Germany is perfectly complemented by my background as a paramedic. In world-class competitions, as a safety diver, dealing with life-and-death situations where split-second decisions have to be taken and when the resulting actions can have dire consequences, a clear mind and risk management are essential.
WATER & ENVIRONMENT
In this photo, you can see a lot of solid waste, mainly different kinds of plastics. What you cannot see is the untreated wastewater upon which this solid waste floats. This channel is located in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and directly leads to the ocean. As an environmental scientist, my mission is to further our understanding of environmental pollution through solid waste like plastics and untreated wastewater and to do my part to solve this global crisis. This is why I wrote my Bachelor’s thesis about the degradation of plastics in the marine environment and my Master’s thesis about resource recovery from human urine, to recycle nutrients as fertilisers rather than dumping them in the environment.