Described by her peers as extremely caring, Nathalie is a kindly, receptive and well-organized person – and a talented baker, which has further endeared her to her colleagues. Affable she may be, but Nathalie likes nothing more than to while away the hours reading trashy thrillers and crime novels: “It’s a release for me.”
Having arrived at the LIPE¹ in 2003, Nathalie divides her time as an assistant engineer between preparing first-year chemistry practicals in the Process Engineering – Water, Energy, Environment (GP3E) Department, doing research work in the TIM team, jointly running the physicochemical analysis platform, and her work as a health and safety assistant. A multitasker, she happily juggles her many duties and loves having so many things on the go, though time constraints can be a source of frustration for her.
In 2023, Nathalie took part in the Grande Expérience participative, “La Grande Synchr’EAU”, a citizen science project led by Nicolas Dietrich as part of European Researchers’ Night. The aim of this project was to collect data at the same time across France and use it to map natural water quality. Nathalie performed a number of roles as part of the initiative, ranging from creating the protocol and setting up the test strips to sending out more than 15,000 kits. She also analysed results, ran a stand at European Researchers’ Night, and gave talks in schools, among many other duties. Despite the heavy workload involved in rolling out such an extensive project, she found the whole experience incredibly stimulating and rewarding. The team hopes to repeat the experience in 2026 and 2028 and compare results.
- LIPE: Environmental Process Engineering Laboratory. The LIPE merged with the LBB to become the LISBP, which is now TBI.