Deep Blue stories: Chahinez in France (remotely)
Deep Blue Storie #8 | Chahinez Bourgueche is a young post-doctoral researcher from Algeria and developed a three-month online internship with the “Institut de Systématique Évolution Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle” (ISYEB) based in Paris, France working on her project “Exploring the fascinating biodiversity of marine polyopisthocotyleans from marine fishes of the southern Mediterranean Sea”
During this program she expected to master new innovative approaches, such as the use of molecular approach for species identification and the use of Barcoding to access marine biodiversity. Most importantly, her main goal was to raise awareness of the economic importance of polyopisthocotyleans as many of them infect economically important fish species, the checklist will represent an invaluable resource to monitor fish death in culture by preventive measures.
About her experience she says:
“The training was wonderful and I genuinely enjoyed each moment of it. I have attended two trainings before but I cannot recall any of them having such a strong impact: the online traineeship during these difficult times (Covid-2019) had a different flavor: virtual calls, signing white boards on computer for souvenirs, taking pictures on Zoom meetings instead as souvenirs etc. The DeepBlue tutors, organizers and the HO tutor have done a wonderful job and I appreciate their efforts.”
Her deep engagement and professional approach is therefore described also by her tutor in the final evaluation report, stating that:
“(…) Chahinez is exceptionally gifted at making others feel comfortable and always maintain a positive atmosphere. Her enthusiasm for taxonomy of fish parasites led her to complete 6 research papers which were submitted to international peer-reviewed journals. The quality of her research work was excellent. She made perfect scientific drawings and wrote manuscripts in a very efficient manner. She also participated in 5 international virtual meetings, in several countries, where her communications were highly appreciated.”
Has this experience had an impact in your career?
“Yes, the Deep Blue experience impacted positively my career, in a remarkable way. In Algeria, as in many southern Mediterranean countries, researchers, unfortunately, do not get funding to pursue their research after they finish their thesis and many of them quit research afterward. The Deep Blue project allowed me to persist in the research field despite the difficult circumstances, and to work devotedly on what I love: research. Every Ph.D. student dreams of a Post-Doc to pursues research, that requires a strong publication record and a solid knowledge and capacities: that is what I acquired during the Deep Blue Training and that’s how I was selected for the Postdoc position.”
At the present, Chahinez is employed as full-time Assistant Professor and Researcher at the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algeria. She is also developing a project as a candidate of The Ocean Fellowship Program, which is a four-month funded research opportunity offered by TBA21–Academy and held at Ocean Space in Venice, Italy. This program connects artists, scientists, activists, and politicians along the Mediterranean Water. She finally recently obtained a post-doctoral fellowship as a full-time Researcher at the Department of Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History.
That is indeed a great achievement Chahinez, our best wishes for your future brilliant career!
You can follow the work of Chahinez on her Research Gate profile ➡️ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chahinez-Bouguerche
Further info about the project on our website ➡️ http://bluegrowth.inogs.it/deepblue
Do you want to hear more Deep Blue stories? ➡️ http://bluegrowth.inogs.it/content/deep-blue-stories-0
