PE&RC in the Spotlight: Renée van Schaijk

Every month we put a PE&RC member in the spotlight. This month we are getting to know Renée van Schaijk. Renée is PhD at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED, University of Amsterdam) 

- What has been your favourite part of your PhD so far?
My favourite part of my PhD has been my fieldwork. I love being outdoor in nature or in the fields and I really like working together with people and in this case locals. I am very lucky that my PhD consist of fieldwork in Benin and Kenya and I went multiple times. Fieldwork is also for me a hard working period and especially the preparations before I am going is often stressful, but still I am very grateful that this is part of my PhD. I had great times, met incredible people and calling your office for a few months per year a maize field is amazing!

- What do you currently do to de-stress?
I spend time with my friends and family, cooking and eating is also an important part of it. Travelling and also I like to go for a hike or bike ride. But currently I have a new goal besides my PhD and that is running a marathon. I will run the marathon of Athens in November and I am training for it and I figured out that it is a great way to de-stress.

- What is your favourite meal? / What have you been cooking lately?
This is really difficult, because I really like a lot of different cuisines. My go to meal is always pasta with lots of cheese. I am clearly not making it on the traditional Italian way, but I really like it. I received as a present a Turkish and a Indian cooking book and I would like to cook more for these books in the coming months.

- Is there a podcast you would recommend?
I just finished the podcast: I am not a monster from Josh Baker from BBC. I would recommend it, although it is not a fun or happy subject. I found it a very interesting podcast.

- What is on your bucketlist?
I would really like to travel for half a year. I never did this before and I would like to experience this. I am planning to do this after I finish my PhD. I think it will be a good moment to do this. Currently, I am thinking of travelling in Latin America, but I can imagine that I also could go to Asia or somewhere else.