Creative German-Australian Marine & Antarctic Ecologist
PhD Candidate at IMAS UTAS in Tasmania, Australia
Originally from Berlin, Germany
Born, raised and schooled in landlocked Berlin, Germany, Sophia dreamed of becoming a marine scientist since she was 12.
Originally from Berlin, Germany, she moved to Australia, initially to travel and have a gap year. During her travels she became determined to study marine science in Australia. Unable to afford the fees, she worked as a manager in a pub, and saved up enough to pay for her tuition and eventually became a dual citizen in 2014.
Her academic career started at UQ in Brisbane with a BSc in Marine Biology, which included a research field trip to Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef. In 2018, Sophia moved to the Hobart to study at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). She has always enjoyed mathematics and statistics and jumped on the opportunity to expand her passion for animals and wildlife into the scientific field of ecological modelling.
Sophia completed her Honours project analysing the survival of southern elephant seals at Macquarie Island under changing climatic conditions. This research gained her the highest achievement award of the 2020 IMAS Honours program and has been extended into a 3-4 year PhD scholarship commencing in June 2021.
When it comes to photography, Sophia is drawn to wildlife and nature. She carries a Fujifilm X-E2 mirrorless camera with various lenses, through which she explores the outdoors.
