Ruben Fijn, Senior Research Ecologist

“I’ve been interested in nature since I was a child, and I had a particular interest in birds. The most logical choice after secondary school was to study biology. Actually, from the first day of my Biology study onwards, I knew that I liked the ecology courses most by far, so the Master’s programme in Ecology was already decided on day one”

“I enjoyed all of the courses that dealt with the connections in nature and why plants and animals are found in certain habitats. In particular, the courses with ecological fieldwork were my favourite. On the other hand, my first Master's internship was about DNA damage in plants which I also enjoyed very much due to the large field component of collecting material.”

“One of the absolute highlights of the Master's programme was a study trip to Sweden, where we did research on tundra vegetation with an entire group of students. During the day, we walked for hours from one research site to another and in the evening, we watched the Northern Lights from the sauna. Could it get anymore heavenly? Another great experience was that I wrote my thesis in Cape Town. That was also a wonderful time in which I gained so much inspiration for my life and career.”

“During the Master’s programme, I also went to Antarctica. The Systems Ecology department at VU was looking for someone to do fieldwork on a subantarctic island. I had already done the same work on Svalbard for three months, so I was able to do this. But the fieldwork didn’t take up a full working week. I then started looking for a supervisor to do research on birds as my final Master's internship besides the job I was contracted for. I ended up doing comparative dietary research on two species of petrels, seabirds that breed on the island. After graduation, I was asked to join another expedition to Antarctica as a research assistant to count birds and marine mammals from aboard a ship and from a helicopter. You can imagine all very interesting trips.”

“I now work at Bureau Waardenburg, one of the oldest and largest independent research, consultancies and design agencies in the field of ecology in the Netherlands. In short, we carry out more than 700 projects around the world related to ecology, the environment and landscape design every year. I work in a team of bird ecologists and primarily carry out research projects related to seabirds and marine mammals. The main focus of my research is the ecology of Sandwich Terns in the North Sea and I try to find out more about this topic using all kinds of tracking methods such as GPS loggers and colour rings. Another important line of research is studying the effects of offshore wind farms. In addition, as team leader of 20 bird ecologists, together with a colleague team leader, I’m responsible for making sure that everyone enjoys their work, giving them room to develop and excel, and ensuring that we meet the needs of our clients.”