Mieke Sterken

Mieke Sterken obtained a Msc. degree in Physical Geography at Ghent University in 2002, followed by an interdisciplinary Msc. in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences (2003) at the same university. At the intersection between geography and biology, she studied fossil diatom assemblages from lake sediment cores to reconstruct the de- and postglacial climate in Chilean Patagonia and the Antarctic Peninsula, as part of her PhD research (Degree obtained in 2009, Dept. Biology, Ghent University). As a GIS-skilled geographer she also contributed to a global diatom biodiversity study. After a short-term assignment in an aquatic biodiversity study (KULeuven, 2010) she joined the International Polar Foundation as a science communicator and museologist, working on the content of a planned climate change museum, and developing a temporary exhibition (Brussels, 2013) about all aspects of science and technology at the Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica. From there, she continued working on several European projects (H2020, Erasmus+, Interreg) in science communication and citizen science at Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and later in the Flemish Environmental Institute (2018, VMM). She currently works as an advisor in citizen science at Scivil, the Flemish knowledge center for citizen science in Leuven, where she focuses on the aspects of datamanagement and ethics. Together with Scivil’s Working Group on Data, she worked towards the release of a datacharter for citizen science (april 2021). Apart from this, she also works at KULeuven, as part of the Erasmus+ project BRITEC and the citizen-scienceproject MOMSTER, where she has been facilitating the collaboration between scientists and teachers in Flanders, in order to bring citizen science into formal educational settings.