Carole Helfter

She/Her

I am a lesbian and I am an environmental physicist.//

 

I am French, but I have spent the main part of my adult life abroad.
I obtained a BSc and MSc in Physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (E.P.F.L), and a PhD in Applied Optics and Photonics from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, UK. For my PhD project, I fired low-powered lasers at tree stems and used thermal imaging to measure the flow of sap through phloem tissue.

My love of nature pushed me to apply for a post of environmental physicist, and I have been researching the exchange of greenhouse gases – particularly carbon dioxide and methane – between land and atmosphere for over 15 years. I have a particular interest in tropical wetlands and I lost my soul in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, in 2016 when my first project in that exquisite part of the world began.

In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, yoga, growing mushrooms, baking sourdough bread, learning about fungi, reading, bouldering, being in nature, hanging out with friends and travelling.