RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Inspiring people about the incredible nature that surrounds them is my main objective. Whether as a Science and Education Coordinator at sea, an Ocean Conservationist talking about whales and dolphins, or a wildlife educator at the zoo, I am forging this link between people and wildlife so they can protect what they learned to love.

With a background in Biosciences and a passion for GIS and Programming, I try to build bridges between these disciplines. During my MSc studies, I was working on implementing ecological analyzing techniques using Web Processing Services, intending to enable efficient workflows within Ecology and Environmental Sciences by using standardized methods and OGC Standards.

Currently, I am working at sea as a Science and Education Coordinator for HX | Hurtigruten Expeditions somewhere between the poles.

EDUCATION & EMPLOYMENT:

since 04/2022: Science and Education Coordinator for HX | Hurtigruten Expeditions

07/2021 – 04/2022: ORCA Ocean Conservationist onboard Hurtigruten Expeditions MS Otto Sverdrup

since 10/2020: Wildlife Educator at Zoologischer Garten Neunkirchen (Neunkirchen, Germany)

02/2020 – 07/2021: Expedition Guide / Marine Biologist Contractor for Hurtigruten Expeditions

01/2020 – 02/2020: Wildlife Officer for ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) on SAGA Sapphire (Tales of the Caribbean cruise)

07/2019 – 12/2019: Wildlife Educator at Zoologischer Garten Neunkirchen (Neunkirchen, Germany)

07/2019 – 08/2019: Wildlife Officer Placement for ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) on Brittany Ferries Cap Finistère in the Bay of Biscay

07/2018 – 12/2018: Research Fellow at CCMAR, University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal) in the CRUSTAPANHA Project

04/2016 – 08/2016: Research Associate at the Working Group for Functional Ecology at AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany)

10/2014 – 11/2017: Research assistant at the Group for Applied Geography and Environmental Planning (Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, CvO University of Oldenburg)

09/2014 – 10/2014: Research assistant at the Research Group for Marine Geochemistry (ICBM-MPI Bridging Group, CvO University of Oldenburg)

02/2015 – 04/2015: Internship at the Bioacoustic Project of Loro Parque Fundación (Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain)

10/2013 – 11/2017:  Master studies at Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (M.Sc. Marine Environmental Sciences)

03/2013 – 04/2013: Internship at Senckenberg Research Institute Wilhelmshaven (Department of Marine Biology)

10/2011 – 01/2013: Student Assistant at the Group of Plant Ecology and Systematics (TU Kaiserslautern)

10/2010 – 11/2013:  Bachelor studies at Kaiserslautern University of Technology (B.Sc. Biosciences)

PUBLICATIONS:

• Kirchner, A. C. & Aden, C. (2016): HotSpotSDM: HotSpotSDM ‒ ein WPS-Prozess für die Modellierung ökologischer Artenfunde. In: Strobl, J., Zagel, B., Griesebner, G. & Blaschke, T. (Hrsg.): AGIT Journal für Angewandte Geoinformatik 2-2016. Wichmann Verlag. pp. 580 – 589, available online: Download.
• Aden, C. & Kirchner, A. C. (2016): GoINSPIRED: Kontrolle und Transformation von Artendaten aus Citizen-Science-Projekten für INSPIRE. In: Strobl, J., Zagel, B., Griesebner, G. & Blaschke, T. (Hrsg.): AGIT Journal für Angewandte Geoinformatik 2-2016. Wichmann Verlag. pp. 590 – 599, available online: Download.

FURTHER EDUCATION (SCIENTIFIC COURSES & CONFERENCES):

06/2024: CAPS 2024 Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences, Poster: Supporting Cetacean Conservation in Data-poor Regions with Participatory Science on Expedition Ships

07/2022: RYA Powerboat Level 2

11/2019: Cruise Conservationist Course, ORCA

11/2018: Marine Mammal Surveyor Course (Plymouth, England), ORCA

11/2018: Ecopath with Ecosim: Course on ecosystem modelling with Ecopath, Ecosim and Ecospace (Faro, Portugal),  ecopath.org

10/2018: Length-based Methods for assessing data-limited Stocks (Faro, Portugal), Seminar and Workshop by John M. Hoenig, CCMAR UAlg

03/2018: FEPS/OBIS/OTGA/SEF Training Course: Marine Species Distribution Modeling (Oostende, Belgium), UNESCO/IOC OceanTeacher Global Academy

08/2017: Whalefish Professional Development Course 2017 – Marine Research Techniques & Conservation (Millport, Scotland), whalefish.org

04/2017: MaPSIS Conference 2017 – Maritime Spatial Planning, Ecosystem Approach and Supporting Information Systems (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain), EcoAqua ULPGC
Presentation: GeoCMS HotSpot: Data evaluation and preparation

08/2016: FOSS4G 2016 (Bonn, Germany), FOSS4G. Attendance as part of the FOSS4G studentship programme.

07/2016: AGIT 2016 – open:spatial:interfaces Symposium und Expo für Angewandte Geoinformatik (Salzburg, Austria), Universität Salzburg
Presentation & Conference Paper: HotSpotSDM: Ein WPS für die Modellierung ökologischer Artenfunde (download)

06/2016: Konferenz für studentische Forschung (Oldenburg, Germany), Forschen@Studium
Presentation: Web Processing Services: Standardisierte und vergleichbare Verarbeitung von Artendaten

03/2016: 44th EAAM Symposium (Benidorm, Spain), European Association of Aquatic Mammals
Presentation: Comparing day and night vocalizations in Orcinus orca

02/2016: MARES Conference on Marine Ecosystems Health and Conservation 2016 (Olhão, Portugal), MARES

09/2015: 2015 Course on Species Distribution Modeling (Évora, Portugal), Miguel B. Araújo Lab

06/2015:  DEVOTES-EUROMARINE Summer School “Integrative assessment of marine systems: the Ecosystem Approach in practice” (Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain), DEVOTES-Project
Poster: Development of a Web Processing Service for Environmental Applications

07/2014: Second DEVOTES Summer School “From Species to Ecosystems: Modelling Marine Ecology for Management Applications” (Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain), DEVOTES-Project

07/2014: 5th Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School (Girona, Spain), SIGTE University of Girona