Can you say a few words about yourself?

My name is Helena Vallicrosa, I work at the WSL site in Lausanne, under the advising of Charlotte Grossiord. I got my PhD in Terrestrial Ecology in Barcelona, where I am from, and I have spent a couple years working on the United States. My main research focus in on plant and soil elemental composition, how the elements flow around compartments and what are the ecological implications of that.

 

What is your role in ReCLEAN?

I am working on the effects of N deposition in forests and grasslands. I am using repository data at European scale as well as performing field experiments.

 

Why were you interested in ReCLEAN?

I thought the project totally align with my scientific interests and my set of skills. I was also excited to participate in a joined initiative as such, getting inputs from great scientists working on the whole N cycle, getting a bigger picture of the N deposition problem.

 

Can you speak about other projects you are currently working on and other ones in the past?

Outside of ReCLEAN I am currently thinking about how the nutrients amounts and proportions could affect the reproductive tissues and whether that could have impacts in future plant generation success, ultimately altering the species composition. I am also collaborating with lab colleagues trying to establish a connection between foliar K and frost tolerance as well as writing a viewpoint article about the consequences of the missuses between “conifers”, “needleleaves” and “gymnosperms” in scientific literature.

 

What have been some of your biggest challenges?

As a non-native English speaker (such as many of us), being fully proficient in English has taken some time and I acknowledge that being a big challenge in the past. Also the economic and constant moving pressure it exists in the pre/post doc phase has been a struggle keeping some of my mental effort outside of science.  

 

What have been some of your biggest successes? 

Becoming fully confident in my English has been a game changer in my scientific performance. Including R programming in my research has also opened a lot of doors in terms of efficiency and the possibility of using a broad range of techniques.

 

What do you enjoy to do, outside of science and research?

I like to practice outdoors sports and enjoy the sunny and warm weather. I also love food-related activities such as cooking or going to nice restaurants with my loved ones.

 

Where is the most interesting place you’ve been?

I keep great memories from my 4 months field campaign in French Guyana. It is a very interesting place with a mix of wild rainforest and rocket launching! European soil but in the south American territory. Very cool.

 

A free thought for the end?

It is great to be part of this project and get to work with you all.