Address: Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Phone:+44 78564 46598E-Mail:

KATRIEN WILLEMS

Personal statement

I aspire to communicate scientific knowledge to the public through documentary filmmaking to reveal new insights on animal behaviour and the world’s natural history.Ever since studying Biology and Visual Arts during my International Baccalaureate I have been passionate about the two subjects, with a keen interest in animal behaviour and media practice. Correspondingly, I undertook a Bachelors in Biology followed by a Masters in Biological Anthropology, for which I received a distinction. As a way of combining my two passions and raising science awareness, I am currently undertakinganother Mastersin documentary filmmaking. I believe the improvement I have made in my standard of work, in addition to having lived abroad from a young age, has made me a more rounded person andpermits me to readily adapt to my surroundings.

Skills and competences

·Reliable and self-motivated

·Effective analytical (largely through scientific research) and creativity skills

·Multi-lingual(fluent in English and Dutch, intermediate in German)

·Computer literate (Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite, SPSS, internet and e-mail services)

·Strong team skills, but confident performing alone

Work experience

2008Animal caretaker for work experience in theTierschutzvereinMunchen (Munich)

(Jun.-Jul.)·Provided shelter and food to homeless petsretrieved from Munich by cleaning facilities and setting up different nests according to the requirements of the animals.

· Aided ill/pregnant animals by providing them specificfacilities, foods, or medicine.

2008-2010Higher Level Visual Arts for the International Baccalaureate (IB) (Munich)

(Sep.-Apr.)·Created 20 studio pieces, a studio workbook, a portfolio and held an exhibition.

·Gained experience using the programs Adobe Illustrations (Ai) and Adobe Photoshop (Ps), and produced 1 studio piece with Ai and 2 with Ps.

·Gained experience in photography through the production of 3 studio pieces.

2015Placement at Booth Museum of Natural History (Brighton)

(Feb.-Jun.)·Catalogued information about animal specimens housed by the Booth Museum into the database, Mimsy.

· This involved learning how to use the Mimsy software, logging in data, photographing animal specimens, editing photographs to a professional standard with Photoshop andresearching specific information about the animal specimens.

2015Documentary Practice for MA Digital Documentary (Brighton)

(Oct.-Jan.)· Made a short documentary (8 min.) about food waste with a classmate.

· This involved researching about food waste, operating a camera (i.e. Sony NX5 and Nikon DSLR), sound recording (i.e. with a boom mic, lavaliermic, dynamic interview mic), interviewing (i.e. individuals on the street, the manager of a supermarket and a M.Sc. student), editing with Adobe Suite and finding archive material.

2016Short Documentary: Research and Production for MA Digital Documentary

(Feb.-May)· Made a short documentary (10 min.) about street musicians with a classmate.

· This involved researching about the history of street musicians and the sociological impact they have on society, operating a camera (i.e. Sony X70 andNX100), sound recording (i.e. with a boom mic), interviewing (i.e. individuals on the street andstreet musicians),narrating with a studio condenser recording mic, editing with Adobe Suite and finding archive material.

2016Placement at Booth Museum of Natural History (Brighton)

(Jun.-now)·Similar to my previous placement except I am handling a greater range of collections, and organising, labelling and treating collections (i.e. clean, package).

Field and lab research

2009 Fieldresearch for Extended Essay in IB

(Jul.-Oct.)· Investigated the impacts of urban microclimates on atmospheric processes by measuring and surveying specific atmospheric and environmental conditions in sites furthering in distance from the city centre of Munich.

2012 Fieldresearch for Tropical Rainforest Science module in BSc Biology

(Sep.-Oct.)· Examined the relationship between Hymenoptera diversity and altitude at the Santa Lucia Reserve in Ecuador by collecting Hymenoptera and recording environmental conditions influencing biodiversityalong a 500m mountain slope.

2012-2013 Lab research for dissertation in BSc Biology

(Oct.-Jan.)· Investigated the effects of the liquid Ether on the expression of the gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) in the halteres of drosophila flies,Drosophila melanogaster, by exposingembryos to ether,immunostaining their developing haltere discs for Ubx and observing Ubx expression using fluorescence microscopy.

2014Field research for dissertation in MSc Biological Anthropology

(Jun.-Sep.)· Examined the cooperative behaviour of Bolivian squirrel monkeys, Saimiriboliviensisboliviensis, by recording specific aspects of their social behaviour and relationshipsalong with various environmental factors within a given time frame of 4 weeks at the Drusillas Park zoo.

Education

2015-PresentUniversity of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

MA Digital Documentary (part-time)

Modules completed: Documentary Practice (63%)and Short Documentary: Research

and Production (66%)

2013-2015Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom

(Sep.-Sep.)MSc Biological Anthropology (part-time), distinction (71%)

2010-2013University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

(Oct.-Jun.)BSc Biology, lower 2nd class(58%)

1st year: 52% | 2nd year: 54% | 3rd year: 60%

2008-2010Bavarian International School, Munich, Germany

(Sep.-May)IB

Average: 32 points (including a point gained from the subject: Theory of Knowledge)

Higher level subjects: Biology (5), Geography (4), Visual Arts (7)

Standard level subjects: German B (5), English A1 (5), Math Studies (5)

2006-2008Bavarian International School, Munich, Germany

(Sep.-Jun.)IGCSE

Achieved a C or higher for all IGCSEs

2002-2006International School of Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands

(Sep.-Jun.)Secondary education

1999-2002Maple Dale Elementary School, Cincinnati, United States of America

(Sep.-Jun.)Elementary education

1998-1999Joppenhof, Maastricht, Netherlands

(Sep.-Jun.)Elementary education

1995-1998Netherlands International School, Jakarta, Indonesia

(Sep.-Jun.)Preschool and elementary education

Interests and activities

· Visual arts;completed over 20 hours of life drawing at an art workshop and practice photography.

· Music and singing; had singing lessons (13-14 years old) and sangin bands (14-17 years old).

·Sports such as horse riding (lessons from 8-10 years old) and sailing (three summer courses).

References available upon request