Ph.D. Candidate at Wageningen University & Research, Cultural Geography

About

I am from Brazil, currently living in Wageningen, the Netherlands. I started my PhD at Wageningen University in 2021, after completing an MSc in tourism management and a BSc in leisure and tourism.

My PhD aims to explore and map tourism diversification in the Antarctic, particularly considering the magnitude of integration of less tangible concepts of the ATS fundamental principles and values in the development of new, novel, or particularly concerning activities, as part of an NWO project funded by the Netherlands Polar Programme.

For the last nine years, I've been working, researching, and studying sustainability, social impact, human rights, gender equality, and environmental restoration - from working with refugees in the Balkans to developing a sustainability strategy and auditing youth hostels in Norway, from academic research on gender equality in Portugal to becoming the manager of construction of 60 houses for people in informal settlements in Brazil. So far, I've traveled to more than 50 countries, studying, working, volunteering and visiting different places.

I am the daughter of a Syrian immigrant and great-granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants.

Current Research Project

ProAct: Proactive Management of Antarctic Tourism

The project 'Proactive Management of Antarctic Tourism: Exploring the Role of ATS Principles and Values and Best Practices Beyond the ATS' (ProAct) is a joint project between Tilburg University, Utrecht University and Wageningen University & Research. Funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the project commenced on 1 March 2021 and will run for a period of 5 years.

https://www.uu.nl/en/research/proactive-management-of-antarctic-tourism-proact

Previous Research Project

DOUROTUR: Tourism and technological innovation in the Douro

DOUROTUR was a project for Scientific Research and Technological Development, funded by Portugal's Norte 2020. The project aimed to increase the systemic and holistic understanding of the supply and demand of tourism products and services in the Douro region, declared in 2011 by UNESCO World Heritage as a cultural landscape site, as well as evaluate the communication strategies and set priorities to improve the digital marketing in the region.

https://www.utad.pt/gap/en/dourotur-tourism-and-technological-innovation-in-the-douro/