Education: Bielefeld University, Ph.D., Ornithology (candidate) University of Bonn, B.S., M.Sc., Ecology & Environmental Sciences

Bielefeld University, Ph.D., Ornithology (candidate)

University of Bonn, B.S., M.Sc., Ecology & Environmental Sciences

Originally from Germany, Nicole is a biologist, nature guide, and conservationist, and has lived in Ecuador for almost 20 years. During her time as a master’s student, she backpacked through Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia until her fascination with neotropical rainforests brought her to South America. She conducted her master’s thesis on the ecology of hummingbird pollination in Mindo, Ecuador, where she also worked as a bird guide after graduating. Together with her Ecuadorian husband, Nicole bought a private nature reserve in the montane rainforest near Mindo, and established a biological research station, named Un poco del Chocó. With her daily work as the reserve’s Manager and Research Director, she combines her passions for conservation, education, and research. Nicole teaches tropical ecology courses to undergraduates, supervises research projects of university students, leads environmental education workshops for school children, and is actively involved in local conservation efforts. She also established a long-term bird monitoring project in her reserve and collaborates on various international research projects studying both resident and migratory bird species. In 2020, she enrolled again at university and is currently conducting her Ph.D. research on avian life cycle phenology. As a certified bird bander, she participated in projects and courses in Brazil, Peru, England, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Israel. This past winter she taught a bird banding workshop in the Osa peninsula in Costa Rica. Nicole is fluent in English, Spanish, and German. Nicole has led student travel programs—including with National Geographic—in Ecuador and the Galápagos, Australia, Belize, Namibia, Costa Rica, and the Canadian Arctic.