[Portrait] Alice Verpillot, geography engineer at the ESPACE laboratory

What are your activities?

I am working on a European project that aims to improve the resilience of Alpine territories to natural hazards in the context of climate change. We are looking at the use of social networks in this resilience.

What are your current scientific activities?

My current scientific activity is to create a citizens' initiative on the issue of risks and in particular on the management of natural risks. The idea would be to create a group of actors who would communicate with each other, through social networks, to warn each other, at the micro-local level, in case of a crisis.

Why did you choose to work in academic research?

I didn't choose to work in academic research, I chose to work on this project that interested me and I applied. It's a field that I didn't know and that I discover every day.

What advice would you give to students who want to go into
research?

Don't be afraid of frustration. Sometimes you spend weeks reading or writing, and you
start all over again the following week. We move forward but not at the pace we want. We never go backwards.

So keep on being curious, keep on looking, you will always find things, and especially things you didn't expect.

Which object or image from your research (or activities) best illustrates you?

This picture speaks for itself. I like to convince myself that it could be true.
Because simply believing in it can change a life. At work, or in your life, I think you should have no limits in your enthusiasm and dreams.