Making it as a PhD student: workload, pressure and time management

In this episode we talk to Laura Elsler, who through her PhD research has lived through many challenges but can now proudly call herself a doctor in sustainability science.

About Laura Elsler

Laura Elsler's PhD research focused on building models for developing fisheries. Elsler's work integrates trade and environmental cross-scale interactions to:

(a) understand their effect - mediated by social interactions - on economic inequality and marine species status

(b) build social-ecological models that are effective for evaluating management strategies in developing fisheries.

Prior to joining the SRC, Elsler worked on the safeguarding of Venice and its lagoon, supervised by James Watson (SRC) and Sonia Silvestri (Duke University). The synthesis of social-ecological knowledge in a model of Venice adaptation to sea level rise and subsidence led to the start of the Venice Resilience Labs/Wigwam a platform engaging different disciplines for alternative approaches for the adaptation in the Venice lagoon.

Elsler´s approach is equipped with transdisciplinary training in international business, ethnological studies, and environmental sciences. Elsler graduated with distinction with an MSc in Sustainable Development-Environmental Sciences from Graz University and Università Ca´Foscari.

She is a former intern with WWF International.

About "Life in science"

In this video series we sit down with recently graduated PhD researchers and talk about their experiences and, the life that comes after.

The interviews provide both current and prospective PhD students with a glimpse into life as an early career researcher and the various challenges and opportunities that come with it.

See more episodes of "Life in science" here