Camille Ollier, PhD student, is co-winner of the Thierry Célérier Prize

The “Thierry Célérier – Femmes & Sciences” prize encourages young women with disabilities to carry out an ambitious scientific project thanks to an endowment of 10 000 euros. As the jury members from the 2022 edition were unable to decide between two applications, the prize was exceptionally awarded to two recipients.

Camille Ollier, a doctoral student at the Centre for Biological Studies in Chizé, part of La Rochelle Université, was one of the co-winners of this prize. The objectives of her thesis, in collaboration with Marine Conservation Research, is to develop and test methodologies for combining visual and acoustic observation data while taking into account the biases of perception and availability associated with cetacean observation. These data will be used to map the distribution of cetaceans in order to identify hotspots of diversity or density, taking into account environmental parameters.

Camille is profoundly deaf and the presence at her side of sign language interpreters is necessary for exchanges between several people (meetings, conferences etc.). Unfortunately, today it is very difficult to find qualified and available interpreters in the region to accompany her in higher studies or scientific work. For exchanges in English, Camille has been working in videoconference for a few years with English/American Sign Language interpreters who are familiar with the subject of her thesis, which makes the exchanges more fluid.

This prize will allow her to finance part of the costs of her American interpreters for the conferences she will attend. Camille attended the prize-giving ceremony with her thesis supervisor Vincent Ridoux, which took place at IRISA/INRIA in Rennes during the Femmes & Sciences conference on 18 November 2022.

Camille‘s story on cetacean habitat modelling