Anastasia is a marine biology Master’s student at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She graduated with her BSc (Hons) in marine biology from the University of Aberdeen in 2025 and is now following a research-focused degree to build a career in marine animal cognition. She started diving at the age of 14, reaching the level of CMAS*instructor at 19, and now plans to use this grant to fulfill her lifelong dream of training as European Scientific Diver with the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Germany. While her current research focuses on social networks and personality in red knots, her deepest passion is the study of intelligence in wild cephalopods and she is thrilled to gain the scientific skills to conduct research in their natural habitat.

‍