Nacim Guellati: a student who leaves no one cold!

It was neither by chance nor favoritism that Nacim Guellati was chosen by the MARBEC marine biology laboratory to board the famous Greenpeace ship. At 22 years old, this young man from Algiers, who arrived in Montpellier three years ago to pursue a bachelor's degree in Ecology and Biology of Organisms (EBO), already has impressive experience for his age.

A thrill seeker, he is an avid diver, freediver, combat sports enthusiast, and skydiver. "Physical endurance is absolutely essential for this type of mission," emphasizes David Mouillot, professor at the MARBEC laboratory and mission advisor at UM.

"Making do with the bare minimum"

When it comes to traveling, Nacim is no novice either. "I like to travel in somewhat extreme conditions and get by with the bare minimum. I've been to Iceland near the Arctic Circle in winter, so I have a pretty good idea of what the conditions will be like there. " When he announced his departure for Antarctica, none of his friends and family were really surprised. "On the contrary, it made my parents laugh. They wonder why their son can't do things that are, let's say, 'more normal'!"

This profile already earned him a place on the Gombessa V mission last summer. This was a 28-day expedition in the Mediterranean, initiated by Montpellier-based naturalist and documentary filmmaker Laurent Ballesta. "I was able to discover the small daily details of an expedition. It was interesting because, beyond the scientific mission, we also had to take care of the media aspect by shooting a film, which meant constantly adapting to our daily routine."

Mastery of techniques

While Nacim Guellati has all the characteristics of the perfect adventurer, it is above all his scientific skills and mastery ofenvironmental DNA techniques that have earned him the opportunity to take part in these incredible adventures. He acquired this expertise working alongsideEmilie Boulanger, a doctoral student at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology and the MARBEC laboratory, and Jean Baptiste Juhel, an engineer hired at MARBEC as part of a partnership with the company SpyGen (Companies on Campus). Nacim plans to follow this path by completing a master's degree in Ecology and Biodiversity Management Engineering (IEGB) before going on to do a PhD.

To do so, he will have to pass his bachelor's degree exams, which he will take a few weeks ahead of his classmates: "All the teachers have been great. They agreed to reschedule my exams so that I could take them before leaving for Antarctica."

With just a few weeks to go before departure, the young biologist is calmly looking forward to his expedition. The absence of night in these latitudes? The cold? Life on board? No, none of these things seem to really concern Nacim, except for one thing: "I'm afraid we won't have enough time to collect all the samples we need." There's no doubt that it will take more than an ice floe to dampen the passion of this young science enthusiast.