Nacim Guellati: a student who makes quite an impression!

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

A thrill-seeker, he regularly engages in scuba diving, freediving, combat sports, and skydiving.“Physical endurance is absolutely essential for this type of mission,” emphasizes David Mouillot, a professor at the MARBEC laboratory and the mission’s liaison at the University of Marseille.

“Making do with the bare minimum”

When it comes to travel, this isn’t Nacim’s first time either.“I like traveling in somewhat extreme conditions and getting by with the bare minimum. I’ve been to Iceland near the Arctic Circle in the 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 close friends and family were really surprised. “On the contrary, it actually makes my parents laugh. They wonder why their son can’t do things that are, let’s say, ‘more normal’!”

This background led to his participation in the Gombessa V mission last summer—a 28-day expedition in the Mediterranean organized by Laurent Ballesta, a naturalist and documentary filmmaker from Montpellier. “I got to experience the small, day-to-day details of an expedition. It was interesting because, beyond the scientific mission, we also had to handle the media aspect—with a film to shoot—so we had to constantly adapt our daily routines.”

Mastery of techniques

While Nacim Guellati embodies all the traits of the perfect adventurer, it is above all his scientific skills and mastery ofenvironmental DNA techniques that have earned him a place on these incredible expeditions. 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 by MARBEC through a partnership with the company SpyGen (Companies on Campus). Nacim plans to follow a similar path by pursuing a master’s degree in Engineering in Ecology and Biodiversity Management (IEGB) before moving on to a Ph.D.

To do so, he’ll need to pass his undergraduate exams, which he’ll take a few weeks earlier than his classmates:“All the professors have been great; they agreed to reschedule my exams so I could take them before I leave for Antarctica.”

With just a few weeks to go before departure, the young biologist is looking forward to his expedition with a sense of calm. The lack of night at these latitudes? The cold? Life on board? No, none of that seems to really worry 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 about it: it will take more than a sheet of ice to dampen the passion of this young science enthusiast.