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Melissa Duncan-Schiele, PhD Eng

@explorermel

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▫️Director of Conservation and Research
▫️PhD BVLOS marine drones in SIDS + marine ecology
📌Middle East + Indian Ocean

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As a new mum, I'm learning to juggle my slow return to the office with Freddy! He had a lot to contribute to the meeting on our macro and micro plastics research... namely a dirty nappy 🤣#mumswhoscience #babymodel #intern by @explorermel

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a month ago

Seven years ago, I graduated from @imperialcollege and @officialzsl as a conservation scientist and drone pilot. My studies took me to the British Indian ocean territories for two months (#chagos) and I was led by my ever patient supervisor @tomletessier. Looking back, it was a pretty life changing maneuver. I hope I impart some of the wisdom I've gained to my students, interns and now to my son :)Can't wait to take him on his first expedition! by @explorermel

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2 months ago

Welcoming little Frederyk Axel Duncan-Schiele to the world! Mummy and daddy love you very much. We are all recovering, and Freddie is a solid 3.57kg even as a breeched preterm 💪🏼 He was born on 12th February ♒ 2026 and shares his bday with #charlesdarwin of course ✨🦜🐒🐟Hope he likes cats 🥹😅🐈🐱🐾 by @explorermel

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5 months ago

Happy second anniversary to my gorgeous husband @dunkan3918 Alex! #cottonanniversary ☁️Last year we were in India bird watching and this year we are preparing for a big life change 🙏🏼 insha'Allah everything will be blessed in 2026 💓 by @explorermel

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7 months ago

Finally life, work and the university aligned and this summer I was finally able to actually graduate ☀️#phdone I have a PhD in engineering from Loughborough University which was completed in partnership with the Zoological Society of London and the Bertarelli programme for marine science. I had 11 expeditions over four continents, worked with multiple government departments in the UK and globally, started a consultancy, independent projects and got married, all in a pandemic. Thank you to all my colleagues and partners for supporting my work. And thank you to my fantastic supervisors, Tom, Paul, Marcus, Simon and Ella 🙏🏼Here's to life's continuing to be high octane 💪🏼@wolfsonschool @officialzsl @bertarellifoundation @iomarinescience @marinemanagementgovuk @tomletessier @turneffeatollmarinereserve @marhecenter @ritzcarltonmaldives @usnavy @royalnavy @oceansunmanned and so many more that don't have Instagram!! by @explorermel

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a year ago

When you live in the Maldives, in #Baaatoll you are spoilt with having #hanifarubay on your doorstep. I took these snaps ten years ago, can you believe it?! .During the southwest monsoon season (May to November approx), plankton blooms attract hundreds of manta rays and even some whale sharks to the bay. The atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, emphasising its importance for biodiversity. This is the world's largest aggregation of feeding reef mantas (mobula alfredi) where the iconic cyclone feeding behaviour can be observed. ..#mantaray #marineconservation#maldivesmanta #mobulaalfredi #unescobiosphere #marineecology #maldives #marinebiology #elasmobranchs #manta by @explorermel

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a year ago

Alex and I finally managed to get to #Nizwa and we did our first drive up to #jebelakhdar where we stayed at the gorgeous @hotelindigojabalakhdar which we can't recommend enough.We also stumbled across the ruins of a 15th century village made from wood, straw and mud which is strangely open for exploring and oozing in Indiana Jones vibes.#omanacrossagesmuseum is a testament to excellent museum design and modern story telling. Shame the museum shop was so poor- they could take a leaf out of the @britishmuseum book. The shop didn't even sell books on Omani history!!! Are there even any? Answers on a postcard!All of this is only 1-2 hours drive from our house and we feel quite lucky. ..#oman #museum #explore #indianocean #mountains #hajarmountains #middleeast #expatlife by @explorermel

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a year ago

Desert Power..We spent a night camping in the #wahibasands with @authenticdesertcamp and exploring the dunes on #camel and in a #landcruiser. I even managed to go full desert #offroad4x4 in my #toyotafortuner ✨.The desert is insanely quiet, and full of life. The amount of footprints you see in the morning is intriguing 🐾 I'll defo be returning...maybe even place a #cameratrap 📸🐭🦎🐍🐈🦗...#desert #desertecology #desertwildlife #dune #oman #exploremiddleeast #desertpower #fremen #desertlife #bedouin #sanddunes #stars by @explorermel

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2 years ago

A few weeks ago I popped out to help @aquaw.oman and Rayan get some data, off the coast of #muscat. We intercepted ocean trash which looked like a sheeting cover, potentially from a local building site... Also had a cheeky snorkel at cemetery bay. All in all a great all female @womeninoceanscience #marinetech #boatday by @explorermel

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2 years ago

This year's expedition to the #isleofskye for our @50yearsoflitteronskye project was another corker!Highlight for me was defo the #rov piloting and yes, we found litter underwater 🫧 I also brought Alex along for much needed muscle to remove litter from beaches! This year's furthest litter item had come all the way from Florida 😮..#oceanplastic #scotland #research #ecology #marinescience #socialscience #communityled #conservation #conservationtechnology #engineering #oceanplastic by @explorermel

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2 years ago

The first pro dive shot of me underwater! Thank you @paulcflandinette for capturing me in my quiet zone 🧘🏼‍♀️Paul is an extremely experienced professional underwater photographer and filmmaker, go check out his work! by @explorermel

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2 years ago

This hit hard. Slowly trying to disentangle the mask from reality is an ugly, confusing process. But all my neurospicey friends out there, we got this 💪🏼 #adhdawareness by @explorermel

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2 years ago