Géraldine Brunoud

In the small office she shares with three other members of the laboratory of Plant Reproduction and Development (RDP) , Géraldine Brunoud doles out very specific advice to Lauriane, a Master's student, and Anaïs, a doctoral candidate, to avoid "stressing out" plants before examining sections of them under a microscope. "I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do; but I knew what I didn't want to do: a thesis! I knew I wanted to be an engineer supporting research. I'm interested in the empirical and experimental side of things," she says. "The world of plants is fascinating. Their morphological diversity, the fact that they're static yet in constant evolution. The various biology professors I had in university, particularly at the lab for plant biotechnologies applied to aromatic and medicinal plants of the University of Saint-Etienne ( LBVpam ), had a lot to do with my career choice." - Géraldine, who loves horse riding and hiking in the mountains, has always enjoyed collecting plants. As a Master's student, she compiled a herbarium with about a hundred plants collected and identified throughout her walks between Lyon and Saint-Etienne.