IMIS

Alexander began to work at the Flanders Marine Institute as a science officer shortly after he earned his master in Biology. His first research concerned finding relations between the ocean and the human health in Belgium, by analysing data from the Belgian Health Interview Survey. This study revealed that living near the coast is associated with better health, but the underlying pathways remained unclear. Therefore, Alexander passionately wrote and started a 4-year PhD project on the psychological and physiological restoration (i.e. stress-reducing) potential of the different coastal environments in Belgium. In this research, he integrates new technologies (e.g. eye tracking, VR) into a series of experiments to measure several stress biomarkers, complemented with a large-scale survey on coastal and inland residents. Alexander also endeavours to bridge disciplines (e.g. with clinicians, psychologists, economists) to perform excellent and innovative research.