Hi there, nice to meet you. I'm a scientific researcher, a bioethics explorer, a globetrotter, a critical thinker and an activist plus I played surrogate mom in my teens and have rehabbed all sorts of birds and rescued all sorts of animals. That's enough for now.

And you? What brings you here? Let me know, and also if you found what you were looking for. I'd really like that. If you sign up for one of my courses, Udemy will usually allow you to send me a message.

MY COURSES

I currently have three active courses on Udemy.

~ My most recent one contains tips for how to live your best life. Access is limited.

~ One older course that I still have online because it is still fully applicable deals with the ethics of daily life in terms of diversity and inclusivity.

~ Another one that I have online covers some contingency planning for independent professionals and small business owners. It is a very short course with practical tips for how to shield yourself against stranger-stalking if you are your own boss such as the owner of a small business, blogger or an independent professional, hence have to have an online presence. This topic ties into diversity and inclusivity as well and also into otherization, which is the opposite of inclusivity.

Below, I explain how all of this came about.

ABOUT ME

► Besides a Master's with distinction, in geology, and an additional diploma for research in chemical oceanography, I hold a teaching certificate from VU University Amsterdam. I have taught graduate students at VU University Amsterdam and the University of Twente. I’ve occasionally supported individual foreign students too, both in the Netherlands and in the US.

► I’m a former board member of the Environmental Chemistry (and Toxicology) Section of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society as well as a former board member of NIMF, a Dutch foundation for women in science and technology.

► I was one of the associate editors of the international newsletter of the US-based Geochemical Society for over ten years and I was on the team of the ARCADIS magazine Elements for around three years (through my business). ARCADIS is a global science and technology company that offers high-end engineering consulting services, for example with environmental remediation projects.

► I’m the author of a book on what is called the new eugenics (“We need to talk about this”), a book about otherization (“Is cruelty cool?”) and some quirky flash fiction in the style of Spike Milligan and Donald Barthelme. I’ve also helped create Dutch versions of popular science books (such as For Dummies) and science textbooks.

► Before I turned myself into a scientist, I used to work in tourism & hospitality in Amsterdam, where I interacted with people from a wide variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

► I became self-employed in 1997, when I was based in Amsterdam. I later took that small business with me to England and I formally shut it down in 2024. I've started two other businesses - in around 2014 - that both went nowhere and that I stopped within a year.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT ME

First of all, I should tell you that I've been a feminist all my life but that exploring bioethics issues has given me much more insight in where for example many conservative Americans are coming from. It has shown me that their approach to certain issues has its merits too. It's too easy to reject other people's very different views instantly. It's much more difficult to listen without judgment.

Since my move from Amsterdam to England in 2004, I've been increasingly exploring topics in the area of bioethics and diversity, such as otherization, autism, discrimination, workplace bullying, narcissistic personality disorder, gerontophobia, ableism and insularity. There is a strong neuroscience component in all of this.

I am neurotypical and I believe that our society could easily be much more inclusive. All it often takes is some awareness (knowledge) as well as a little bit more care and attentiveness in our actions. A split second of thought before we respond and a little bit more insight into how we ourselves tick and why we respond to some things that others do or say in a certain way can go a long way.

It also requires the availability of options in the workplace without reams of paperwork to be completed first. Just like there are chairs for everyone who is not in a wheelchair, there should also be choices better suited for anyone who does not fall into the center of the bell curve.

After I began to explore neurodiversity, personality disorders, neuroscience and so on, it first dawned on me that I had had a good friend, for decades, who has a narcissistic personality disorder. She was actually the one who mentioned this diagnosis to me, but in relation to someone else.

When I started to explore that, I ran into a lot of fear-mongering and vilification, without explanation. I found that very confusing and not at all helpful.

My friend is a witty, highly intelligent woman who has found a good niche for herself at an Ivy League university. She has insight into her own condition and I started to like her increasingly more after she revealed more of herself. Her inner vulnerability is not actually that different from how many of us feel at times, I'm sure, but she is very hard on herself, and always strives to be perfect (i.e., superhuman).

Next, I discovered that, also for decades, I'd had an autistic friend. I looked into what I should do, raised the topic with her and she confirmed that she is indeed autistic. She too had only learned it recently. She, like my friend with NPD, is highly educated. (She's a lawyer.)

I'd always said that I knew nothing about autism and that I didn't know anyone who is autistic. Clearly, I was wrong about the latter. In fact, shortly after, I found out that one of my former university colleagues has autism, too, and that is how I learned how amazingly well "masking" can work and also what pathological demand avoidance can look like (and how confusing it is).

I also remember that one of my fellow students had mild dyslexia. Another one was deaf and blind on one side and had a partially paralyzed face as a result of brain tumor surgery.

I've found that being more aware of autism and NPD not only has made it easier for me to recognize it in people now, it also makes it easier to avoid hurting them or getting hurt myself within this context. I am able to deal with all sorts of situations a little easier now, but the learning curve is pretty steep.

I can for example now also choose to step back timely and distance myself from someone, if I feel that I am not in the right place myself - too exhausted or too stressed - to deal with such differences well or if I simply don't like the person under the autism or NPD.

There's always a unique person hiding under the NPD or the autism or what have you. Of course there is. I believe that (neuro)diversity is a multidimensional space in which we all take up a unique spot with our unique combination of characteristics and talents.

That's me, in a nutshell. I hope that you will also share your own story with me and with your fellow students.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Best,

~ Angelina



PS
Some people reach out to me to tell me that they can get me many more students if I pay them an certain amount of money. Most of them have never looked at this profile as far as I can tell. For those of you who do: I have a proposal for you. Bring me more students and we will share the revenue 50/50. How's that?