Hi there, nice to meet you.

First, let me share my belief that diversity is a multidimensional space in which we all take up a unique spot with our own combination of characteristics and talents. Second, I think that cultural differences are a form of neurodiversity.

The UK, the US and the Netherlands is where I've lived.

And France is where my ancestors came from.

I'm a scientific researcher, bioethics explorer, globetrotter, critical thinker, feminist and activist. Enough labels for you? I never fit into the boxes. Do you?

As a teenager, I played surrogate mom to my two younger sisters. Our mother developed breast cancer shortly after my birth and succumbed to it when she was 42 - and I only 14.

I believe that my dad had a borderline personality disorder - without any addiction issues - but that diagnosis didn't exist yet when I was a teenager.

Other than that I am relatively intelligent and highly versatile, I'm pretty middle of the road. I'm neurotypical and while not a full-blown empath, pretty close.

Both my parents had little more than a basic primary school education. My mother was taught housekeeping skills and my dad acquired the required knowledge to be a milkman and grocer.

I grew up with all sorts of animals at home as well as in the extended family. As an adult, I have rehabbed all sorts of birds, starting in Florida, and rescued a few animals, beginning with a cat from a shelter in Amsterdam, followed by two more from Amsterdam's streets.

I went to university a little later in life. That is, I initially studied German at the University of Leiden, but quit after a semester. I then worked in Amsterdam's tourism and hospitality sector for several years before I enrolled as a full-time earth sciences student.

My goal was to have my own marine biogeochemistry research group in the States. My teeny tiny native country the Netherlands was far too rigid and restrictive in far too many ways, particularly in terms of ageism and sexism. The States, that's where I fit in best. Ambitious, driven, enthusiastic, easygoing yet tenacious and conscientious. Wanting to excel because of the joy that this brings. Not being perceived as a pain in the behind because of it, (un)like in the Netherlands, where a history of Calvinism dictated that people should strive to be average and modest, not stand out in any way and not enjoy life too much.

What can I say? I've always been very strong-willed and curiosity-driven.

That said, I'm a little like water and that can be unintentionally deceptive. I've never needed to hog the limelight, but it's a mistake to underestimate me.

And you, who are you? What brings you here?

Drop me a note, please.

MY COURSES

I currently have three active courses on Udemy.

✅ My most recent course 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. This is still my most popular course.

✅ Another course 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. It hasn't had any takers yet. Do small business owners prefer to panic after the fact when it's too late rather than plan ahead for unexpected contingencies?

✅ I retired my first course many years ago. It was a practical course based on working with a few visual artists.

Below, I explain how all of this came about.

ABOUT ME

► Besides a Master's with distinction, in geology (mostly geochemistry), and an additional diploma for research in chemical oceanography in conjunction with the Royal NIOZ, I hold a teaching certificate from VU University Amsterdam. While I was wrapping up my Master's and my chemical oceanography work, I also completed two evening courses at the Netherlands' School for Journalism. I have taught graduate students at VU University Amsterdam and at the University of Twente. I’ve occasionally supported individual foreign students too, both in the Netherlands and in the US.  I've done half a PhD in the US (University of South Florida; unfortunately we lost our research funding) and half a PhD in the UK (University of Southampton; I quit when I realized that running my own small business was an equally worthwhile pursuit).

► 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. 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

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 (so-called covert) 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. It made me very fearful of my friend and I'm ashamed that I responded that way.

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 herself and I started to like her increasingly more after she revealed more of her true nature. 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.) She and I are no longer in contact.

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 this, I found out that one of my former university colleagues has autism, too. From him, 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 Master's 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.

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 Souren