Nia is a zoologist and caver at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her research has mainly focused on the use of physiological techniques like oxidative stress measurements for predicting individual health state and survival. She is interested in how bats deal with the frequent energetic challenges that they face in their environment. Her PhD focused on the species-specific life history traits that condition the way climate influences population dynamics, particularly those that are associated with environmental constraints, such as hibernation. She believes that effective nature conservation requires the combination of these activities: the careful exploration of sensitive habitats coupled with a vigorous scientific analysis of the collected data. She also believes that this is compatible with strong citizen engagement and indeed benefits from it.