The Team

Christian Clot,
Founder and CEO of the
Human Adaptation Institute,
Leader of Deep Climate expeditions

Christian has been conducting expeditions in extreme environments for nearly 30 years, in all climatic environments. Since 2005, he has set up several research programmes on human adaptation before creating the Human Adaptation Institute in 2014 to conduct this research on a large scale. After studying the weather with Deep Time or the impacts of the Covid, he designed the Deep Climate programme in response to current climate realities. He will lead the field missions and direct the integrative research programme.

Internationally recognised for his work, he works with companies and governments on adaptation and transformation issues. He is the author of several books and films.

Human Adaptation Institute team

Jérémy Roumian

Jérémy is the Director of Operations and Partnerships at the Human Adaptation Institute. He is a specialist in operations in difficult conditions and leads the implementation of field expeditions. He is also a researcher at the HAI and at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas and specialised in organisational systems, a subject on which he has just defended a thesis.

Mélusine Mallender

Mélusine has specialised in difficult terrain and the people who inhabit it. For more than 15 years, she has been working in countries as diverse as Pakistan, Somalia, Myanmar and dozens of others to conduct studies on autonomy and freedom. Her knowledge of people and places is a major asset to DEEP CLIMATE. She is the author and director of over 20 films and books. She is in charge of field preparations, gender and visual communication.

Stéphane Besnard

A medical researcher, Stéphane is a specialist in complex environments, such as microgravity or extreme environments. He has medicalised dozens of projects, including many parabolic flights with Novospace. He is the medical manager, investigating doctor and scientific co-director of the studies. He’s also director of the VERTEX Research Unit of the University of Caen Normandy.

Margaux Romand-Monnier

Margaux is in charge of research at the Human Adaptation Institute and holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. During her PhD at the École normale supérieure (ENS), she studied the structural and functional adaptations of the human brain to changing and uncertain environments. More broadly, by applying a multidisciplinary approach, her research aims to better understand the processes of brain plasticity that support the behavioral adaptation of individuals facing new life conditions, whether this change is planned or the result of unpredictable factors.

Coralie Jugan

For more than 20 years, Coralie Jugan, scientific press officer, has accompanied scientists, authors and explorers for their media management, from Jean-Louis Etienne to Deep Time.

Delphine Canneau

Delphine is in charge of “awareness raising projects with institutions, companies and scientific partners” at the Human Adaptation Institute. After completing her master’s degree in international relations at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, she worked in various fields : diplomacy, communication and journalism.

The ‘Climatonauts'

Together with Christian Clot, 10 women and 9 men are going into the field. Novices in extreme expeditions and terrain, they usually live in temperate climates.

Selected from several thousand applications, they represent a heterogeneous group with different backgrounds, levels of study and activities.

In contrast to the usual studies on extreme conditions, they are not highly trained specialists, but people who could be confronted with extreme living conditions from one day to the next. They have, however, been prepared in expedition techniques and a sports training base.

Gautier Bardi de Fourtou

Aerospace & AI Engineer
33 years old

Laura Bruhn

Cognitive neuroscientist
25 years old

Mathilde Clémont

Marketing Manager
41 years old

Diane Durand

Humanitarian Programme Manager
30 years old

Romain Julien

Mountain guide
33 years old

Medhi Khoule

Computer Developer
34 years old

Emilie Kim-Foo

Nurse
31 years old

Marie-Caroline Lagache

Jeweller
52 years old

Marina Lancon

Adventure Tourism Guide
35 years

Xavier Lebreton

Author-Lecturer
33 years old

Alexis Monseigny

Security guard
45 years old

Nicolas Ngo

Manager at Ministry of Research
41 years old

Jérôme Normand

Doctor and anaesthetist
45 years old

Sarah Pineau

Deputy Spokesperson’s Office, Ministry of Defence
35 years

Marion Rouquier

Psychologist
29 years old

Alexis Routhier

Photographer-video maker
30 years

Martin Saumet

Scientific mediator
30 years

Simona Skyraite

Sailor
32 years old

Tiphaine Vuarier

Psychomotrician
34 years old

The scientific leaders

About forty scientists from a dozen fields are conducting protocols on the Deep Climate programme, led by about fifteen study directors. You will find in “Science” the list of scientific protocols and the scientists leading them.