Claire Kermorvant, the founder of Statenco and a freelance data analysis consultant

Making ecological data speak is the ambition of the young PhD student who created Statenco in April 2022. She offers consultancy services in environmental statistics. 

“On the Anglet campus, we all knew one another.”

In 2011, you signed up for the UPPA’s Biology degree in Anglet. What made you choose this particular course? 

I’m originally from Argelès-Gazost in the Hautes-Pyrénées and I sat my baccalaureate (A-levels) at the Montardon agricultural college. I was passionate about two things: ecology and the marine environment. I was looking for a course that combined these two aspects. All my research kept leading me back to the Master’s “The dynamics of aquatic ecosystems” at the UPPA in Anglet. But to apply, I needed a Bachelor’s degree first. I enrolled in biology at the UPPA in Anglet to stack all the odds in my favour.

What memories do you have of those few years spent on the Anglet campus? 

A great atmosphere, small classes, approachable lecturers who knew their students perfectly and to whom we could easily ask questions. I found the first two years difficult because there was a lot of physics and chemistry. The third year was more field-oriented. I did my first internship with an association in Vendée that studies the impact of oyster farms on nearby wildlife. On completing my Bachelor’s, I applied to several Master’s including the “The dynamics of aquatic ecosystems (DynEA)” in Anglet, where I was accepted! 

What professional skills did this Master’s help you acquire? 

The Master’s degree helped me acquire a strong base of knowledge in ecology – applied mathematics and statistics, modelling – to discuss professions with many people in the sector, to work in the field to monitor data, and to do several internships – at the Salins Du Midi in Aigues-Mortes in M1, to assess the impact of actions conducted as part of the European program LIFE+, and at the Ifremer in M2, where I worked on a method to optimise the monitoring of bivalves in the Arcachon Bay. My internship coordinator immediately asked me to continue this research as part of a thesis, financed by the Pays Basque conurbation authority, which needed monitoring data on tiger mosquitoes. 

When did the idea of creating your own business come about? 

This course taught me a lot about myself. In the end, what I thought I loved more than anything – being in the field – didn’t motivate me so much. But I did want to become a data analyst working for ecology, a profession that mainly consists in sitting in front of a computer. The idea of creating a business came to me during my thesis, with a fellow student. The UPPA suggested to us that we join the university incubator, l’Entrepôt, at the Helioparc technohub in Pau. We benefited from training on legal statuses, patent filing, business plans, etc. But in the end, after our theses, we both decided that we wanted to add to our experience. I went on to do a post-doc in modelling, between Pau and Australia. And I came back to creation in April 2022, with a more precise outlook. Statenco offers data analysis and training services.

What are the words that you spontaneously associate with the UPPA? 

Network, human, local

What message do you have for a young person thinking of joining one of the UPPA’s courses?

I would advise them to get in touch with lecturers, researchers, and to ask questions and make the most of their years of study to form a network. I would also tell them never to believe those who think that university cannot lead to business creation!

→www.statenco.com