Meet the team
Ena Vojvodić
Ena was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia. When she was 21, she moved to Groningen to pursue a research master's degree in behavioral and social sciences. As a child, a music career seemed like a serious option for Ena. She attended music school for nine years, where she sang and played guitar. Although she eventually chose to study psychology, she still makes music in her free time. Furthermore, Ena enjoys discovering new places in the Netherlands and spending time in museums. Nature has a special place in her heart, and recently mudflat hiking has become a passion. “It's so cool! You literally walk on water, and getting muddy and dirty is just part of the experience.” During her travels, she likes to trade the flat Dutch landscape for the mountains, where she combines her love of hiking with another hobby: climbing. In Groningen she does bouldering, but in Croatia she climbs rocks along the sea.
Ena also has a creative side. ''I like to make things with my hands'' she says. In addition, she works hard on her Dutch, for which she takes weekly classes. She also enjoys reading, but since she does this daily while working, she saves her other books for vacations.
Earthquakes and a broken system
Ena was in shock when she discovered that the earth in Groningen also shakes. In fact, because of the earthquakes in Croatia, this was one of her greatest fears. She experienced strong earthquakes there (of magnitude 5.5 and 6.2), during which she had to leave the house and telephones and Internet no longer worked. ''The number and shock of earthquakes are greater in Croatia, but the problems are similar.'' She expected the Netherlands to be a country where the system works and the government takes good care of its residents. This was disappointing to her. ''The system is broken in both countries.''
From student assistent to full-time researcher
Ena was curious about the differences between the earthquakes in Croatia and Groningen. At the same time, she missed the connection with the region and 'real life' during her studies. Because of this, the vacancy for student assistant at the Knowledge Platform appealed to her greatly. She combined this with a traineeship and soon Ena became a permanent team member. After obtaining her master's degree in 2023, she started working full-time as a researcher for the Knowledge Platform.
The role of science
Since February 2024, Ena has been doing doctoral research at the Knowledge Platform. She is analysing the role of trust and science in the gas extraction case and what lessons we can learn from Groningen for other projects. ''Hydrogen is a hot topic and it is easy to be led by the potential positives. But you also have to consider the long-term risks.'' Ena's tasks vary from day to day. Doing research obviously means a lot of reading, processing data, writing and, in her case, translating Dutch texts. Furthermore, her agenda includes meetings of the Knowledge Platform and she goes to 'Lab meetings' of the Department of Social Psychology. In addition, she teaches weekly statistics practicals at the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Travel list
Her bucket list is all about travel. As a two-year-old, Ena lived in Washington. She would like to see more of the United States. Furthermore, she is very curious about Asia. Currently, an adventurous trip through Europe is ''in the making.'' Going camping and climbing in nature, with a cozy campfire in the evening.
Happy hippo
As a child, Ena was obsessed with hippos, both stuffed animals and at the zoo. Not entirely surprisingly, the Happy Hippo candy bar is her guilty pleasure. ''It's still an ongoing joke'' where Ena and a friend buy the bars for each other. In the Netherlands, she misses the Croatian snacks. ''I always go there with a half-filled suitcase and kilos of stroopwafels for the family, and come back with a supply of Croatian snacks.''