Nadhanielle Simonsson

Nadhanielle Simonsson was born in Sweden in 1981. After studying biology at University of Karlstad she travelled extensively to see Hoya in their natural habitats from India through Southeast Asia to Fiji. In 2005 she visited New Guinea for the first time and was amazed by the huge diversity in both plants, animals and people. In 2010 she launched a research project in situ in Papua New Guinea which spanned almost 7 years, to study Hoya and its relatives. And being born deaf herself, she also raised awareness in each visited village about deaf children and the vital importance of early language acquisition and to use the local sign languages. She and Rodda started to work together on Hoya in 2008 and have published numerous papers together since then. Nadhanielle is also interested in ethnobotany, edible plants such as unusual tropical fruits or old heirloom varieties, and has her own small organic garden in central Örebro, Sweden, where she is creating an edible forest garden using Permaculture principles.