Merel

Fieldworker, Research & Development (metallurgy, petrology, amulet and talisman studies, and animal parapsychology)

Way before her career with GHOSTBUSTERS NL, Merel van der Bel was captivated by oral literature and folklore. This fascination had an initial focus on historic events in general, but in the course of her more than extraordinary career (in more than one way), her research has gradually narrowed down to myths and legends from the Orient. Her research methodology mainly constitutes oral-literary and anthropological field research combined with secondary research into mass psychology, with a further depth added by integrating the aforementioned disciplines in software applications.

Van der Bel is also the GBNL specialist in metallurgy, especially in the area of nobel (i.e. corrosion-resistante) and other rare metals. Additionally, Van der Bel is well-versed and very skilled in the workings and application of various kinds of crystals and minerals.

She is often praised by her colleagues for her down-to-Earth approach (especially in the case of crystal and minerals) to her job; whereas some of her colleagues have a tendency to remain stuck in hypotheticals, Van der Bel often adopts a more pragmatic approach, one that easily penetrates more circular thinking, facilitating a more practical implementation especially where theoretical approaches offer no solution.

Her first research, dating to the second half of the '90s, was aimed at cats and their heightened sensitivity to PK (psychokinesis) and ESP (extrasensory perception): a groundbreaking study of cases concerning detection of paranormal entities demanding non-electronic means. The research has caused Van der Bel's professional interest in Felix silvestris catus to evolve into such a harmonious co-existence with the species, that she doesn't shy from occasionally deploying our domesticated quadrupeds in the odd GBNL case.