Next Generation is a series of interviews with the awardees of the Biomimetics Travel Awards aimed at supporting early-career researchers and helping them promote their work. Sébastien R. Mouchet is a postdoctoral fellow in the Natural Photonics group led by Prof. Pete Vukusic at the University of Exeter, UK, working in collaboration with his former Ph.D. supervisor, Prof. Olivier Deparis, at the University of Namur, Belgium. His research focuses on fluorescence emission and coloration changes in photonic structures of insects induced by contact with fluids aiming to develop bioinspired technological solutions for chemical sensing and biosensing.