Kerstin Johannesson awarded for her work with community outreach
Kerstin Johannesson, professor at the Department for Marine Sciences, has been named the first recipient of the Synergy Award at the Faculty of Science. She is being recognised for her much-appreciated work in disseminating knowledge to both school children and national expert councils.
Kerstin Johannesson has led and developed multiple educational projects about the ocean and evolutionary biology for schools. Havsforskarna [marine scientists] is a 10-episode children’s TV programme where she works with preschool children to conduct marine biology studies. To illustrate her research on ongoing evolution and species development, Kerstin has developed an evolution experiment with seashells. The half-day experiment is conducted regularly with upper-secondary school classes on field trips to Tjärnö Laboratory and has also been used at the Science Festival. Kerstin has also worked actively with in-service training of teachers, including with the very popular course “The Ocean in the Classroom”.
As station chief for Tjärnö Marine Laboratory, Kerstin also works to informing the public and professional groups who work at sea, such as marine police, the coast guard, ship captains in training, and tourist companies. She was closely involved in the establishment of the Kosterhavet National Park, where she designed and led four-day courses in marine biology for 70 Swedish and Norwegian professional fishers.
Research led by Kerstin on the Baltic Sea’s genetic diversity has resulted in new findings of great importance for marine management. Kerstin was a member of the 2002 Marine Environment Commission appointed by the government, which studied the threat to Swedish marine environments and proposed several important measures, many of which were implemented. Kerstin has also participated as an expert in two environmental ministers’ environmental advisory councils and contributed with her expertise in several other political forums.