Louise Newman is a multi-tasker on deck

When Louise Newman lists what the job as station manager on Skagerak includes, it is difficult to keep up: She has the overall responsibility for the ship's operations, both in terms of finances, machinery, scientific equipment, work environment and safety.

She is also responsible for the agreement that GU has with the shipping company Northern Offshore Services (NOS), where the crew is employed. In addition, there is the task of ensuring that all research data that is collected onboard is disseminated to European and global data repositories, to ensure a greater scientific legacy from each of the individual research projects that Skagerak supports. 

In this work, it is important to have good routines for booking so that the ship has optimal use.

"We have four types of users: GU researchers, GU educators, other Swedish and international researchers, and commercial companies with offshore operations; For example, it can be about offshore wind farms. Skagerak is a very flexible research vessel, with lots of modern equipment, laboratories and winches and a large deck that can deploy additional equipment. Most of the research takes place on the west coast or in the Baltic Sea, but the ship has also been on longer voyages, including to Iceland, Svalbard and Greenland," says Louise Newman. 

R/V Skagerak – a dynamic research vessel

This spring, the Swedish Research Council established the Swedish Research Vessel Infrastructure for Marine Research (SWERVE), where Louise Newman is the director. It is a national infrastructure that includes seven Swedish organizations: SLU, SMHI, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Geological Survey of Sweden and the universities of Gothenburg, Stockholm and Umeå. Researchers have six different vessels to choose from whenapplying for ship time in addition to Skagerak, these being Svea, Ocean Surveyor, KBV181, Electra and Oden.

Louise Newman has devoted herself to marine research throughout her adult life. But not in Sweden. She grew up in Hobart, Tasmania's state capital, as one of six siblings. 

"Tasmania is lovely in summer, but in winter it can actually be quite cold. The nature is very varied with rainforests in the southwest while the eastern parts are dry; Hobart is actually Australia's second driest city after Adelaide. The island is located about 240 km south of the Australian coast and you can fly to Melbourne in about an hour," she says.   

While studying marine zoology at the University of Tasmania, Louise Newman had the opportunity to volunteer on expeditions in the Southern Ocean, where she studied Antarctic colonies of krill and sea ice plankton. It was also at university that she met her future husband, Jonathon.

Most of the research takes place on the west coast or in the Baltic Sea, but the ship has also been on longer voyages, including to Iceland, Svalbard and Greenland.

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"In 2003, I became a doctoral student and started research on the palaeobiogeography of the freshwater fauna in Antarctica. Among other things, it involved collecting sediment cores from Antarctic freshwater lakes. With the help of the microfossils preserved in the sediment, it was possible to reconstruct changes in the lakes' ecosystems over the past 10,000 years – in some cases even the last 100,000 years! The Antarctic archipelago is actually quite reminiscent of the archipelago here outside Gothenburg, except that there is no vegetation in Antarctica," says Louise Newman.

With time, Australia began to feel quite restrictive for both Louise Newman and her husband, who wanted to see more of the world. In 2006, even before she had finished her doctoral studies, she got a job as science officer at PAGE's (Past Global Changes) international project office, which does research on the changes in climate and biosphere that took place before reliable measuring instruments were available. 

From Tasmania to Sweden 

"At the beginning of 2007 we were on site in Bern, where the head office is located. For us, Switzerland was amazing, located as it is in the middle of Europe with five neighboring countries and four national languages! We stayed there for five years, and it’s where our son was born", she say. 

In 2011, the family went back to Tasmania. There, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) had started the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS). The aim was to compile research on the Southern Ocean, focusing mainly on studying the rising sea level, climate change and marine resources. Louise Newman had been given the job as executive officer of SOOS' international project office.

"At first, I was the only employee, everyone else were volunteers. This meant that I had to do almost everything: take care of the administration, organize meetings and workshops, keep the website running, look for sponsors, coordinate research. During this time, our daughter was also born so it was quite busy," says Louise Newman. 

SOOS collaborates with higher education institutions in other countries, including the University of Gothenburg.

"That's how I became good friends with several GU researchers, including Anna Wåhlin, Sebastiaan Swart and Bastien Queste," she says. 

Louise Newman also made several other Swedish connections when she took on a role in the Scientific Advisory Board for the Swedish Maritime Robotics Center (SMaRC). This role involved travel to Sweden from Australia and included a visit to GU’s Kristineberg Marine Research Station.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Tasmania chose to completely isolate itself. This meant that life went on more or less as usual, save for some goods disappearing from the shelves.

"It wasn't that bad for us, but both my husband and I started to feel more and more trapped. We thought about eventually returning to Europe. It was then that my GU friends told me about the job as station manager that seemed to fit me perfectly," she says. 

And the Faculty of Science agreed. Louise Newman got the job and in October 2021 she came with her family to Gothenburg.

"The first two years were pretty tough, though. It's hard to feel at home in a new environment and to get used toeverything that's different, such as the children's school. We also came here in the beginning of autumn with a long winter ahead of us. Neither cold nor rain worries me, but I have a hard time putting up with half a year of darkness. But of course, there are things that are nice too, for example when the trees change color – they don't in Australia. But we discovered that people here are very friendly and eventually we started to feel at home," she says. 

Louise Newman has a brother who lives in Aarhus, but otherwise, she has not seen her family since moving to Sweden.

"All family members are very close, so it feels sad. The children also miss our dog who now lives with relatives in Tasmania. But going to Tasmania is both expensive and complicated so we haven't managed to do that yet," she says. 

In her spare time, Louise Newman spends time gardening. She also has a new interest: weaving.

"I also wove back in Tasmania, but not on a real pedal loom like the ones they have here. Now I've actually got one of my own, although I haven't put it together yet. So that will be one of my winter projects," she says. 

Text: Eva Lundgren 

This story was published in GU Journalen, number 5, 2024.