Topical biotechnology attracting students

The joint Environmental Sciences Master’s Degree Programme in biosciences at the University of Turku examines ways to improve the condition of the environment, both in theneighbouring areas and globally.

The Environmental Sciences Master’s Degree Programme, which started in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Turku in 2005, has been welcomed with enthusiasm. Today, the number of applications to this Master’s Degree Programme taught in English is so high that only a fraction of the applicants can be accepted.The two-year training programme is divided into four different sectors. First, the students takegeneral studies, aft er which they specialise in ecotoxicology, geoinformatics or paleoecology,or study tropical environments.

The environment sector is a strength for the University

When the Master’s Degree Programme was being established, one of the criteria for selecting teachers was extensive international experience.
– The environment sector is one of the strengths of the University of Turku, says Professor Jukka Salo.

The global perspective inherent in the education is particularly strong in the Tropical Environments and Development programme. The faculty is currently engaged in several projects that allow the students to participate in research. The university has a historic task in Peru.

– Researchers from Turku are participating in a research group preparing an environmentalstrategy for the Amazonas, which is possibly the world’s most important area in terms of biodiversity. This is one of the factors for which the University of Turku is known around the world, Salo emphasises.

Salo himself participated in establishing the university’s Amazonas research group, which has been active for 27 years. It has already generated hundreds of research publications concerning tropical issues.In addition to the actual fieldwork, the researchers are cooperating with the local inhabitants.

The training emphasises not only science but also nature protection. The students learn about international environmental agreements, simultaneously gaining the skills required for managing multi-faceted projects. The objective of the training is that in the future many of the Master’s Degree Programme graduates could steer co-operation with the University of Turku, while based in their native countries.

Answers are sought from science

Part of the projects is basic research, part more applied research. It is often the case that working with minor details does not produce an outcomethat would interest the larger public. However, science is eagerly expected to provide solutions to environmental problems.

– Today, science cannot off er simple answers, neither can any problem be solved merely bymeans of natural sciences, Salo points out, and says that the role of environmental economics, for example, has grown stronger in recent discussion.

The students on the Master’s Degree Programme are expected to fi nd employment in various expert tasks; for example, the Master’s graduates will be employed extensively by thechemical industry. The programme provides the competence to work for international organisations, such as the United Nations.

Tools for researching the nature of Iceland acquired from Turku

Helgi Jonsson from Iceland was among the first students to graduate from the Environmental Sciences Master’s Degree Programme. For his thesis, Jonsson has analysed the sediment layers of a lake located in eastern Finland.

– The research is precise since the layers enable the specification of almost annual alterations. I am trying to figure out whether the results could be linked with the environmental changes already known, he says.

 

In the photos students from the  Environmental Sciences Master's Programme and  Helgi Johansson from Iceland.