Nature conservationist and oceanographer awarded honorary doctorates

Bengt Frizell has been engaged in nature conservation at the Västra Götaland County Administrative Board for many years. As a project leader for the Koster Sea National Park, he has laid a foundation for effective cooperation among professional fishermen, researchers and public authorities – an achievement that has received a great deal of international interest and that is often used as a good example of successful nature conservation. The visible results of his efforts include no-fishing zones, training in marine ecology and the development of more selective, environmentally appropriate equipment, which earlier has earned Frizell the very prestigious Kungsfenan Swedish Seafood Award.

Democratised nature conservation work
’Bengt’s groundbreaking efforts have shown the rest of us how to effectively design, gain approval for and democratise nature conservation work. He has taught researchers that they must look at what they do from a user perspective,’ says Professor Kerstin Johannesson at the Department of Marine Ecology.

Leading polar researcher
Karen Heywood from the UK is one of the world’s leading researchers in physical oceanography. With almost 70 published articles on ocean circulation, primarily in the polar regions, and leadership assignments in the international body for polar research – including as Chair of the Antarctic Zone Programme – Heywood has received several international awards. Karen Heywood is a Professor at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. She also works as an editor for the respected journals Ocean Dynamics and Ocean Science.

Engaged partnership
’Due to its evident inaccessibility, polar oceanography relies on international cooperation, for example for transportation of instruments and researchers. As a result of her participation in governing bodies and vast experience in the field, Karen is already an important partner to the University of Gothenburg. Her honorary doctorate will strengthen the link even further, and will be important for our research in the Arctic and the Antarctic,’ says Gun Selldén, Head of Department at the Department of Earth Sciences.

The Conferment of Doctoral Degrees will take place on 22 October. The honorary doctorates will be conferred by Professor Elisabet Ahlberg, Department of Chemistry, University of Gothenburg.

A high-resolution photo of Bengt Frizell is available at the website of the Västra Götaland County Administrative Board:
http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/vastragotaland

A high-resolution photo of Professor Karen Heywood is available at the website of University of East Anglia:
http://www.cis.uea.ac.uk/imagearchive/