Norwegian Continental Shelf (interview about nuclear physics, science communication, and hard work)

A while ago I was interviewed for the magazine Norwegian Continental Shelf. We talked about why I started to study nuclear physics, and about science communication, and that you usually have to work hard if you want to achieve something. Bente Bergøy interviewed me, and Sverre Christian Jarild photographed me - I think they both did a good job :)

I love this picture! It's taken from outside the University library (where I love to work <3)

Popular science blogger Sunniva Rose originally want­ed to be a ballet dancer, but became hooked on nuclear physics instead.

“The course didn’t meet my expectations, and I failed to settle in at the university. The subjects were more difficult than I’d thought, and I wasn’t used to feeling so stupid.”

Matters were not helped by failing courses and having terms where she only just managed to get through an exam. “I wondered for a long time what I thought I was doing,” she admits.

Her progress in maths was not particularly good, and she disliked experimenting. “I really doubted whether there was room for somebody like me, who had a handbag full of pink lip gloss, wore high heels and taught dance part-time.”

Then things started to look up. She took a couple of courses which broke the logjam. One dealt with energy challenges and realistic solutions, and Rose discovered that nuclear power is currently an important part of the answer.

She started work on an MSc, and thrived on long days in the lab and on the in-depth study of a topic she found exciting. Enjoyment, involvement and commitment paid off in top marks.

this is not a "pretty-picture", but I still really like it - it's really me; gesticulating with my hands, and of course there's CACTUS (all the stuff sticking out from it are detectors for gamma radiation, and it's called CACTUS because it looks like a cactus ;) )

The question is why young Norwegians should opt for science studies when the oil industry seems to be in decline and many engineers are having trouble finding a job.

Rose’s answer is that these subjects provide the opportunity to work with everything from people to medicine, oil, space travel or the environment – and to help develop society.

“But I genuinely believe that knowledge of science should form part of a general education,” she affirms. “It helps you to think critically. Nothing is black-and-white, and not everything you read in the papers is true.”

If you like, you can read the entire thing HERE :)

PS: For some reason, they've written I went to the UiS (University of Stavanger), which is of course not true. For me, it's been University of Oslo all the way <3