It was not obvious that Karl-Olof Bergman would go to university. Growing up as one of four children on a farm in Dalarna, agriculture came naturally, but he also developed a major interest in nature.
“I can’t have been more than six years old when I started to look at and collect butterflies,” Karl-Olof Bergman recalls.
When, at nine years old, he and his classmates were asked to write about how they imagined their future, Karl-Olof wrote: “When I’ve finished school, I’ll study natural sciences. After that, I’ll become a butterfly researcher. And then I’ll die. The End.”
“The weird thing is that I’m there now, in a way, though as a child I didn’t know exactly how to put it.”
Uncovered knowledge gaps
But he did predict taking the Natural Science Programme in upper secondary school. After a year’s break from studies (a boring job in a print shop worked wonders for his study motivation) it was time to do what he had dreamed of. Not just for the butterflies. By now, it was his interest in biology, especially species conservation, that led him to biology studies at Linköping University.
“While doing my internship at the Swedish Forest Agency, I discovered that despite four years of studies I had knowledge gaps in terms of important knowledge used by ecologists in working life. Later, as a doctoral student, I brought this up with the director of studies, who quickly replied: ‘Then design a course like that!’ A bold decision, showing great confidence, that I’m deeply grateful for today.”
Practical benefits of practical conservation
The new course on practical nature conservation was developed in discussions and seminars with Professor of Pedagogics Lars-Owe Dahlgren, who has been something of an educational role model for Karl-Olof Bergman. They designed the course to include more problem-based learning, with fictitious cases, where students must study and understand basic conservation biology in order to make an accurate analysis.
“I often meet my old students who are now established biologists. Hearing them refer to the course on practical nature conservation as the best course they ever studied, that they still benefit from it after ten or twenty years – that warms a teacher’s heart.”
An exclusive preview
Karl-Olof Bergman is passionate, not only about his sustainable development, ecology and conservation biology subjects, but also about teaching, which becomes clear during our meeting. Suddenly, Karl-Olof is at the whiteboard; he is now the one asking the questions.
“What determines the number of orangutans in a landscape? Look, there’s a bit of forest here and some cultivated land. Okay, what do you think?”
Around the question on the whiteboard, more or less sensible guesses and answers take shape. There is discussion about rainforests felled to make way for palm oil cultivation, climate phenomena, legislation and political decisions, jobs for poor people in Malaysia. An exclusive offering of snippets of Karl-Olof’s broad knowledge, commitment and pedagogy.
A real eye鈥憃pener for future engineers
After the course on practical nature conservation, Karl-Olof Bergman has continued to develop and create courses based on case studies and problem-based approaches, always with a focus on critical thinking, in close dialogue with his students and often with field excursions, not only in Östergötland. It is for this work that he is now being rewarded with Ingemar’s Academic Teacher Prize, which is awarded to a committed and talented teacher at LiU.
Karl-Olof Bergman has taken Master’s students to Ecuador to discuss conservation and sustainability issues with the local population. An introductory film from Borneo is used as a background and inspiration in teaching about oil palm plantations, rainforest deforestation and socio-economic and ecological consequences of global resource use. This is one way of developing students’ interdisciplinary thinking. He has also developed courses in biological resources and sustainable development aimed at students on the MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management Programme.
“This required a different approach to raising issues of ecology and sustainability to make it relevant for a student group with a completely different background than students on the Bachelor’s Programme in Biology.”
The fact that several students testify about how the course has become an eye-opener for sustainability, and very relevant to working life, shows that Karl-Olof has done well also with this course.
“It’s particularly gratifying that one of the students was the winner of Inovathon Scania, an international competition for students where sustainable development was a key element. Hearing comments such as ‘my friends from other programmes asked me to stop talking about forests during our ski trip to Sälen after I kept pointing at all the clearings, deciduous forests and old-growth forests I saw,’ shows that they got the point.”
Charlotte Perhammar
Environmental degradation, climate impact, extreme weather and ruthless exploitation of natural resources, a growing number of red-listed species. Isn’t it easy to get depressed about this development? Especially for a biologist.
“I can feel that way sometimes. But I’ve also seen positive developments. I know that it’s possible to restore rainforests, I’ve been there, I’ve seen it. My contribution is to educate students. I hope they’ll bring that knowledge into their careers in companies and public agencies.”
Many people use nature for relaxation and recreation. For you, nature is your workplace. Where do you relax?
“I too relax in nature. Nature photography is my passion. You can check out my Instagram! I can be in hiding for 24 hours and just waiting for something to show up. Then you’re really in the moment.”
You will be the fourth teacher to receive Ingemar’s Academic Teacher Prize, Sweden’s largest teacher award, this year amounting to SEK 700,000. It will be awarded at the Academic Celebration in October. What will you do with the money?
“According to the prize statutes, the money is to be spent on self-education. I think it would be so cool to travel and find positive examples, in the world and in Sweden, in terms of sustainability and nature. To see the measures taken to preserve and restore biodiversity. You often meet super-enthusiastic people with good stories. It would be great to be able to gather the positive examples somewhere. I’ve always thought about having the time to write that book sometime.”
