Katja Bargum will start as the new Science and Executive Director of the Nessling Foundation on the 7th of December. She was selected among 47 applicants.
Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation’s current Science and Executive Director, Minttu Jaakkola, will start as the Executive Director of Puistokatu 4, a place for science and hope, at the beginning of 2023. Katja Bargum (PhD) has been selected as her successor. Bargum currently works as an Offering Expert at the Finnish national broadcasting company Yle.
“In my career, I have learnt that change requires the right moment, and active people who are heading in the same direction. The right time for a sustainability transformation is now. What we need now are nodes where people from different backgrounds and areas come together and get to build an ecologically sustainable future that is science-based. I want to strengthen the Nessling Foundation’s role as this kind of a node”, says Bargum.
Bargum is an ecologist, an expert in media and communications, and a nonfiction writer. She has a PhD in philosophy, and she wrote her thesis on the social evolution of ants. Bargum’s newest book is a children’s nonfiction book Muurahaisten ennätyskirja, roughly translated as the Ant Book of Records. In 2008, Bargum wrote together with Hanna Kokko a nonfiction book on evolution, which was awarded the Finnish State Award for Public Information. Also, The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland awarded the book with a literary prize.
Bargum has a long history in the Committee of Public Information, which she also chaired during 2018–2021. She has also been on the boards of the University of Oulu and The Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists. Bargum has been the Editor in Chief of the scientific publication Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
“We are very happy that Katja Bargum will be our new Science and Executive Director. Her wide experience will bring new perspectives to our operations and to the discussions we have around climate and environmental issues”, says Simo Honkanen, Chairman of the Board of the Nessling Foundation.
The Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation builds an ecologically sustainable future by offering support for research, possibilities for encounters and scientific knowledge for the use of society. The Foundation supports environmental research and implementation of scientific knowledge into society with approximately 3 million euros annually. The Foundation was established in 1972 and its purpose has from the beginning been to act for the good of air, water and earth.
Picture: Hannu Haapasalo
