Abstract:
Sustainability is about care for the future of people and the planet. Physicists study fundamental processes in nature, and use this knowledge to create technology, while understanding potential consequences of the use of this technology is often left to other disciplines. An important historical figure from our own department, Kristian Birkeland, built on his aurora research to solve the problem of industrial nitrogen fertilizer production - a solution that has contributed to some of the environmental challenges we face today. I will use this example to discuss the interaction between physics and society in addressing sustainability issues.
Biography:
Anja Røyne is a physicist working at the Department of Physics, University of Oslo and KURT (the Center for Teaching and Learning at the MN faculty). Her research background spans broadly from solar energy via the physics of geological processes to interdisciplinary problems in sustainability. She is an active science communicator and the author of several popular science books, with the most recent one centered around nitrogen.
Cake and coffee/tea is served from 12.00 to 12.15. The talk starts shortly after.