More interviews with students

After earning a bachelor's degree in Microbiology from University Saad Dahlab of Blida, Fatima worked for several years in an oil and gas company in the desert. As a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) consultant, first with the catering contractor and then in the construction department, a main part of her job was to introduce safety routines. It was a tough job, working as the first and only female on the field, often outside in up to 50 degrees Celsius. But after she managed to convince the workers that the HSE efforts were in their own interest as well, the number of accidents in the field went down to a record low of zero. «I could have stayed on in the company, but I wanted to learn more», she explains.

She considered several different masters' programmes from various countries. «When I finally came upon the MSc programme in Industrial Ecology, I felt that it was exactly what I had been looking for, and that it would give me the opportunity to combine my background in biology and ecology with the industry perspective. Another advantage is that it is a two-year programme, and I feel that two years would give a better foundation than a one-year programme. Also, tuition is free. But I have to cover the living costs, which are quite high compared to Algerian salaries». The Norwegian oil company Statoil was a partner in the oil and gas company where she worked, and her Norwegian co-workers recommended NTNU as well. «I had a favorable impression of my Norwegian colleagues, and some have become my good friends. Still, I thought maybe I would meet prejudices because I am a Muslim and an Arab, but luckily that has not happened. I have found it easy to make friends in the programme, although the first semester I had little time for socializing». From now on she plans to take part in more of the activities arranged by Symbiosis, the student organization. The first adventure will be a weekend trip to the ski resort Åre in Sweden.

Due to a delay in the visa process, she had only two months left of the first semester when she arrived in Trondheim. That meant a lot of hard work in order to catch up with the class, but both her fellow students and the teachers were supportive and understanding. She finds the courses useful and relevant to her industry experience. «Sometimes courses can be very theoretical, but here I can see how the methods and theory I learn could be put into practice in a company or a governmental organization», she says. Her favorite course so far is the Industrial Ecology course, as it presented a new way of seeing production and consumption connected with each other and in a life cycle perspective. As elective courses she has chosen Solid Waste Management and Ecotoxicology, which both team up well with her educational background and plans for the future. «There are many interesting courses to choose between, I only wish I had the chance to take more of them», Fatima says. «The only really difficult part of studying here is to be so far away from my family. But it is my dream to do this master's degree and my family supports me wholeheartedly».

Fatima graduated in the spring of 2011.

She became inspired to pursue a master's degree within this field after hearing about a graduate from her own program that had done an industrial ecology program at another university, and then came back and started her own consulting business. Christine thought this was an innovative and interesting field that she wanted to be a part of, and that`s why she ended up at NTNU in Trondheim.

Christine enjoys living in Norway so much that she wants to stay here after finishing her degree. She says that life seems more laid back here in Norway. For Christine, life in Norway feels more relaxed and honest.

In writing her master thesis, she is cooperating with the environmental NGO Bellona, writing about natural gas. She is examining whether it is environmentally better to export the natural gas to be burned for energy in another country, or to use it in Norway in the metals processing or petrochemicals industry, in place of ‘dirtier' feedstocks.  After finishing her degree, Christine hopes to find work in consulting where she can help companies become greener through LCA.

Christine finds that the courses in the programme teach you what you are supposed to know: «The tools we learn are very up and coming in the business world, and this makes us valuable to companies».  The courses also have a good variety, and she thinks that the differences in background of the teachers and students add something special to the programme. Since she is working and studying with people of different disciplines – not just engineers – Christine also feels like she gets a better understanding of how it would be like working for a company in the «real world».

In her free time, Christine has been active as the vice president of Symbiosis – the student organization for the Masters students in the Industrial Ecology – but now she is retiring. She thinks that the best part of studying at IndEcol has been the good social basis: «All classes are really close, and they feel like a family, so even if you`re not at home there is always someone to talk to and hang out with». Christine also lives in an apartment with two of her classmates – a trilingual household where the conversation goes in English, Norwegian and French. Last, but not least, Christine enjoys the Norwegian outdoors, skiing and going on interesting trips. «I`m always surprised when a Norwegian says "I`m hung over – I`m going skiing!"».

Christine graduated in the spring of 2010, and is now working at MiSA.

He started to look for programmes that were aimed at environmental analysis and assessment. «I learned about NTNU from a friend (who has a friend in the University of Stavanger) in Nigeria and I decided to check out the programmes I would be qualified for on the website».

The close link between life cycle impact assessment and ecology made the courses relevant to his background in zoology. That the tuition is free in Norway was also an advantage, but Ayodeji finds that the interdisciplinary aspect is what he has enjoyed the most so far. «About half the courses in the programme are electives, and you can effectively choose between courses from all faculties at the university, provided the courses are relevant for you and hence approved by the programme director. And you can study more than the required number of courses if you have the capacity to do so», he says. He also enjoys the easy access to facilities and the faculty members. «The distance between students and professors is much smaller than I am used to».

In fact, much of the Norwegian culture turned out to be quite different from what he was used to in Nigeria. «Living in Norway has given me a new horizon to human relationship, and I can appreciate different ways of doing things. I found out that Norwegians are quite friendly and always willing to help. This has really made my integration and subsequent stay easier than expected». Ayodeji would like to increase his international experience further, either through continued studies or work. «I would like to establish my own consultancy firm when I get back home to Nigeria, but it would be an advantage for me if I had a couple of years of experience in the consultancy business in Europe before doing that», he says. «I can bring new knowledge to business and industry in Nigeria. The industrial ecology courses have exposed me to system thinking, and I now look at issues from a system perspective by considering the whole and not just the parts».

But studying in Norway has not been just about reading. «Symbiosis, the student organization, has really been good at arranging all sorts of common activities and outings, and including everybody in the social gatherings», he says. «Maybe one day, I will even learn how to ski».

Ayodeji graduated in the spring of 2010.

Therefore, when searching through NTNU`s websites, he was excited to come across Industrial Ecology`s Master of Science programme. Having heard about the programme also from other students and after attending an information meeting about it, Lars Gunnar decided that this would be the perfect complement to his Economic studies.

He finds that the master programme has a good combination of both method and background material, and his favourite part is that he can see how relevant and meaningful these studies are in today's society. He`s now writing his master thesis on the management of food and garden waste, and how to implement different energy solutions to improve today`s situation. He`s studying how different actors influence new solutions, and he tries to involve a technical and economic view on it, but also a human perspective.

In connection with his master thesis he just spent 20 days in Mumbai, India where he interviewed different key figures dealing with waste management, like hotels, the local government and waste treatment facilities. In India the general tendency is that people are very good at cleaning their own property, but when it comes to public places they care less and acquire a mindset of "out of sight- out of mind." However, many Indians collect recyclable waste/plastic and either sell it on the streets or donate it to charity. This market driven recycling reduces the amount of waste that needs to be collected, and shows that there already is a solution to recyclable waste. However, there is still a strong need for a food and park waste solution. To prepare himself for the trip to India, Lars Gunnar visited the Vienna University of Technology and their Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management to learn from their experience in research on solid waste management in developing countries.

When asked of what he plans to do with his degree after he is finished, Lars Gunnar says that he wants to find meaningful work. He wants a job dealing with problem-solving, preferably related to waste management and environmental system analysis. He says he doesn`t have a specific "dream job"- but as long as the work revolves around solving environmental problems- he`s happy. Lars Gunnar thinks that Trondheim is a wonderful city, he likes the size of it and how student friendly it is. In his spare time he likes to hang out with friends and other students, participating in different debate meetings and cultural events. He has also been quite active in ISFiT – The International Student Festival in Trondheim, which is the world's largest student festival with a thematic focus. This experience has left him with an international network and a lot of intercultural understanding- which could be useful in today's tough job market.

Lars Gunnar graduated in 2010, and are in 2011 currently working as a Project associate at the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology.

Where do you come from, where did you grow up? Where did you do your undergraduate education? I was originally born in Hong Kong, China but I moved to Canada when I was really young and have lived there for the majority of my life until recently when I took some time off and backpacked around the world for almost 2 years.  I graduated from the Wilfrid Laurier University: School of Business and Economics (SBE) with an Honours Business Administration degree (with a Co-op option) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

How did you learn about NTNU's Industrial Ecology Programme? Why did you decide to do a master's degree here? I originally started searching on Google to find out what post-graduate programs where out there that interested me. Pretty soon, I quickly focused on environmental management related programs and NTNU's MSc in Industrial Ecology programme easily became one of the more prominent and attractive programmes that I wanted to apply for. From an outsider's perspective, Scandinavia is perceived to be one of the most progressive regions in the world when it comes to sustainable development issues and responsibilities. The programme is well reputed, as well as NTNU itself around the world and the fact that tuition is free certainly was a bonus!

What have you enjoyed about the program so far?  Or what is your favorite part?  What did you like about living in Trondheim or Norway? Even with my limited technical training (given my business administration background), I was able to immerse myself into more technical courses such as Life Cycle Assessment and Industrial Ecology and have really taken advantage of the new concepts and approaches that are being taught.  The teachings are very interdisciplinary and have opened my eyes to the possibilities this program can bring about. The LCA course has been my favourite part of the program so far because it teaches us to calculate true cost accounting of cradle-to-grave corporate processes and products that can be applied to any industry. The Norwegians on the whole are very nice and easy-going. Partying with them - they really let loose after a couple of beers, which is funny to watch sometimes! But the geography and the people are fairly similar to Canada.

What do you hope to do with your degree when you are finished?  What do you think you have learned from the program so far that you will use in the future work? I really hope to make a difference, especially in the field of corporate waste management in South America. Backpacking through the continent, I quickly realized that any form of recycling (with the exception of metals and glass) was severely lacking even in very modern cities like Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.  I'm planning on writing my thesis paper on this topic.

What do you like to do in your free time? The advantages of living in Trondheim are that there are a lot of people into hiking, cabin trips, skiing, climbing and other outdoor activities. So on the weekends, I'm usually out doing one of those things or partying with the Norwegians and the other internationals in the city or at the student residences. I really fell in love with Brazil while I was traveling there earlier this year and I was surprised to find that NTNUI has capoeira (a Brazilian form of street fight-dance) training so I've been doing some of that as well.

You've been involved in organizing activities for IndEcol students, can you talk a bit about that? Every Wednesday, there's an onsdagpilsdag for the 1st and 2nd year students to hang out over some beers. But at least once a month, we have something else set up too like poker games, movie night, cabin trips, ski trips and some big parties too of course. Also on Fridays, we get together at lunch time on campus and have some traditional porridge at the cantina.  But it's been great, at least with the 1st year class. It has been one big (and at times dysfunctional) family!

Rayson graduated in 2010, and now works as an Analyst at Xynteo AS.

As a result, she was excited to come across Industrial Ecology's Master of Science programme while reading though NTNU's catalogue.  She was attracted to the programme that she sees as providing students with tools to discover concrete, practical solutions to complex environmental issues, and she has found that the master's degree in Industrial Ecology has given her the opportunity to build on the knowledge she gained through her social science education.

With a social science background, Karen admits that she found some of the MSc courses to be quite challenging at first. Concepts such as life-cycle assessment and material flow analysis were new to her because she didn't begin the programme with a technical background. However, she soon came to find those tools useful for evaluating potential solutions and policies for dealing with environmental problems. One industrial ecology course that she has particularly enjoyed is the environmental management course and she believes that what she learned there will be helpful in her future work.  She hopes to work in the area of corporate social responsibility or in the Norwegian Ministry for Environmental Protection when she finishes the MSc program.

As a second-year student, Karen is busy working on her master's project this semester. She is studying the stock of aluminum currently in use in Trondheim.  This project is exciting because the data that she collects will be useful in future research done by IndEcol scientists and there are very practical, real-world applications for her work. Her work is advised by IndEcol Professor Daniel Müller. While working on her project, Karen says that she has learned about the research process and the challenges of gathering data and using new methods for analyzing complex problems. She has also learned a lot about how to organize her time well, structure a large project and meet deadlines.

In her free time, Karen enjoys singing in a choir and hanging out with other IndEcol students. When she started the programme last year she found it was easy to get to know the other students and she enjoys being part of a community of people who are interested in the same thing - finding effective solutions to environmental problems.

Karen graduated in the spring of 2009.

Previously, she had studied business administration, specializing in accounting and international business, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, in the U.S.

When asked which Industrial Ecology course she has enjoyed the most she said she can't decide on just one. She said that she really liked the introductory course, "Industrial Ecology," taught by Professor Helge Brattebø, because it gave her a very good overview of the field. In addition, she also enjoyed "Environmental Management and Corporate Social Responsibility." She liked it so much, in fact, that she is doing her master's thesis on that topic.

Caroline studies corporate social responsibility with Professor Annik Magerholm Fet. Recently, she has been working closely with the Norwegian bank DnB NOR. As part of her work with the company, she was invited to interview some of their managers to learn their perspective on corporate social responsibility. She also gave a presentation to their Corporate Affairs department on the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reporting framework. During her studies Caroline has also had two children.

She graduated in the Spring 2009, and are now working as a PhD Candidate at the department of  Industrial Economics and Technology Management at NTNU.

He found that he enjoyed IndEcol's multi-disciplinary, systems analysis approach to problem solving. It fitted well with his way of thinking. As a result, Magnus chose to transfer¹ to the MSc in Industrial Ecology.

Working with his advisor, Helge Brattebø, Magnus has been using material flow analysis to examine past and future greenhouse gas emissions from the Chinese power industry. Point Carbon, a leading company in the field of carbon market analysis located in Oslo, has provided the problem description and a co-advisor for Magnus' project. Throughout the course of his research, Magnus has had the opportunity to collaborate with Point Carbon researchers and has been given access to the data they had previously collected. Through cooperative agreements such as these, Industrial Ecology at NTNU provides students access to real-world experience working together with leaders in the environmental field and valuable networking opportunities.

In addition to his research, Magnus has contributed by acting as a student representative to the Industrial Ecology Programme Working Group. At their meetings, he has provided feedback from a student's perspective and helped to shape the future of the program. He says that he liked being a student representative because he could convey the views of the students to the professors, and he has seen positive changes coming from the meetings.

Overall, Magnus says that he has enjoyed the working environment in IndEcol. He has found both students and professors to be very helpful and he has gotten to know many of them over the last several years. He also thinks that the smaller class sizes and the diversity of the student body lead to interesting class discussions in Industrial Ecology courses. Magnus graduated in June 2008 and now works as a consultant at Norsk Energi.