Who are you and what do you bring with you to Nordregio?
I'm a 33 year old Human Geographer who has always been keen on maps. For the last four years I have worked with updating a digital map database at a company that specialised in providing navigable maps for GPS devices and mobiles, including GIS work. So I believe I'll bring with me to Nordregio GIS experience as well as a huge interest in maps more generally. Having worked for two years as cataloguer at an archive I also quite enjoy struggling with high volumes of data and statistics which I hope will be useful for my tasks at Nordregio.
I grew up in the countryside south of Stockholm but during my studies I spent some years abroad, studying in St Petersburg and Riga. My interest in geography also took me on an eight month bicycle ride from Sweden to Pakistan. My leisure activities include gardening – I try to grow as many of my own vegetables as possible in my allotment garden – running, orienteering and writing.
What do you find most interesting about Nordregio?
My first impression of Nordregio has been very good. I find it very interesting that Nordregio is an outward-looking research centre, collaborating with a wide range of partners. As a Human Geographer I also enjoy Nordregio's combination of spatial research with a cross-disciplinary approach. As I also have a longstanding interest in the geography of the Baltic Sea Region Nordregio's core regional research topics are, in addition, very interesting for me. And finally, I very much look forward to assisting with the routine map making tasks in the context of Nordregio's extensive project portfolio.
You didn't need directions to find your way to our head office on Skeppsholmen, How come?
My previous work included some practical geographical field work, both by car – recording, for example, newly built roads – or, for making city maps, by foot. At one point I found myself, on foot, recording the pedestrian paths on Skeppsholmen, using a portable hand-held device to draw the paths "on the spot". That's when I stumbled upon Nordregio's head office, and from that moment on I remembered Nordregio's location!