November 29, 2011
Nancy Langston, a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and the Nelson Institute, has been named the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professor of Environmental Sciences for the 2012-13 academic year in Sweden. Langston will hold a visiting professorship in the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious studies at Umeå University in northeastern Sweden, one of the country's largest universities.
Langston will hold a visiting
professorship at Umeå University.
The professorship, established in 1996, is awarded each year to an eminent non-Swedish researcher selected by the King of Sweden and the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. Recipients work with colleagues in host institutions "to promote research, technological development and enterprise that contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity conservation," according to the official announcement.
Langston, whose current research explores ways to sustain Lake Superior forests and watersheds in the face of climate change, says the award will allow her to explore similar issues in northern Europe.
"A year in northern Sweden will allow me to expand this project to include boreal watersheds from across Scandinavia," she explains. "The far north is experiencing the effects of climate change as intensely as anywhere on earth, and understanding historic responses to past environmental change offers us powerful tools for a more resilient and sustainable future."
Langston's appointment at Umeå University will run from September 2012 through May 2013.