Upcoming lunch lectures at UW
A longstanding feature at the University Centre are regular public lectures, called ‘Vísindaport’. They are 45 minute lunch lectures on Fridays, held at the University Centre, and are usually short introductions to varied research projects, followed by an informal discussion session. Below you can see the upcoming lunch lectures in February and March:
Friday February 16th at 12:10 - Mycorrhizal fungi
On Friday February 16th Christine Palmer will give a talk at the University Centre that is called “Svepparætur: Trees need friends, too”. The talk will give an overview of the role of mycorrhizal fungi in Iceland soils. Mycorrhizas are fungal associations between plant roots and beneficial fungi. The fungi effectively extend the roots area of plants and are extremely important to most wild plants. The talk will give an overview of the ongoing efforts to understand their importance in tree establishment, carbon storage, and ecosystem biodiversity. The talk will be in English.
Friday February 23rd at 12:10 - Cycling Westfjords
On Friday February 23rd, Halldóra Björk Norðdahl will come to the University Centre of the Westfjords and present a talk at the lunch lecture about Cycling Westfjords. In her presentation, she will discuss the development of cycling tourism in the Westfjords. The talk will be in Icelandic.
Friday March 1st at 12:10 - Navigating Catastrophes in the High Himalayas
On Friday March 1st, Nishtha Tewari will present a lecture called “Health on the Horizon: Navigating Catastrophes in the High Himalayas”. In high-altitude villages of the Indian Himalayas, the absence of accessible health infrastructure and resources results in everyday ‘emergency’ events which necessitate movement towards, and between, cities. In this talk, she will focus on rural-urban mobilities and public infrastructure navigation by low-income households in pursuit of healthcare. The talk is based on year-long ethnographic work conducted in villages at the Indo-Tibet border. The talk will be in English.
Friday March 8th at 12:10 - A museum in the making
On Friday March 8th, Rannveig Jónsdóttir, the director of the Ísafjörður Art Museum will give a talk at the lunch lecture at the University Centre of the Westfjords. The talk is called “A museum in the making - The past and present of Ísafjörður Art Museum”. The talk will be in Icelandic.
Bjarney Ingibjörg, project manager at UW
Bjarney Ingibjörg Gunnlaugsdóttir is the supervisor for the weekly lunch lectures and the project manager at UW. She was born and raised in Ísafjörður and has been an integral part of the local music community. Her love for music was nurtured from an early age ever since she studied at the local music school. Later she studied at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has been a music teacher for 30 years but recently changed paths.
This fall, Bjarney Ingibjörg completed her master‘s in project management MPM at the University of Reykjavík. She has also been the project manager of the music festival „Við Djúpið“ which was brought back to life two years ago.
„When you‘ve been working in the same field for a long time, it is important to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone. That was the purpose of my studies but I also wanted it to relate to what I have been doing. It is healthy for a person to face new challenges, it keeps your brain moving“ – says Bjarney Ingibjörg.
Topics at the Lunch Lectures are very varied and those interested in presenting one, or who have someone in mind for it, can submit a suggestion to bjarney.ingibjorg@uw.is. For those who would like to receive emails with upcoming lunch lectures can send an email to that adress to sign up for a mailing list.