Maj-Britt Andersen, MSc-student at Environmental Chemistry and Health

 

On the hunt for impacts: Maj-Britt Andersen

Environmental chemistry and health build on the interest in investigating the potential impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health. Maj-Britt has chosen to specialise within a fungicide and an insecticide, how they interact and the synergies that may arise when they are mixed.

Ever since lower secondary school, Maj-Britt has known that she wanted to work within the environmental field: “I think it’s very interesting to investigate the impacts of the different substances that we release into nature. We’re becoming aware of more and more harmful substances. It’s therefore important to identify the impacts and investigate the degradation of the substances. There are chemicals everywhere – in our food, when we shower etc. There is no avoiding them.”

 

Thesis writing in Canada

Maj-Britt is currently writing a thesis on mixed substances. In connection with her thesis, she spent five months in Canada where she tested the impact of a fungicide and an insecticide on small lakes. The purpose was to determine whether the impact would be greater if two substances were mixed. Maj-Britt found it highly interesting to have a chance to test what she had learned in the lecture hall in the field: “Putting the theories into perspective and practicing them in the real world – getting out to study the world you’ve been reading about. Things get much more tangible.”

 

Study environment: like one big family

Maj-Britt recommends that new students commit themselves to their studies and the social activities – all things equal, this makes studying much more fun: “We have an excellent study environment at LIFE because students come from all over Denmark and abroad. Everyone knows everyone else. It feels like one big family, especially when you start out, because LIFE isn’t all that large to begin with. You quickly get to know new people.”

Maj-Britt is very pleased with the interdisciplinary elements of the programme: “The programme leaves you with many options, both locally and globally. Some graduates work with soil, some with air and others with water.”

Maj-Britt does not know yet what she wants to do after graduating: “It might involve research because I think it’s really exciting to discover something new. But it could also be interesting to investigate products already on the market – how they affect us and nature.”