About the Department
Organisation
The Department is part of the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen – the largest natural science research and educational institution in Denmark.
The department has;
450 employees
150 PhD students
1,500 bachelor and master’s students
An annual turnover of 290 million DKK.
We are organised into seven research sections as well as the Forest & Landscape College
Core activities
In a world undergoing rapid changes, the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management provides knowledge and education to help solve the big societal challenges, such as climate change and increased pressure on natural resources.
The world is our laboratory
Our data is collected from many sources, such as:
- the Danish forests
- Greenland’s Arctic environment
- the Earth’s core
- Statistics Denmark
- interviews in an African village
- satellites in space
Our research focus on issues such as the consequences of, and ways of adapting to climate change, ensuring the availability of clean drinking water; energy and raw materials; management advice on natural environments and forests to secure biodiversity and ecosystem services.
We work with designing sustainable and liveable cities; economic and demographic changes in developing countries; and data from satellites, drones and geoinformatics.
We conduct research and teach within the Earth’s past, present and future physical, chemical and biological conditions and their interaction with society and people.
Fin out more about our research
IGN hosts the following research centres
IGN leads the following center collaboration
IGN is involved in a number of center collaboration
- The Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning
- GEOCENTER Denmark
- Centre for Advanced Research in forest genetics, breeding and regeneration for adapting and mitigating climate change (AdapCar)
- Centre for Cross-disciplinary Chalk Research
- Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services from Nordic Forest Ecosystems (CAR-ES)
- Center for Technology and Culture
- CLIMAITE
- Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM)
- Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE)
- The Polar Science Centre
- Water in cities – Innovation network for climate adaptation
We have a strong tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration with both national and international research institutions. We hosts a number of research centres and we contribute to a wide range of research networks, including Geocenter Denmark and PartnerLandscape.
For private companies and local authorities we solve specific tasks and provide innovative research-based solutions.
Collaboration at Science and KU
We advise businesses and public bodies, and contribute with knowledge and solutions to a sustainable development, for example within the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.
We carry out public-sector services for the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark and The Danish Nature Agency where we among other things monitor the condition and development of the Danish forest.
The Department offers bachelor and master’s programmes in Geology, Geography, and Landscape Architecture, as well as master’s programmes in Nature Management. We also contributes to a wide range of other master’s programmes, including Climate Change, Sustainable Forest and Nature Management, Agricultural Development and Sustainable Tropical Forestry.
At the Forest and Landscape College in Nødebo in the northern part of Zealand, we educate and train Forestry and Landscape Engineer and Urban Landscape Engineer for the green sector.
Our graduates are in demand both in Denmark and abroad. They work with urban planning, environmental protection, climate change, energy and raw materials, globalisation, and management and consultancy within forestry and nature.
Find out more about the Departments Study programmes.
Contact
Head of Department
Vivian Kvist Johannsen
vkj@ign.ku.dk
+45 35 33 16 99
+45 20 30 09 69
The Diversity Committee
We believe that engaging diverse perspectives is a prerequisite when striving for the highest level of quality in research, teaching and administration. A culture of diversity and inclusion therefore benefits everyone – it can be achieved, if we ‘lead by example’.
Why a Diversity Committee
In 2020, the IGN administration recognized a need to address concerns regarding gender equity at the department, specifically in terms of new faculty hires and retention of faculty and administrative employees. The administration decided to establish a diversity committee for the study year 2021-2022.
Apart from concerns about gender equity, the Diversity Committee addresses broader issues about inclusion and diversity and how to build equitable organizational structures, and a culture of inclusive excellence for both students and employees.
The committee’s aim is to
- highlight and initiate a broad conversation around gender and diversity issues at the department
- conduct smaller surveys about equal opportunities and diversity at the department
- advise the departmental leadership on how build more equitable organizational infrastructures for the future.
The Diversity Committee will seek to generate attention and spur discussions about equality and equal opportunities; gather knowledge about existing structures of inequalities and their underlying causes; empower voices pushing for change; and encourage and develop sustainable goals for equality and diversity for the future.
We will gather fact-based knowledge and share stories about the structural load bearing systems at our department concerning equal opportunities with respect to:
- hiring, retaining, promoting, and valuing scientific and teaching staff
- equity and fairness in career and development opportunities for everyone working at the department
- issues of power and climate impacting the work environment
- building a respectful and sustainable organizational culture
We believe that engaging diverse perspectives is a prerequisite when striving for the highest level of quality in research, teaching and administration. A culture of diversity and inclusion therefore benefits everyone – it can be achieved, if we ‘lead by example’.
The Diversity Committee at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management (IGN) is a working group of nine people who hold different positions in research, teaching, leadership and administration and who represent the department’s five academic sections and the administration.
We work collectively, thus engaging our different perspectives and drawing on our different backgrounds and expertise.
Members of IGN’s Diversity Committee
Christine Benna Skytt-Larsen (Assistant Professor, Geography)
Mona Chor Bjørn (Assistant Professor, Forest, Nature and Biomass)
Natalie Gulsrud (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture and Planning)
Richard Hare (Teacher, Landscape Architecture and Planning)
Pernille Ohrt van Eeckhout (Head of Studies, Forest and Landscape College)
Henriette Steiner (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture and Planning)
Nicole R. Posth (Assistant Professor, Geology) has taken over from Nina Søager (Assistant Professor, Geology)
Lone Søderkvist Kristensen (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture and Planning)