Interview
Ecology - a hot topic!
Name: Junwen Guo
Right now there is an international conference on climate change going on in Copenhagen. Junwen Guo, master student in ecology, reads all about it on internet and picture herself on such conferences in the future.
– Ecology is a hot topic these years!, says she.
Environmental issues are of great concern also in China, explains Junwen Guo, 27 years. She is a Chinese student studying the first semester of the Master Programme in Ecology at Umeå University. This morning she makes a well needed break from studying for a home exam in ecology statistics that will take place in two days.
That she was going to study biology at university level was never a matter of course.
– When I was younger I played the piano and my parents wanted me to become a musician. But I stopped the piano lessons in high school and chose natural science subjects and started studying hard to become a scientist instead, says Junwen Guo.
She grew up in Northern China in a town called Weifang in Shandong Province.
– Weifang is the world capital of kites! We have an international kite festival every year with spectacular shows and competitions.
After graduation high school, Junwen Guo moved south to study at Wuhan University. It is regarded as one of the best and most selective universities in China.
– There are so many young people in China, and there is big competition entering the universities. I finally chose to study biology and completed a Bachelor degree in Animal science in 2006.
During the last year of studies, many of her class mates started to think about getting a master degree, preferable abroad. But at that point, Junwen Guo wanted to go working in a company and earn her own money. So, she worked for two years in a laboratory analysing animal food quality and processing bioinformation. Meanwhile the interest about taking a master degree grew, and she was surfing on internet about studying abroad in Northern Europe.
She compared the universities and also the costs of living in different countries. She talked a lot with her parents, and they found the Nordic cities to be beautiful and quiet compared to the crowdedness at home. Finally, she chose the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences in Umeå.
After applying and getting accepted to the Master Programme in Ecology, she had to go to Beijing to get residence permission. Thereafter, she had to wait two months to get the visa. Junwen Guo arrived in Sweden in the end of August.
– My first impression of Umeå was that it was so cold! When I left China it was still hot. But people here are very nice.
Junwen Guo lives in a student corridor room in the student housing area Ålidhem. It is only ten minutes walk to the University campus and the Department of Ecology and that is very convenient.
The first semester started with a course in fresh water ecology, a course that included both work in the field and lectures. There were classes every day from morning till late afternoon.
– The first course was too complicated and I failed the exam. It took me a while to get used to the Swedish system and most importantly I am not used with lectures in English. During the first course we had eleven different teachers. Each person explains his or her specific area of research, the next day it was another lecturer.
Since she had some problems, she tries to focus more on the studies and it is already going much better now. There are 20 students in the class. Half of them are German exchange students and international students and half of the students are Swedish.
– I am the only Chinese student. First I felt a bit lonely, but when we started a project in the field collecting data I started to get to know the class mates better.
In the spare time, Junwen Guo likes to enjoy student life going to parties with other international students. She also likes to relax in her student corridor reading novels, listening to music or watching TV.
– I watch all English serials I come across to improve my English!
In the future, Junwen Guo would like to continue with research and apply for a PhD position.
– I am very concerned about the climate change. I would like to study how environmental change affects animals and plants. I am very interested in this research area.
Text: Ingrid Söderbergh
Photo: Erik Ågren
