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Betty Ehnvall, Doctoral Student at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management; Department of Forest Ecology and Management, joint staff
SLU news
SLU-thesis on mire properties recieves Finnish-Swedish scholarship
Published: 09 November 2023
Ostrobothnian SLU researcher Betty Ehnvall awarded 50,000 SEK for her thesis on mire development in the wake of glacial rebound along the Bothnian bay coastline.
The scholarship is awarded by the Gunvor Planting foundation. The wealth of the former Åland teacher anually awards scholarships to Finnish or Ålandic youth studying in Sweden. Crown Princess Victoria herself will be present at the award ceremony at the Modern Museum in Stockholm on December 6, Finland's Independence Day.
– It feels great to receive this scholarship now that my doctoral studies are completed. The November darkness needs a silver lining, says Betty Ehnvall, who completed her first master's degree at the University of Helsinki in 2015, her second at SLU in Uppsala in 2017 and has spent the past few years on her doctoral studies at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå.
It's for the result of these studies that she is now rewarded. In her thesis, she has used an array of measuring methods to describe the mechanics behind the emergence of wetlands along the Swedish Norrland coast. With the new grant of 50,000 SEK, she hopes to expand her studies to the other side of the Bay of Bothnia.
– I see it as an encouragement to continue with this type of study. I will save the scholarship and hopefully be able to use it for future studies of mires along the West and East Bothnian coasts, says Betty Ehnvall.
Aims to promote Swedish culture in Finland
The purpose of the scholarship, according to the Gunvor Planting foundation, is to promote cultural cohesion between the countries while preserving the Swedish language and Swedish culture in Finland and Åland. For Betty Ehnvall, who grew up in Ostrobothnia, there is a clear resonance with life and language on the Swedish side of the bay.
– It has been very rewarding to have the opportunity to study and work in both countries and openly embrace the best of each country. I love the Swedish language with all its dialects in Finland as well as Sweden, and it gives me great pleasure when expressions and formulations that I previously strongly associated with Ostrobothnian dialects can appear in Västerbotten. Our shared local history then becomes even more palpable, says Betty Ehnvall.