Large Baltic Sea Prize to two outstanding researchers
Professors and colleagues Jacob Carstensen from Denmark and Daniel Conley from Lund University have together been awarded this year's Björn Carlson Östersjöpris. Their research collaboration has developed and broadened the understanding of how the Baltic Sea has been affected by eutrophication and other human activities, and has also been decisive for the measures implemented to improve the situation.
Stockholm University has members on both the foundation's nomination committee and board, and therefore has a special interest in this award. In addition, the prize winners have collaborated with many researchers at Stockholm University.
One of these researchers is Bo Gustafsson, who leads the work with the Baltic Nest Institute (BNI) decision support system at Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre.
- I started working with Jacob and Daniel already around the year 2000, when we all worked in an EU project on the importance of atmospheric deposition for algal blooms. We have become very good friends over the years, so I am very happy that they received the award this year! Jacob also became leader of Danish BNI at about the same time as me.
A well-deserved award
Jacob Carstensen and Daniel Conley are awarded for playing critical roles in shaping key research on eutrophication, water quality, hypoxia, and underlying biogeochemical processes in the Baltic Sea. Through groundbreaking collaboration, they have combined expertise from different fields, and transformed, developed and broadened this field of research.
- Jacob led the development of new indicators and targets to assess the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea, says Bo. I could then use them to calculate how much nutrients the various Baltic Sea countries could release to achieve the goals in Helcom's Baltic Sea Action Plan. It was a very successful approach that led to major changes in all countries, and a significantly better status of our inland sea than would otherwise have been the case.
Daniel Conley began his Swedish career here at Stockholm University when he moved from the USA, and still has good contacts and many collaborations with researchers here.
- Daniel and Jacob led two large BONUS projects in which I and several other researchers at Stockholm University were involved; Hyper – addressing oxygen deficiency and its consequences, and COCOA – investigating the role of the coastal zone as a filter for nutrients and carbon. In addition, there have been several smaller collaborative projects over the years. It is always very rewarding to work together with these two, concludes Bo Gustafsson.
Award ceremony
On September 26, Jacob Carstensen and Daniel Conley will be awarded the Björn Carlson Östersjöpris 2023 by H.K.H. Crown Princess Victoria at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.
The award ceremony is followed by a seminar "Solution-oriented research for a healthier sea"
Text: Annika Tidlund
Read more:
Pressrelease from Björn Carlsons Baltic Sea Award
Last updated: August 31, 2023
Source: Baltic Sea Centre