2011-2012 Board

Anthony Pak (President)

Coming from one freezing cold country (Canada) to another (Norway), it didn’t take long for me to get accustomed to this beautiful country. I grew up in Calgary and later moved to Vancouver, where I completed my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. I spent a year working in the green buildings industry before coming to NTNU to pursue a Masters in Industrial Ecology. I was attracted to this program because of its holistic approach to environmental issues and its world-class research. However, after living here for a year, the thing that stands out most for me is the sense of community we have within Symbiosis. I felt welcome in this program from day one, and have made many great friends here. This is a very active student group that organizes countless events and activities, which helps create a tight-knit community within our program. I feel excited and privileged to serve on the board this year, and our board will work hard to create an unforgettable experience for all of our members!

Anne Zimmer Jacobsen (Vice President)

The Industrial Ecology program felt like the perfect fit for me right from the start. I have a background in Biomathematics, where I learned basic mathematics and programming, and got a better understanding of how the natural systems work. The Industrial Ecology program however, provided me with the environmental perspective that I had missed during my first years of study.  I like to travel, and I’ve lived in both Canada and Vietnam. I also enjoy playing beach volleyball down in the “death valley” during the summer months. From day one Symbiosis created a welcoming atmosphere for me and the other students, and I thank Symbiosis for giving me lots of great memories in the past year. I wanted to join Symbiosis to make sure that we have just as much fun in the year to come! I am also the only Norwegian on the (official) board. I will therefore take on the responsibility of bringing some blond Norwegian culture into the events, and make sure we don’t forget to celebrate events such as søttende mai and fastelavens!

Matthieu Vachon (Events Planner)

As the only European non-Norwegian in the board, I’ll be proud the represent the French touch during one year! I come from Paris where I lived most of my life, before spending two years in Nantes (west coast of France) for my studies. My background is in engineering and I then wanted to add to my future job a part of sustainable thinking. During the two last years, I also discovered the comfort of living in a human sized city. I guess these are the two reasons why I’m here in Norway today. I really like to bike around all year long, even in the toughest wintertime. In addition, being able to ski 5 months a year and admire the scenery of this country really is enjoyable. I intend both to benefit from this exceptional situation and make everyone appreciate it at the same time. This will be my role and main motivation as a member of the Symbiosis board: I want to make sure everyone has a good time, by socializing, partying and discovering the country at the same time, in the purest tree-huger spirit!

Agneta Ghose (External Outreach)

Having travelled the length and breadth of my country (a true Indian) coming to Norway was indeed a big step and a life changing experience. As I have always lived close to the tropics, lovely white winters was almost like a dream to me. The wild outdoors and amazing set of friends has made life in Norway equally desirable. I find Indecol an amazing program which integrates people of various academic and cultural backgrounds which provides an opportunity to look at problems from  different perspectives, which makes courses far more interesting. Our programme is like a mini UN with participants (students, phds, profs) from over 25 countries. This gives an incredible opportunity to network and reach out to other universities as well as industries and popularize the course as well as implementation of the tools we learn here. I love to socialize and meet new people and share their experiences. I joined the symbiosis board to facilitate interaction within the students in the program as well as network with alumni and companies. Looking forward to a fun-filled challenging year.

Reyn O’Born (Financial Manager)

My name is Reyn and I hail from the deep recesses of eastern Canada from a small town called Antigonish. I think my town name means “where the bears come to eat berries” but it could very well be where the crazy people come from. I am the second Canadian board member and likely the coolest because I am in charge of finances. I came to NTNU to study IndEcol because I feel that the environment is a part of my life and I want to be able to work on keeping it pristine. I really love living in Norway and live for the winter because I love playing ice hockey (and would love to be good at it someday). I also love to cook delicious meals, so if you’re hungry give me a call! Travelling is perhaps my favourite thing to do as I love meeting new people and seeing new things. I wanted to become a Symbiosis board member because I love to help out and I love dealing with finances. I hope that I can make the most out of our resources so that we can create something truly special this year for Symbiosis!

Anna Karoline Petersen (extra resource)

I am not officially in the board, but when the board was elected I promised to be a helping hand, especially when Norwegian language is required or Norwegian cultural events is planned. So even if I’m sure that many of Symbiosis members will contribute a lot to Symbiosis the coming year, we thought I should give a small introduction of my self as well. I am from Oslo, but spent most of my (recallable) childhood in Qatar, from where I also travelled a lot. After returning to Norway, I developed my interest for music and attended a music high school. But I was never going to be a big singer…so I decided that I wanted to do something about the biggest challenge the world is facing. I started my studies at the University of Life Sciences (UMB) in a small town called Ås, near Oslo. After a year with introduction courses in mathematics, natural sciences and economics (which I did not know much about after listening to music for three years…), I could start a five-year engineering program in Environmental Physics and Renewable Energy. I enjoyed it a lot, but something was missing. I believed that the narrow focus on renewable energy as the solution to the biggest challenges of the world would not be sufficient. I was looking for a more holistic environmental study program and by coincidence I found it – in Trondheim. So I had to pack my bags, and leave all my friends behind in Ås. Luckily, I found that the students at IndEcol were very social, happy and friendly and I never regretted moving up north! I hope my small contribution to the Symbiosis board can help more people to be as satisfied as I am with the program and life in Trondheim.