April 27, 2015
King of Sweden presents geographer with prestigious award
Human Geographer and Distinguished Professor at UOW’s Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER), Lesley Head, has been awarded the Vega Medal by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography.
Photo: Madeleine Bonow.
His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf presented Professor Head with the prestigious award at the Royal Castle in Stockholm on 22 April (as pictured above).
Awarded since 1881, the medal is named for the ship on which Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld discovered the North East Passage, and celebrates the anniversary of his return to Stockholm.
The medal is awarded every three years to scholars in anthropology, physical geography and human geography respectively.
Professor Head was honoured for her broad contributions to human geography, with research that combines “a critical and theoretically sharp human geography with a solid empirical foundation.”
The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography recognised Professor Head as a “strong voice of human geography in climate research discussions and debates.”
The presentation was followed the next day by a lecture and symposium at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on the theme of ‘Climate change: everyday denial, everyday action, everyday hope’, with speakers from Sweden, Norway and Portugal.
Professor Head said she was very honoured by the award, particularly given the calibre of previous recipients.
“Sweden has a big part of my heart, and I am thrilled by this recognition from colleagues here. The symposium has provided a great opportunity to showcase both the heritage of our discipline and its relevance to contemporary challenges.”
She said the award affirmed the international significance of the research that AUSCCER members are doing.
Professor Head’s association with Sweden dates back to 2005, when she was the King’s Visiting Professor of Environmental Science at Kristianstad University’s Landscape Science program.
She was Visiting Professor at the Department of Human and Economic Geography at the University of Gothenburg between 2012 and 2014. She is currently preparing a book with Swedish, Norwegian and Australian colleagues titled Nature, Temporality and Environmental Management: Scandinavian and Australian perspectives on landscapes and peoples.