Profile
Benedikte Ranum
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About Me:
I love snow (skiing on it, building caves and lanterns from it, or just watching it fall); candles and fairy lights (lots of them! everywhere!); and salty liquorice (it’s a love it or hate it thing).
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I’m a Norwegian who came to the UK for a gap year and ended up liking it so much that I stayed. I live in a village called Doune with my husband and our Golden Retriever, and we have three kids who are working or studying in Glasgow, Dundee, and Bogotá, Colombia!
When I’m not working, I read a lot, I go for many long walks – in the forests around where I live, along the coast, up hills, wherever. We have a campervan, so we go for trips in that quite often to see different places. And I love music – from putting together hundreds of Spotify playlists to going to live gigs with my kids, husband or friends.
I do miss Norway sometimes, and of course I miss my family there. But one of the great things about my job is that I sometimes get to travel back to my home town for work.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
Even though I work in science, I’m not actually a scientist (shhh… don’t tell them that)! But I work with sharing scientific ideas and findings in a way that people can understand or turn into action.
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I think that if people communicate well with each other, that can solve almost any problem. So what I like most about my job is when I can help get information across to the right people in the right way.
I’ve worked in many different sectors, but for the last six years I’ve worked at an aquaculture innovation centre. Aquaculture is the farming of fish (like salmon and trout), shellfish (like mussels and oysters), and seaweed.
We fund and manage research projects that helps reduce the environmental footprint of the sector and improve the health & welfare of the fish.
My part of that is to create web pages, case studies, events, animations, videos, press releases, interviews, brochures, social media content, newsletters and other material that lets people know about this research, or that encourages them to work in aquaculture.
Here are some examples of the things I help make:
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My Typical Day:
I do a mix of working from home or going into our office at the beautiful campus of the University of Stirling. If I’m working from home, I start the day with having a coffee and reading the news with Harry, my husband. We share a home office in what used to be my son’s bedroom! He’s at uni now, so he says he doesn’t mind…
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I usually have quite a lot of meetings, many of them online. Most lunchtimes I go for a walk with my dog whatever the weather, or I go to the outdoor gym in the park.
If I’m writing or proofing or planning something tricky, I like to work at home with peace and quiet. If I’m in the office, it’s great to be able to chat with my colleagues, discuss ideas, and catch up on progress.
During very busy times I sometimes work in the evenings and weekends, but usually it’s more or less a 9-5 job.
Sometimes I travel to meetings or conferences in places like Edinburgh or Glasgow, and – when I’m really lucky – I get to go on road trips to film videos or visit sites on the north west coast of Scotland.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would spend it on giving bundles of short videos, animations and info sheets to schools so that pupils could learn more about the interesting and well-paid jobs that are available in aquaculture; the healthy and low-carbon seafood that’s being produced in Scotland and the rest of the UK; and how they can get involved in the future of the sector to help it become as innovative and good for the environment as possible.
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Education:
I went to school in Trondheim, where I grew up – first Byåsen primary school, then Ugla junior high and Trondheim Katedralskole senior high. English was my favourite foreign language, but I learnt some German and French as well.
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Qualifications:
I left Norway with various A-level equivalents. Then I lived in London for a year as an au pair, and did English classes at Kingsway Princeton College, where I got a Cambridge Proficiency Certificate to show I knew enough English to go to university here. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Liverpool, where I studied literature and linguistics. Then I came to the University of Stirling, where I got my PhD.
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Work History:
An example of a video I helped make in my previous job, when I worked in construction.
I’ve done quite a lot of different jobs over the years – from cowherding at a hill farm in a Norwegian national park to being an editor in a publishing company!
Once I started working in marketing and communications, I’ve worked for a large construction company with over 3000 employees, and am now working in an innovation centre with only 16 colleagues – but each job has been really interesting and has had its own challenges and triumphs.
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Current Job:
I’m the Director of Communications & Knowledge Exchange at SAIC – the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre. That’s a very fancy job title, I know 😉
I also volunteer as a Talent Scotland Ambassador. That sounds very grand, too… But I’m one of many people who do this. We have all come from abroad to live in Scotland and build a career in STEM-related sectors, and we’re encouraging others to do the same by sharing our own experiences.
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Employer:
SAIC – you can find out more about us here
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Enthusiastic little Norwegian
What did you want to be after you left school?
Archaeologist, teacher, journalist, vet, actor, translator…
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I got caught cheating on a PE theory test once. Not a proud moment.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Travelling around Europe in a campervan.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Right now: Kojaque, Disclosure, J S Bach, Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Misch, Anderson .Paak, Netsky, Jan Garbarek
What's your favourite food?
Freshly home-baked bread with sunflower and pumpkin seeds + geitost (Norwegian brown goats' cheese)
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) For my kids to be healthy and happy. 2) For my husband, my dog and myself to be healthy and happy. 3) For the rest of my family and everyone else in the world to be healthy and happy.
Tell us a joke.
What do you do if nobody laughs at your science jokes? Keep trying until you get a reaction…
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