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Av Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson i eik på Jomfruland
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson i eik på JomfrulandFoto: Morten Johannesen, FMTe

I am a professor of conservation biology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences NMBU and a non-fiction author of books about nature, biodiversity and insects -  translated into more than 25 languages. More on my books below! My research is within nature management and biodiversity, especially the ecological role of insects in trees and forests. I work both with boreal and temperate forest, spanning from old-growth taiga to remaining legacy trees in urban landscapes. I am especially intrigued by the hidden biodiversity, like insects and fungi - species we rarely see and hardly think about, even though they are crucial for important processes in nature and therefore important to us humans. I teach courses in nature management, insect ecology and forest biodiversity. I am also active in outreach activities - I really want people to appreciate the fact that we humans depend on insects and nature to survive... Please watch my TED-talk: Insects Are Extraordinary. And They May Save Your Life from TEDx Manchester 2020 for more! Here's a Portrait interview with me in English. [[{"fid":"43641","view_mode":"hvoedspaltebredde","fields":{"format":"hvoedspaltebredde","field_umb_image_caption[nb][0][value]":"Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson","field_umb_image_notes[und][0][value]":"","field_umb_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Eigil Rasmussen-Korsager / Ena forlag","external_url":""},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"3":{"format":"hvoedspaltebredde","field_umb_image_caption[nb][0][value]":"Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson","field_umb_image_notes[und][0][value]":"","field_umb_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Eigil Rasmussen-Korsager / Ena forlag","external_url":""}},"attributes":{"height":"216","width":"324","class":"media-element file-hvoedspaltebredde","data-delta":"3"}}]] Download my CV  

My non-fiction books In English and other languages:

 Tapestries of Life (Norwegian: På naturens skuldre)
Kagge Forlag 2020, Non Fiction / Nature writing, Popular Science

Tapestries of Life
Tapestries of Life Foto: Harper Collins UK

"Trees clean air and water; hoverflies and bees pollinate our crops; the kingfisher inspired the construction of high-speed trains. In Tapestries of Life, bestselling author Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson explains how closely we are all connected with the natural world, highlighting our indelible link with nature’s finely knit system and our everyday lives.

In the heart of natural world is a life-support system like no other, a collective term that describes all the goods and services we receive – food, fresh water, medicine, pollination, pollution control, carbon sequestration, erosion prevention, recreation, spiritual health and so much more. In this utterly captivating book, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson sets out to explore these wonderful, supportive elements – taking the reader on a journey through the surprising characteristics of the natural world.

The second book by the bestselling author of Extraordinary Insects"

Extraordinary Insects / Terra Insecta  (Norwegian: Insektenes planet)  
Non-fiction / Nature.  J.M. Stenersens Forlag, March 2018

Extraordinary insects
Extraordinary insects Foto: Harper Collins UK

In 2018 I published a popular science book on insects and their importance, Insektenes planet, nominated for the Brage book award as best popular science book of 2018 and now translated into 23 languages. You can read reviews of the UK editions, out in 2019 (Paperback April 2020) here: Extraordinary Insects

There are more insects on the globe than there are sand grains on all beaches in the US. Most of these insects never bother us - on the contrary, we are completely dependent on them. In the book Extraordinary Insects, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson tells you why we cannot live without these little creatures. She shows you the bizarre and fascinating world of insects, with far more links to our human world than you probably realize.

Did you know that insects carry their skeleton on the outside of their body, like a coat of armor? That they can have ears on their knees, eyes on the penis and a tongue under their tiny feet? Or did you know that insects, despite a brain the size of a sesame seed, are able to count to four and can recognize faces?

Every other species on the globe is an insect, and they live everywhere: In the freezing cold summits of the Himalayas and in the hot springs of Yellowstone, in baptismal fonts, in naturally occurring petroleum pools in California, in the stomach of horses and in the nostrils of walrus.

Moreover, the insects have been here for a long time. They have, by a wide margin, seen the dinosaurs both come and go. For more than 150 million years, the fluttering wings of insects dominated the air - no one else could fly. Millions of years before we humans set foot on Earth, insects had mastered agriculture: Termites grow fungi for food, and ants keep aphids like dairy cattle.

"It's really the insects that rule the world. Insects are the little ones that make the world tick. We need them for pollination, decomposition and soil formation, to be food for other animals, keep harmful organisms at bay, disperse seeds, help us in the research and inspire us with their smart solutions”, says Sverdrup-Thygeson.

The book recounts both historical and present-day examples of products and ideas stemming from insects. Just think of chocolate. If you like chocolate, you should really love insects. The tiny chocolate midge, no bigger than the size of a pinhead, is the only creature that can pollinate the cocoa flowers - so we get cocoa beans and chocolate.

We should also thank the insects for a number of famous documents, including The Declaration of Independence – written with iron gall ink made from small, apple-like structures on oak trees, induced by a tiny wasp. Today, termites has inspired self-cooling buildings in the tropics, with 90% lower energy consumption than normal. Fruit flies have been involved in six Nobel prizes in medicine. Cockroaches might save people in collapsed buildings, beetles can help us break down plastic and ants can give us new antibiotics.

Although the number of insects seems almost unimaginable, recent studies document a sharp decline in their abundance. While the human population has doubled in the past 35 years, the number of small, spineless critters has decreased by 45 percent. This might have far-reaching consequences. We actually do not know what will happen in a world with collapsing insect populations. Just that it will be very different.

For more info about the book, please see http://norla.no/nb/books/994-terra-insecta-the-little-ones-that-make-the-world-go-round

Link to reviews: UK: https://bit.ly/2njZKSl, US: https://bit.ly/2p4SrOT, Amazon: https://amzn.to/2p4XIWH

Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies  (Insektenes hemmeligheter)  
Non-fiction / Children.  Kagge Forlag, August 2019

Insektenes hemmeligheter
Insektenes hemmeligheter Foto: Kagge Forlag

Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies is aimed at the younger readers, 6-9 (9-12) years. Kids have a natural curiosity when it comes to small critters, and I want to stimulate this interest. My book covers cool and common insects we find all around us. Through facts, fun-facts and colorful illustrations by Nina Marie Andersen at @fabelillustrasjon, the intention is to educate in a fun way. This book stayed on the bestseller list for 5 months after publication and will be published abroad in 2020. Want a look inside? https://issuu.com/kaggeforlag/docs/insektenes_hemmeligheter._snorkelmy/16

The Sloth and the Sloth Moth  (Dovendyret og sommerfuglen) 
Non-fiction / Children.  Ena Forlag, February 2020

Dovendyret og sommerfuglen
Dovendyret og sommerfuglen Foto: Ena Forlag

This book is aimed at kids 3 to 6 years old. It tells the amazing story of the sloth and the moth that lives in the sloth’s fur – and how the two depend on each other. Full page color illustrations by Bård Sletvold Torkildsen. You can look inside here: https://issuu.com/vigmostadbjorke/docs/dovendyret

Projects:

Here are links to a few of my ongoing projects that have some info in English... :

  • ECOFOREST: Forestry effects on biodiversity, carbon stocks and ecological processes in mature boreal forests

  • BioEssHealth - Scenarios for biodiversity and ecosystem services 

Scientific papers:

You can find my papers on my profile on Research Gate or Google Scholar :-)

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