New professor in outdoor life
Helga Synnevåg Løvoll's research has been noticed and appreciated both in Norway and abroad. The newly promoted professor insists that outdoor life is so much more than extreme off-piste skiing, downhill biking and rock climbing – if one only takes the time to experience nature.
Løvoll’s research has become so popular that she is regularly contacted by the media. An article in the Norwegian online research forum forsking.no got a lot of attention and has made her a frequently used source for both Norwegian and international journalists. This Friday, March 18. you can watch her on the Norwegian morning show “God Morgen Norge” on TV2.
On the breakfast show, Løvoll will talk about the value of outdoor life, especially in a time where society has been closed down due to the pandemic.
– This goes to the core in my research. The added value of being in the outdoors. Green surroundings and contact with nature is important to us on several levels. It can be stress reducing – and by focusing your attention towards nature and all its movements, sounds, smells and tastes, we'll get a break from our own thoughts and inner voices. There is constant activity in nature, that you notice if you only sit down and watch. Observing this activity can be rewarding as an experience in itself, says Løvoll, and continues:
– It may have a spiritual dimension, not necessarily in a religious sense, but an experience of being part of something larger than yourself and being able to put things in perspective.
Will open doors
Last week, Løvoll was awarded academic promotion as a full professor, which makes her Volda University College’s first full professor in outdoor life. The title is quite exclusive national, in fact globally, in a field of study that it is fairly new within academia.
– It is first and foremost wonderful to receive the recognition for the work that I have done. It feels good to notice the support, she says with a smile.
– At the same time, this is also a milestone for our research group at VUC and something which opens new doors for us. From now on, we are formally more qualified when applying for research funds and it will also make it easier to set up research cooperation, both domestically and internationally, says Løvoll.
Will benefit the students
This will also benefit the students of outdoor life (friluftsliv) in Volda. The year course in friluftsliv has for many years been one of the programmes at VUC with the highest admission points requirements and has in some years been at the top of the lists in Norway.
Over the years, a lot of students have graduated from the Bachelor programme in Friluftsliv and Nature Guide and the feedback from the students have been good. Lately illustrated by one of the highest scores in the student satisfaction survey (Studiebarometeret) in Norway in 2021.
– Quality research will benefit the students and the study programmes. At VUC we have a lot of new and exciting projects, that we believe will strengthen the already popular programmes in outdoor life, says Løvoll.
Enjoyable research
Løvoll appreciates the opportunities of working interdisciplinary and cooperating with several departments at VUC, including: theatre and drama, religion and philosophy, social work and teacher education.
– The journey to my professor title started in 2010 when I began my Ph.D. Since then, I have been lucky to find great scholars to cooperate with. I have followed the direction that is most interesting to me, which is why I have come as far as I have with my research, says Løvoll.
She has a Master in Outdoor Life from the Norwegian School of Sports and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Bergen in 2016 with the doctoral thesis: Inside the Outdoor Experience. On the distinction between pleasant and interesting feelings and their implication in the motivational process.
In 2018, Løvoll received a professor grant at VUC, which has enabled her to spend more of her time om research the last few years.
– The grant has been very important to me and has allowed for continuity in my research. I am so happy to be where I am at in my career and to be able to work with the topics that I love, says a smiling newly promoted Professor.