Academician Markku Kulmala was the first to be awarded the Louise and Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation's new Recognition Award. Markku Kulmala is a professor of aerosol and environmental physics at the University of Helsinki, the world's most cited geoscientist (2011-2018) and a leading climate researcher. He is a Member of the Academia Europaea, Russian and Chinese Academy of Sciences and multiple honorary doctorates, among other titles.
Together with Professor Pertti Hari, Markku Kulmala has established the SMEAR (Station for Measuring Earth surface Atmosphere Relations) stations, which monitor more than a thousand different variables of the atmosphere, ecosystems and their interactions. In addition to Finland, measurements are made in China, among other places.
The station’s measurements provide accurate information on, for example, the carbon sink of forests and soils and other climate impacts of forests and soils. From a climate point of view, it is necessary to achieve climate neutrality and this can be verified by using versatile measurements, Markku Kulmala says.
During COVID-19, long-term measurements have shown their effectiveness and usefulness. In China’s major cities, pollution hazards remain the same despite the reduction in emissions, and this is explained by the chemical pollution cocktail present in the city’s air. This explanation would not have come to light without the SMEAR concept. Without a deep scientific understanding, lasting solutions will not be possible, but the results we have achieved can solve the problem of pollution.
Founded in 1991 by bank Director Göran Ehrnrooth and his wife Louise, the foundation focuses on four sectors: education, environmental protection and agriculture, social activities and culture. It is one of the four Ehrnrooth foundations, which support Finnish education, science, culture, the environment and social sciences by awarding grants worth approximately six million euros annually.
Kulmala received the award on Monday 7 September 2020 at an event held at Finlandia Hall, where he presented a panel discussion on the topic “Burning Planet” led by Chancellor Kaarle Hämeri.
Mika Anttonen, Chairman of the Board of ST1, Director of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Professor Jari Liski and Mari Pantsar, Director of Sitra, took part in the panel discussion with Professor Kulmala.
Read more about the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR).
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Academy Professor Markku Kulmala
Tel. 040 5962311
markku.kulmala@helsinki.fi
Louise & Göran Ehrnrooth Säätiö: Sebastian Lindberg
Tel. 050 554356
sebastian.b.lindberg@gmail.com