Meet Asger Ryge Petersen, our YWPDK profile for December 2016. Asger is a data analyst at Ramboll working with water and natural resources. Asger is an active member of YWPDK in Aarhus, and helped plan the YWPDK “julehygge” in Aarhus this year.
What is your current work title and what is your background/degree?
I currently work as a consultant at Rambøll in the department for Water and Natural resources, where I use my background as a geologist from the Institute of Geoscience, Aarhus University.
What is your motivation for working with water?
My interest in water stems from my study of geology, where you learn how integral water is for every process on earth as a fundamental element in the atmo-, hydro-, bios- and lithosphere.
A good motivating factor for working with water is, to put it bluntly: job security. As we all know, there are major problems in the world regarding water, and these will keep us busy for a very long time. I do however like the fact, that we are in the business of helping people improve their lives a little bit.
What are your main interests within this field?
On the top of the list is water chemistry and water quality in regard to groundwater and drinking water, where I find it interesting to work with the protection of groundwater against anthropogenic pollutions such a nitrate and pesticides.
What was your motivation for becoming a member of YWPDK and how did you hear about the network?
I heard about the network from a friend who joined it and decided to take a closer look at it myself. Through YWPDK I have already meet a lot fun, bright and interesting people which I think is very motivating in and by itself! I also very much like the meetings, tours and get-togethers were you get an insight into the different aspects of the water sector, which will make collaboration easier in the future, from my point of view.
What are your thoughts on the challenges that we, as young water professionals, face in the coming years?
Problems regarding water are only growing bigger and more widespread on both a local and a global setting, as a consequence of climate changes. As young water professionals it will be our lifelong challenge to mitigate these changes. This inherently imply more collaboration throughout the whole water sector, where YWPDK is a good steppingstone in the right direction.
