Interview with BTU Alumnus Michael Demanowski (Land Use and Water Management)

Coffee-loving Michael Demanowski is originally from Potsdam and studied Land Use and Water Management in Cottbus. After gaining professional experience at the State Museum of Nature and Man in Oldenburg and the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea Visitor Center in Wilhelmshaven, he now works as an environmental scientist at Berky. In this interview, we talk about his diverse professional experiences.

Hello Michael, how did you come to study in Cottbus and what fascinated you about Land Use and Water Management?
Hello, I was very interested in nature and flora and fauna from a young age. My interest in nature conservation was sparked by my community service at the Nuthe-Nieplitz-Niederung e. V. landscape association after leaving school. This is where I gained my first experience of working in nature reserves. When I was looking for a suitable course of study afterwards, I came across BTU and the Land Use and Water Management study programme. At the open day at BTU, I had the opportunity to talk to professors and Staff Members from different disciplines and get an idea of the environment-related study programmes ERM, Environmental Engineering and LaWa. I quickly realized that I would like the latter the most. The biological and ecological subjects in particular sounded exciting in their description. And so I registered for and enrolled on this study programme.

You worked in the cultural sector for a while, how did that come about and what exactly did you do there?
After graduating, like so many of my former fellow students, I wrote a lot of applications. I concentrated on areas that I found interesting and that I could certainly enjoy. Due to my affinity for entomology (the study of insects) and my specialization in this field during my studies, I became aware of an advertisement from the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg. They were looking for a scientific volunteer. The two-year traineeship at the museum is usually a type of training (perhaps comparable to a trainee program) that is precisely tailored to the work of a museum. As part of the traineeship, I got to know all facets of museum work, such as exhibition design and planning, collection work, content communication, workshops and environmental education, as well as press and public relations work. I was very lucky to be responsible for the museum's extensive insect collection. Here I identified and inventoried the arthropods and used them specifically for exhibitions and workshops. I also had the opportunity to curate my own exhibition entitled "Unseren Insekten ganz nah - Großformatige Detailfotografien von Insekten". After my traineeship, I worked as a research assistant at the museum for a short time. Thanks to my museum experience, I had the opportunity, following my work in Oldenburg, to help the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea Visitor Center Wilhelmshaven as a scientific project assistant to scientifically update the somewhat outdated permanent exhibition and equip it with modern image, sound and video material as well as new exhibits.

You are now working as an environmental scientist at Berky, what exactly are your tasks there and what does your day-to-day work look like?
Through contacts at the museum in Oldenburg, I was offered a job at Berky in Haren (Ems) by chance. Here I have the opportunity to work directly on nature conservation, more specifically on more careful and ecological water maintenance. I help to ensure that the company is not only an expert in machinery and equipment for water maintenance, but also knows about the requirements of the customers who use the machines in the field. I'm the interface, so to speak, between the water maintenance companies and the engineers who design and build the equipment. I also advise customers on water maintenance (a current topic is insect-friendly embankment mowing, for example), inform the team internally about innovations in this field, run training courses and give presentations at relevant events. I also visit customers for machine demonstrations and work closely with the marketing and social media team by writing articles with an ecological focus. As I live in Oldenburg, I mostly work from home, but I also often visit customers on site and travel to conferences, trade fairs and similar events. Because Berky machines are sold worldwide, I get around a lot. For example, I recently had the opportunity to see one of the Berky Dredge boats (suction dredger) in action removing contaminated sediment as part of a water remediation project in Sweden. Our internal meetings take place both online and on site at the office. This is also where I inform the team about new aspects that are important for our customers.

For Berky, your position as an environmental scientist in the company is also a new experience. Do you think that such positions could be an increasing career option for graduates from our environmental fields in the future and how do you think students can prepare for this?
Due to the increasing environmental awareness in society, I think that many companies and Mechanical Engineering companies are placing more emphasis on more ecological and environmentally friendly processes and technologies. An environmentally conscious approach is becoming increasingly important to our customers. They are trying to move away from the old methods and find alternative ways to protect and treat nature even better. I can therefore well imagine that LaWa graduates could find a similar profession here in the future. If you are specifically looking for such a profession, I think that the LaWa degree is already a very good training for this. It certainly wouldn't hurt to spend a little more time on (practical) river maintenance, Freshwater Conservation or engineering, or to delve deeper into these topics in student projects or theses. Completing internships at water and soil associations can also be beneficial. Berky itself offers students internships as well as the opportunity to write their Bachelor's or Master's thesis at the company. Other companies also offer this.