Ha Phuong, Science & Life News
Special Publication for Pupils No. 23 (15/9/2007)
We now have lots of friends in teenage being involved in many volunteer activities related to the environment aspects with the only target to contribute their small efforts making our environment more and more better and cleaner. Surely that, they love their works very much, so, today we invite them to discuss with Miss Le Hoang Lan – PhD. in Chemistry, who is working now in Pi Company Ltd. for Consultancy – Communication in Culture – Education – Environment to know what an Environmentalist needs to learn and to do.
Miss Lan (last row, middle, red T-Shirt) with collaborators and pupils in Hanoi Zoo
Dear Miss Lan, would you like to tell us, how long have you been working in environment areas and what was the reason that led you to this profession?
Well, I was a BSc in Chemistry of Hanoi University. Then, I did my postgraduate research works in colloid chemistry and surface phenomena in the Moscow State University named after Lomonosov (a Russian very famous chemist). While I was waiting for my turn in defending PhD thesis, (in the former Soviet Union that time, the Appraisal Committee of PhD theses was reelected once in 4 years, so in the period when the new Committee was not established, all ready theses had to wait), so I got acquainted with environment pollution. That was right March 1989, when the terrible Oil Spillage caused by Exxon Valdez in the Alaska Beach took place. Because all oil collection and oil clearance works there were closely related to my research area, so my Professor advised me to focus on the use of surfactants in oil spillage responses when I returned to Vietnam. So until now, I still have deep gratitude to my Professor who led me to a very interesting field: pollution treatment and environment protection.
We know that you are now working in laboratories but you still make lots of field trips. It must be very hard, but enjoyable, isn’t it?
Well, the jobs require us making many field trips for site surveys, site studies or for mobilization of training courses in environment communication. So we have chances to see various areas of the country from towns to remote countryside. We can meet then different people, such as farmers, workers in craft villages or pupils in ethnic minority areas. Going there, we often use various traffic like airplanes, cars, trains … Sometimes we could climb the Tay Bac Mountains, used the boats going along Mekong River channels, visited modern processing units of Phu My Fertilizer Factory, had time to “enjoy” dusty environment in the craft village processing coconut fiber in Mo Cay Ben Tre or “were embedded” in smelly odour of the landfills.
So, you must have good memories along your trips and your career?
Oh, yeas… we remember what we spent when we modeled extra-curricular course “Children with Environment” in the Binh Yen Minority Boarding – Primary School in Dinh Hoa District (Thai Nguyen Province), where it was the so called Safety Zone in the war against French Colonialist. The car was wrong, so our group including two German Experts arrived there late, 20 pm. We could still not take refreshment, dinner, the power was suddenly off. But the pupils (Tay, Nung, San Chi,… Ethnics) came surrounding us and began spontaneously singing English songs. They sang so well that we and the two German Experts forgot our hunger. We were then deeply attached to this event to the extent when the power was on, we did not want to leave the "Chorus".
Miss Lan (red T-Shirt) showed the pupils how to use the solar cells
Someone consider that this profession is not so interesting, but many young people enjoy it. They think they can do at the same time scientific researches and field trips to natural environment, to normal life.
You see, this profession requires us to go on many field trips, to keep close contact with nature and to meet different people in the country, from North to South. So, this will be very excited to whom, who does like tourism. In conjunction with this, man can use his knowledge and capability to keep the environment more clear, more green and more beautiful.
Could we say that if we have love to nature, environment and have desirability to research, we could do the works of an Environmentalist well, couldn’t we?
The love to nature, environment is the necessary condition for being an environmentalist. And the sufficient one is namely knowledge and skills, experience possessed in schools, universities and life. I must say that environment is an interdisciplinary science. So, you should have knowledge in chemistry, biology, geography, geology, economy, physics, mathematics, sociology … To be an environmentalist, you do not need to enter an environment department in a university. But, it is much more important that you find yourself enjoyable in your works, and you will know what you need more to qualify for this work.
 Miss Lan with the German pupils in extra-curricular course for environment
Every year, with the sponsor of SIDA Organization (Sweden), our Science & Life News in coordination with the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment and the Ministry of Resource and Environment organize national competition for the pupils, teenagers toward the enhancement of the use and protection of water resources. How do you evaluate these activities?
You know, there are many ways to help young people getting acquainted with future professions. But it is regretful that in our country the vocational guidance are not to be paid enough attention to. The competition “enhancement of the use and protection of water resources” does not only have communication and education effect in environment protection, but also vocational guidance one. Most of pupils involved in this event continued to study disciplines, courses being close to environmental science, but they did not need to enter environmental departments or faculties as I mentioned.
Thank you very much for your interesting discussion!
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