MINIK ROSING

Text: Finn Jørn Jakobsen
Photos: David Trood
Article from the former magazine, Greenland Today

Let the rocks tell the stories

The Geological Museum in Copenhagen has a collection of geological deposits from all over the world. Many come from Greenland, just like the museum’s scientific leader, Minik T. Rosing.

– The place is already influenced by Greenland, which is very prominent in Danish and International research. I would even maintain that there isn’t a geologist in the entire world who doesn’t know something about Greenland, he declares.

Work

– My workday is often a bit hectic. In addition to research and teaching my work consists of meetings, support, and advisory services regarding e.g. allocation of funding and a series of administrative duties, smiles Minik Rosing.

– Communication is also an important part of my work. You mustn’t think that research is only introverted, concentrated processes performed by starry-eyed nerds.

– We also have to be available for the world around us. If it was only me, who knew about the results of my research, none of it would matter.

Rocks

– There is a tendency to think of science as one of the hard and concrete subjects, as opposed to the experiencing subjects. On the contrary, knowing something about our planet, its origin and structure, increases your sense of wonder and experience. When you know something about geology, the stories start turning up.

– Nature is deeply fascinating and it is still mysterious. The boundary to the unknown is moved further away, as we understand more and more how things are connected. Good research is all about asking the questions to which you have a chance of finding the answers.

Minik Rosing’s research has changed the dating of life on Earth by no less than 300 million years.

A life filled with rocks

Over the years, Rosing is one of the Danish researchers who has been cited most abroad. His groundbreaking research has, for example, changed the dating of life on earth with no less than 300 million years! This discovery has completely turned the scientific account of creation upside down – and with one stroke this epoch-making theory made Minik Rosing world famous.

Education

– My interest in geology started early, he says. When I was 9 years old, we sailed up and down the west coast of Greenland. It was here that I started to speculate about why the rocks and stones were so different.

Geology was an obvious choice, and his childhood fascination with rocks resulted in groundbreaking research we still don’t know the full extent of.

Recognition

Minik Rosing is the Greenlander who has reached the furthest in the international scientific world, but this doesn’t interest him. He has high ambitions, but these are for the subject and the research.

– I would rather be a person than a role model, he stresses. At the same time, I stand by being a Greenlander. I am proud of my heritage and if this can inspire others to become interested in geology or natural science that would be great.

Facts

Minik Thorleif Rosing was born in 1957 in Nuuk. He lives in Humlebaek in Denmark with his wife Tine Keiser-Nielsen and their three children.

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