Alumni of the Year: species under threat and safe perinatal care

LiU Alumni of the Year for 2018 are Rebecka Le Moine, biologist and active in popular science, and Eva Uustal, senior physician and expert in birth injuries.

Rebecka Le Moine and Eva Uustal in close-up Charlotte Perhammar Anna Nilsen

Rebecka Le Moine has been selected as Alumna of the Year for her important work to preserve biological diversity and to inspire others in this field. In 2017 she took the initiative to celebrate, for the first time in Sweden, the UN International Day for Biological Diversity. This date, 22 May, has subsequently become one of Sweden’s most prominent days dedicated to the natural world, and many activities are arranged throughout the country. Rebecka Le Moine has also carried out a tour throughout Sweden, explaining why biological diversity is important and how we can work together to preserve it. She was awarded the title Årets miljöhjälte by WWF in 2017 for her work to make biological diversity interesting for everyone.

Eva Uustal has been selected as Alumna of the Year for her many years of work campaigning for safe perinatal care. As a newly qualified doctor, she came to realise that knowledge about birth injuries was deficient in the Swedish healthcare system. Something had to be done. In 2014 she established a Swedish register of birth-associated ruptures, which systematically follows up women with birth injuries, and in 2017 she founded nationwide training courses and education in pelvic floor injury, showing doctors and midwives how damage can be prevented, discovered and treated. In the same year she was awarded the title Årets medicinsvensk.

By selecting Alumni of the Year, Linköping University celebrates previous students who stand out by their work and commitment. Rebecka Le Moine and Eva Uustal will receive their awards at a ceremony at Campus Valla on 11 October.

Translation: George Farrants

Read more about the Alumni of the Year

More information about the Alumni of the Year awards

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