TEACHING AND EDUCATION
Luomus is teaching in four faculties, especially for the bachelor’s and master’s students in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. Luomus teaching is focused on various species, their distribution and evolution. In addition, the Natural Sciences Unit is teaching geology and the use of chronology methods in studying the past. Luomus has in recent years invested in teaching and training, but in 2020, the teaching (FTE-value) decreased, because some courses were cancelled due to the coronavirus situation.
An important new emphasis is to develop digital teaching materials, which in terms of species names and images will be integrated into the IT systems of the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility. Luomus is also responsible for the apprenticeship training of taxidermists in Finland.
Luomus released the publication Insects of Finland – Guide to Orders in 2020. The guide is useful to anyone who is interested in nature and insects, and it is suitable as teaching material. Teachers can use it, e.g., as teaching material for when pupils compile a species collection in upper secondary school. The insect guide is free of charge, openly readable and it helps in getting to know the most diverse group of organisms in Finland.
The Botanic Gardens of Luomus support both university education and horticulture students in secondary and higher education by offering opportunities to complete on-the-job training modules. The intention is to increasingly take advantage of the exhibitions in the Natural History Museum as a basis for university teaching. Every year, Luomus also hosts several trainees from the fields of tourism, biology, museology and communications as well as comprehensive school pupils completing their work experience periods (TET).
Luomus researchers supervise theses and dissertations, primarily but not exclusively for the University of Helsinki. In 2019 and 2020 a total of eight doctoral dissertations and 12 master’s theses were completed under the supervision of Luomus staff (Table 12). In addition, Luomus staff has contributed to dozens of university courses every year.
