Every year since 1983, Junior Chambers in Iceland selects ten young Icelanders who performed outstandingly in their field of work. You can be nominated for achievements in sports, art, humanitarian issues, medicine, environmental issues or science and technology. This year, the coordinator of the UNAWE National Node in Iceland, Sævar Helgi Bragason, was selected as one of these ten. And better yet, out of the ten Sævar was elected as the 2014 single most outstanding young person in Iceland!
To earn this title, he had a fierce competition, including the junior world and European champion on the 800 metre run. The judging committee explained their decision with these words:
“Sævar is an outstanding science communicator who has used his talent to reach out to the community and that is in accordance to the values of JCI. Sævar has worked unselfishly for science in Iceland. He is the chairman of the Amateur Astronomical Society of Iceland and editor of the Icelandic astronomy web. He is an outstanding young scientist who has for years ignited the interest of children, young adults and grown-ups for the Universe. Sævar is a specialist that the media turn to. He has brought science teaching up to a higher standard by igniting the interest of children on science and technology in original ways. He gathered all the necessary funds for distributing the Galileoscope in Iceland and visited over 150 schools for the programme. This is only a tiny part of his work on a number of projects concerning astronomy.“
Sævar received his award in the University of Reykjavík from the President of Iceland himself. He was even compared to astronomy outreach giants Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson. “I’m honoured by the comparison, but I personally feel a bit uncomfortable about it,” Sævar says modestly. “Although I fully admit that Carl Sagan is one of my heroes and his inspiration is a big part of why I do what I do. This honour is definitely part of the UNAWE activities we’ve done here in recent years, including the Galileoscope and Earth Ball Activities.”
The UNAWE team congratulates Sævar on an amazing achievement and thanks him for all the work he has done for astronomy education and public outreach!
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