Interview with Karolina Stanislawska (winner of the Harry Otten Prize in 2013) by Tanja Cegnar (member of the Harry Otten Foundation Board)

Hello, Karolina, and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the Harry Otten Prize web site. To start off, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello Tanja. I am 27 years old and I come from Poland. My professional background is computer science, but I was also studying geosciences for some years in parallel. This was my idea for a career path, to have a good technical background and some insight into another domain that interested me and which could be a good field for potential applications. And luckily I manage to do it that way so far. Since 2009 I have been working at various R&D projects, such as estimation of real-time people movements in the city of Amsterdam based on mobile phone activity, or development of software to enhance point weather forecasts in complex terrain in Iceland. I was also employed as a researcher in the Finnish Meteorological Institute, where one of my most interesting experiences was working on a code for automated measurements at a remote station in Finnish Lapland. Currently I am based in Wroclaw, Poland and I do a remote work for the aforementioned employers in Iceland (where I continue my previous work) and in Finland where I do my own project of implementing bio-inspired computing (genetic programming, which was my specialty within computer science) to modeling some processes in the Arctic. After I won the prize, I got also involved in a short-term project at MeteoGroup to estimate social media answer to certain weather events.

When and why did you develop the idea of using social media in meteorology?

The idea appeared several months before I heard about the Harry Otten Prize. In fact it was a combination of all pieces of my professional experience. I was a programmer working at a meteorological institute in Helsinki, but only several months earlier I took part in a research on the role of social media in detecting extraordinary events in the Netherlands. All those areas were very appealing, however they were completely unrelated. As I was at that time thinking a lot about my career path, combining everything that was interesting to me was the “ideal case”. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for the further course of events) I didn’t find anyone who was doing this type of research.

What made you decide to apply for the Harry Otten Prize?

I found the announcement about the prize on my work email. I had not taken part in any competition for many years and around that time some of my friends have been successful in some of their domains. That made me think I should maybe also try, to see how such a competition goes. After seeing the “example ideas” on HOP website, I wasn’t really convinced that my idea is something that could go through the first round, but I tried not to think about it and just write down my thoughts.

What does this prize mean for you?

Choosing a “unique” career such as I chose sometimes puts you into doubt, making you feel that you don’t really fit to any ”standard” workplace. You feel for yourself that what you do is good, but as there are no people who go this way, it is hard to find a job that would really satisfy you. Being granted the prize made me understand that the path I took makes sense and convinced me again that I shouldn’t be abandoning it. After all, I prefer the adventure rather than sitting in the same office for 20 years!

What tips would you give other potential applicants thinking of entering the competition?

I would like to especially encourage non-meteorologists who see some solution from their field which can be applied to meteorology. This is how we can make the science go forward, by paying more attention to convergence of different domains and seeking solutions where they were never sought before. And besides that, I would like to encourage everyone to stop thinking that their idea isn’t good enough. Don’t worry if no one from your surroundings sees a point in it. It is probably because it is just something that nobody thought of before! The more ideas we have, the more interesting the competition becomes and even if your idea isn’t the winning one, you get a lot of feedback that might give you more courage to implement your idea in the future.

If it is not a secret, what have you done with the award?

It is still with me. I decided to invest it in self development, but I was too busy with regular work last months and I didn’t have time to plan anything concrete.

What are you looking for in terms of career development? Anything else you want to say?

As always, I am looking for more of interesting projects where I can share my experience and learn new things. After combining social media and meteorology, now it is the time to combine Arctic weather research and bio-inspired computing. Let’s see what comes next – I am open to everything new, innovative and never-done-before!

(Karolina may be contacted by e-mail at karolina.stanislawska@gmail.com)