Eawag Annual Report 2021

TEACHING
25
Peter Penicka, Eawag
Each year, PolySphère awards are granted by EPFL students to selected professors for
outstanding teaching. Among the recipients in 2021 was the Head of Eawag’s Environmental
Toxicology department.
Kristin Schirmer, what does this award mean to you?
A great deal. I value my interactions with young people, and it’s important for me to pass my knowledge on to the
next generation. I want them to be well prepared to pursue ecotoxicology as a discipline – also at Eawag, if possible.
At the same time, I try to address students’ needs and work with them as a team. So I’m delighted that my
dedication is recognised and appreciated.
What does good teaching involve in your view?
I want to connect with students’ everyday experiences – how ecotoxicology relates to their daily lives. For example,
who hasn’t stood in the shower in the morning, reading the ingredients on the label of the shower gel and wondering
what impact these substances have on the environment when they disappear down the plughole? That’s my starting
point. I also believe that people learn best when they have to work things out for themselves. For this reason,
I usually take an interactive approach, with exercises, discussions and surveys.
Can you tell us about any special experiences you’ve had in connection with your teaching?
I always encourage students to let me have their feedback – both positive and negative. Very often, I’ve been touched
by this feedback and it’s stuck in my mind. For instance, I’ve been told that my course was the highlight of the week,
or even the semester. I’m also particularly pleased to see students taking something with them that they can apply
in their subsequent careers. One former student, for example, wrote to thank me, saying that he was on a work
placement with an engineering firm in Brazil and he’d been able to apply certain things from our course when performing
a sediment assessment. That gives you a real boost!