Bachelor of Arts 1989 (general history), Master of Arts 1992, Licentiate 1993, PhD 2001 (North American Studies), University of Helsinki
Docent in American History 2007, University of Helsinki
Docent in environmental history 2002, University of Tampere
Professor of American Studies 2015–, University of Helsinki
Research fellow 2014–16, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Professor of general history 2011–13, University of Helsinki
Professor of American Studies 2006, University of Tampere
Professor of American Studies 2002–05, University of Helsinki
Lecturer in North American Studies, 2001–15, University of Helsinki
Research associate in non-European history 1996–2001, University of Helsinki
Research interests: environmental changes caused by human activity in the Southern United States, particularly in the lower reaches of the Mississippi; the culture of the Southern United States, the relationship to nature of Finnish immigrants in North America, the biology of extinction, environmental history and American Studies research methods, the history of nature conservation, the use of wilderness symbolism in the construction of national identity in North America and the Nordic countries.
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro
Written by Mikko Saikku (Tiia Niemelä, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington
Humanities scholar as a conservationist
Dr Mikko Saikku has always been keen on nature. He enjoyed bird-watching and fishing since childhood. His hobbies have also led him to hands-on conservation. Fishing and hunting are also connected to Dr Saikku’s research interests, which today include the position of hunting and fishing in national cultures and the construction of national identity in the Nordic countries and the United States and Canada.
In recent years, much of Dr Saikku’s birdwatching has taken place in the United States, but in his home city Helsinki, he has been the local coordinator of the Haaganpuro brook for the Finnish Society for Stream Conservation for over a decade. Dr Saikku discovered that critically endangered sea trout rise to spawn in this little brook, and his observations galvanised city officials into action. This has affected the land use plans of the City of Helsinki; weirs have been removed from the brook, an artificial rapid has been built in Kauppalanpuisto park, and also the plans for a noise barrier for the adjacent highway have been redrawn so as not to destroy the environment of the brook and the spawning areas of the trout.
In practical conservation work Dr Saikku has noticed that his training in the humanities has often stood him in good stead when dealing with public officials, since a scholar knows how to wield the pen and the keyboard.
– If nothing else, at least an education in the humanities gives us excellent skills in paperwork and in writing convincing memos, Dr Saikku chuckles.
Dr Mikko Saikku with his eldest daughter Sara collecting DNA samples from brown trout on Kotajoki river, Saarijärvi, Summer 2015. Three hours of effort with a barbless fly yielded a 15-centimetre wild trout that, after donating a piece of fin, was returned to its own element. Photo: Alli Saikku.
In addition to the brook by his home, Dr Saikku has been active in the protection of flowing waters in Central Finland, the province where his summer cottage stands. Volunteers doing DNA research were able to show that in the upper reaches of the Saarijärvi drainage basin, previously unknown native populations of brown trout had survived without interbreeding with the introduced trout populations. Since such fish are veritable treasures of biodiversity, these discoveries have affected the water preservation plans of the whole region. Dr Saikku is hoping that these discoveries are also considered when ruling on permits for peat extraction areas.
– This has been more of a leisure pursuit for me, but I have found that if you need to debate an issue with public officials, whether in court or in the state administration, a university degree does help, even with presenting the views of local residents. It gives you tools – clear writing, logical argumentation, and all that – for dealing with officials, and those are absolutely the skills you must learn at university. For a humanities scholar, it's also very rewarding to see your work leading rapidly to concrete results for once. Besides, even for an environmental researcher on the arts side, it is important to follow the progress of science.
By
Written by Tiia Niemelä and Mikko Saikku, translated by Tero Heikkinen, revised by Matthew Billington
Mikko Saikku
Born February 13, 1963, Helsinki
Bachelor of Arts 1989 (general history), Master of Arts 1992, Licentiate 1993, PhD 2001 (North American Studies), University of Helsinki
Docent in American History 2007, University of Helsinki
Docent in environmental history 2002, University of Tampere
Professor of American Studies 2015–, University of Helsinki
Research fellow 2014–16, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Professor of general history 2011–13, University of Helsinki
Professor of American Studies 2006, University of Tampere
Professor of American Studies 2002–05, University of Helsinki
Lecturer in North American Studies, 2001–15, University of Helsinki
Research associate in non-European history 1996–2001, University of Helsinki
Research interests: environmental changes caused by human activity in the Southern United States, particularly in the lower reaches of the Mississippi; the culture of the Southern United States, the relationship to nature of Finnish immigrants in North America, the biology of extinction, environmental history and American Studies research methods, the history of nature conservation, the use of wilderness symbolism in the construction of national identity in North America and the Nordic countries.
