Ragnhild Sundby facts for kids

Ragnhild Andrine Sundby (born June 6, 1922 – died November 29, 2006) was a smart Norwegian scientist who studied animals, especially insects. This field is called zoology, and studying insects is called entomology. She made history by becoming the first female professor at the Norwegian College of Agriculture.

Early Life and Education

Ragnhild Sundby grew up on a farm in Hof, a place in Vestfold County in southern Norway. Her father, Halvor Sundby, was a farmer, and her mother was Wilhelmine Stokke.

After finishing her school exams in 1944, she first went to a gymnastics school. Then, she decided to study zoology at the University of Oslo. She finished her studies in 1951. Right away, she received a special grant, called a scholarship, from the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities. This money helped her research why the number of certain moths, called miner moths, changed so much.

In 1955, she started working as a research assistant at the University of Oslo. By 1958, she earned her highest degree, a doctorate. Her research showed that tiny parasitic wasps were the main reason the miner moth numbers went up and down.

A Career in Science

Because of her important research, Ragnhild Sundby became a senior lecturer at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1958. Her job was to help grow the Department of Zoology there. In 1969, she was promoted to a full professor. This was a very big deal because she was the first woman to ever hold such a high position at that college! Later, in 1987, she became the college's first female Deputy Rector, which is like a vice-principal.

In 1959, Sundby spent 15 months in the U.S. at the University of California. She worked with a famous expert named Paul DeBach. He studied how to control insect pests using natural methods, instead of harmful chemicals. They looked at how parasitic wasps could help control different insect pests. Their work led to a paper in 1963. It explained that if two or more species need the exact same things to live, they usually can't live together in the same place for long.

When Sundby came back to Norway in 1960, she became very interested in protecting nature. She started suggesting natural ways to control pests instead of using chemicals. She was also the head of the Norwegian Entomological Society twice, from 1954 to 1959 and again from 1964 to 1967. She cared a lot about the environment. From 1972 to 1978, she led the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature. She was also a member of the Natural Protection Council from 1974 to 1989.