Beyond Science and Fairy Tales with Kristy Langerman – Scientist and Lecturer– By Angela Shearer

Kristy is a scientist, a wife, a mother, an explorer, a woman and an independent thinker. If she was a colour, she would be blue; the peaceful elixir that waits patiently in the background, checking things out before getting involved. When the lay of the land is known, she becomes the sky, not to carry rain or usher storms, but to add colour to the sunset.

She says, “I’m not worried about if something is right or wrong; I want to know if it is useful, and I want to know this about all spheres of life.” 

We so often only see one dimension of the people that we encounter, and Kristy is a brilliant example of someone who is multifaceted, original and captivating. A reminder to all of us to look beyond the surface and discover the essence that sways beneath.

Kristy first became interested in science when her mom took her to a talk by a professor in Climatology. This inspired her studies in Applied Maths and Geography. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree and started her career as a researcher at Wits in Climatology where she stayed for six years. She then did her post-doctoral studies for a year at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. She speaks fondly about the city called Boulder where she stayed and says, “Boulder is where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains. I’d go running in the Rockies like it was my back yard.”

When she returned to South Africa she worked at Eskom in Air Quality for ten years and now spends her work days at the University of Johannesburg as a Senior Lecturer in Energy Studies. 

Science, philosophy and history are topics that can conjure up all kinds of imagery and debate, but what lies behind them is an intriguing web of questions, assumptions, research, answers and exploration. Only someone with a mind like Kristy Langerman’s can take you down this fascinating rabbit hole to a labyrinth where you feel like Alice in a delicious wonderland.

In the depths of the maze, we look at questions like: why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Or why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of each other? What is the right approach when it comes to creating mutual understanding?

 The questions that a scientist asks are not so different to the ones that any mother or father would ask. Where do we go from here? How will we protect this fragile world from ourselves? How do we make things better? What is my purpose in life? As we ask these questions we realize that, in the next stage of our progression, we must deliberately explore the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the future. Sometimes we need to look to the past to answer the mysteries of tomorrow. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism?    When we explore the currents of history, biology, anthropology, paleontology and economics, we start to see where we are in that rabbit hole. Once we know where we are, only then will we find some provocative alternatives for a better future and come up with ideas on what we can do to influence the development of centuries to come. 

Our moral intuition often provides rapid perceptions about other people and the things they do, and these intuitions sometimes feel like undeniable truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are mistaken. But, as Kristy points out, we must be conscious and aware that these intuitions differ across genders, cultures, careers and politics, and that it is in our togetherness, as diverse creatures, that we find our greatest joys, our religious divisions, our purpose and our political affiliations. Amid our diversity is where we ultimately discover that we need the insights of men and women, business people, politicians, parents, leaders, teachers, students and entrepreneurs to truly flourish as a species.

As a kid, Kristy describes herself as the overachiever who sat at the back of the class. Her eyes go the colour of steel as she says, “I was very competitive. I remember there was a boy in grade one who could read already, and I hated that.”

 Kristy dreamed of jet setting, travelling the world, exploring and learning new things. She smiles at the memory, “I did it for a few years. I flew around in planes and went to remarkable places, learning things like cloud seeding to create more rain artificially.”

Possibly one of the toughest questions for any of us to answer in life is “What is your purpose?” It’s a very thought provoking and broad question, but Kristy says, “My purpose changes depending on where I am in my life. Right now, it’s to be available and to be present for my family. I was born to be a teacher and I love teaching, so I do that too because it’s important to me to help people grow and change. I love to see them change the way they see themselves. I also find it tremendously satisfying to see people shift from being a worker in their field to becoming a leader. Before anything, I believe that people need to believe in themselves and feel like they have something to offer. They need to know their own value. Getting them to reflect and see what else they can accomplish in the future is what I support and encourage. Getting people to have their own opinions and not just borrow the thoughts and sentiments of others, is what I really aim for. 

 When asked who she looks up to, Kristy smiles, “My husband, Josef. He is incredibly emotionally mature, and he has a huge sense of agency, like he can influence the outcome of most relationships. He never blames anyone for anything. He taught me to operate on a whole new level. He taught me the importance of not neglecting relationships and he helped me understand the value of networking. He also introduced me to the captivating world of podcasts. Because of Josef, I changed my outlook and learned how to put things together in new ways. I became more aware of the dots that needed joining. He is also the most generous person I know. He has this thing where he manages all of us, but none of us ever feel managed.”

On a professional level it was Professor Stuart Piketh, Kristy’s Ph.D. supervisor, who had a massive impact on her. Kristy says, “It was with Stuart that I went flying around in planes over Africa and the Middle East. He gave me the most incredible support during my training and in my early career. I always found the men around me to be extremely supportive. Even when I was clueless, I wasn’t judged. They rallied around me and taught me stuff. Stuart was truly generous with his knowledge and his resources and it meant the world to me; and it still does.”

As a career woman, the pace of life changes radically when you have a family to care for. The advice that Kristy would give to women planning the next phase of their life with husband and children is this, “As far as possible, try to be established in your career because it will help reduce anxiety around job security and financial pressures. Surround yourself with a good support system. It’s important to have people that you can depend on like your parents, an au pair and a husband that contributes and shares the responsibilities. Also, never think that you can’t negotiate work hours with your employer. I managed to negotiate a half day arrangement when I needed it most and it was manageable. Don’t be afraid to ask.”

Having a family has also changed the way that Kristy thinks and how she uses the free time that she has. She says, “When I was younger I would have said winning the prize and achieving important things would have been on the top of my goal list, but now I think about what will be important when I look back on my life. I realise that I want to look back and see a successful and strong marriage. I want to see that I brought joy to my children, the people I taught and the rest of my family.  Now it’s about the stuff that money can’t buy. Right now, position and power are not my goal. I want to spend time reading fairy tales to my children and expanding my own interests. Maths is still one of my favourite subjects. I also believe it’s important to keep myself relevant for future endeavours, so I recently completed a course on how languages work and I listen to audio books and podcasts. I keep upskilling myself to stay current and I do this by learning new things like R programming, keeping up-to-date on new tech, talking to people and trying new things. One of my favourite podcasts was a seminar about long term thinking. I’m talking about 5000-year planning that looks at themes like climate change.  I have a keen interest in the Long Now Foundation too because it takes a 10,000-year view of our planet and leaves us with real questions like “Are we being good ancestors?”

“Something interesting that I’ve discovered is that the world is not getting worse, it’s actually getting better i.e. the percentage of people in poverty and those affected by violence are at unheard of low rates. Steven Pinker has written a book about this called Enlightenment Now. It’s a very insightful and thought provoking read.”

Kristy left academia because she says that she didn’t know what to research next. With a deep desire to explore, she loves doing lots of different projects, especially with people who come from various places and stations in life. She says, “I love the people on the ground because they are so authentic. I really appreciate the opportunity to work with low income communities because it’s humbling and interesting. I’m always awed by the dignity that I experience. As a lecturer I often hear stories of students not eating properly due to a lack of resources. Students often don’t have the level of experience and education that we think they do, they are young people trying to make their way in life and it’s tough sometimes. I try to find the balance between making sure they don’t get demoralised, yet still meet them where they are and set high expectations regardless of the struggles. I find ways to encourage, inspire and motivate because it contributes to effective learning. I refuse to be condescending or to humiliate others. I believe that I must meet everyone as an equal. I find any form of bullying disgusting, especially in academia.  A degree is a big ticket to a middle-income lifestyle and it’s really something worth aspiring to because education transforms society, but I don’t like it when people use a degree for status value alone. It’s not a sign of cleverness. As Shakespeare said, ‘the fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’ As teachers and lecturers, we must have an openness to ideas, an openness to what your students will present to you. More than anything, it’s humility that is required.”

“When you encourage people to think differently, when you ask them to define problems and come up with ways to solve them, they surprise themselves. The first question we should always ask before we complain about something is, “How do we fix it?” 

 Kristy is most inspired by being able to make a difference in somebody’s life or to the environment and she is impressed by those who live life on their own terms. “I don’t want to be that person sitting at work until 11pm at night.  I believe we only get one shot at this life and I don’t want to waste it chasing the wrong things.  What I admire most is someone who knows who they are, someone who isn’t scared to be themselves.”

 Kristy has a way of taking us into a fantastical world, by helping us climb through a mirror into a world beyond. There we find that everything is reversed, including logic, but it’s such a wonderful place to be. She shows us that clouds do not know why they move in just such a direction and at such a speed, that they simply go on impulse, like this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, just as you will when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond the horizon.

Some closing thoughts to ponder:

War is obsolete- You are more likely to commit suicide than be killed in conflict

Famine is disappearing - You are at more risk of obesity than starvation

Death is just a technical problem - Equality is out – but immortality is in  

#AngelaShearer #KristyLangerman #Science #Scientist #Lecturer #RipleyArcher