“I’ve already maxed out my time at university,” she says. She studied geology, first in Würzburg, then in Munich. “Studying was the perfect mix of special and overview knowledge. Chemistry already suited me at school, and fractures, cracks, metamorphoses – that’s the exciting part of any story.” The attraction led her on two research voyages on the FS METEOR, one of the German research vessels.

“We have been drilling into the ocean floor of the North Sea, the other of the voyages has taken us to the island of Jan Mayen – with the world’s most active volcano in northern hemisphere above sea level”, she says. She has also studied Eocene sands, many thousands of years old, but still easy to spot with their green coloration in the drill samples. Caroline Baumgärtner says: “Touching the ocean floor, unravelling what might have happened – these are exciting moments, they help to understand the history of our Earth.

The flipside? A crew of 60, two times five weeks at sea, no port, no greenery – Caroline Baumgärtner says, she understands the wish of seafarers to experience nature, to see green land. Originally, she wanted to become a forest ranger, before she completed her studies in geology, then sociology and, from 2002, ‘anchoring’ in the maritime industry.

Caroline Baumgärtner, Head of People onshore & Talent Development at NSB GROUP, born in Bamberg, likes to talk about people, preferably good things: “Developing something together with colleagues, bringing things forward successfully that always means also: accepting learning curves.” She encourages the desire to challenge oneself, to evolve, and to give others opportunities and room for a creative approach.

NSB has created many new opportunities to gain new knowledge, to skill up, to brush up on ingrained ones, to gain deeper insights – in order to do things completely differently afterwards. If it is up to her, NSB will be more than a workplace, NSB will be a place of exchange – and inspiration.

Is this exactly what she would call her philosophy? That’s a big word, she says, but: yes. Here, too, she looks back on her experiences. “The learning culture in US companies has always impressed me. It goes without saying that not everyone knows and can do everything and the willingness to empower employees, to encourage them to constantly development that promotes confidence – and mutual trust is what makes people happy!”