UArctic Chairs

David G. Anderson is an anthropologist working with communities across the circumpolar North. He is originally Canadian, and grew up in Northern Alberta. He holds degrees in Politics with Sociology (Carleton U), Sociology (UWisc-Madison), and Social Anthropology (Cambridge). He started working in the circumpolar North as a technician at the Ft.McPherson Language Centre in the Gwich’in Settlement Area. His reading and fieldwork for the Masters and PhD was with with Evenki people first in Zabaikal’e and later in Taimyr and the Evenki Autonomous Area. Since that time he has also worked with communities in Iamal, and in Northern Norway. He has been based at the University of Aberdeen since 2000, and was appointed Chair in the Anthropology of the North in 2013. At the University of Aberdeen he was active in getting the University to join the UArctic network and helped to host the Rector Conference in Aberdeen in 2017. He also leads the Thematic Network CAFÉ: Circumpolar Archives, Folklore and Ethnography. He researches and publishes in a wide number of areas: ethnography, ethnohistory, archaeology, Rangifer genetics, and political ecology.

Born in Shoal Brook and raised in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Anderson comes from a family with Mi’kmaq and Inuit ancestry. He is also a member of the Mekap’sk (Northern Peninsula) Mi’kmaq Band. Dr. Anderson holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in science and education from MUN. He also holds a PhD in educational administration and leadership from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He has been a teacher and principal in four schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, all while remaining active in serving the school district and the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association (NLTA). During his time working within the school system, Dr. Anderson served as president of the former Sandwich Bay Branch of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association, branch president of the Provincial Small Schools’ Special Interest Council, president of the School Administrator Council Western Region, member of the NLTA Collective Bargaining Team, and panel member of the NLTA Panel of Public Education. Dr. Anderson later became an education professor at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Calgary (where he was awarded the teaching excellence award from the University of Calgary Graduate Students’ Association), before becoming the associate dean of education at the University of New Brunswick. In 2011 Dr. Anderson joined MUN as dean of the Faculty of Education, where he served until 2019. He is the former president of the Association of Canadian Deans of Education, and former vice president (Anglophone) of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education. Since 2002, he has also been an active member of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and School Improvement (ICSEI), where he served in various roles, including on the board of directors. Dr. Anderson has been an active member of various committees hosted by the University of the Arctic, including the Arctic Indigenous Issues Committee from 2012-2020, the Academic Council Indigenous Interest Committee from 2015-2021, the Thematic Network for Teacher Education for Teacher Education, Social Justice and Diversity from 2016-present, and the Verdde Thematic Network from 2018-present. His primary university research areas are school leadership and school effectiveness. He has also conducted significant research into success in Indigenous (Aboriginal) education and has worked on various international projects. He currently serves on a number of national and international research groups. His most current work is research into Canadian Perspectives for Teacher Development in the North (An Inuit and Sami centric view). Research Interests: School Improvement and Effectiveness, Educational Administration, Teacher Leadership, Rural Schools, Indigenous Education.

Jan Borm is Full Professor in British Literature at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) where he is also Director of “the Malaurie Institute of Arctic Research Monaco-UVSQ” and co-director of the interdisciplinary Master 2 programme “Arctic Studies” affiliated with the University of Paris-Saclay, France’s leading research university. A specialist of travel literature and writings about the Arctic, he has published numerous articles in English, French and German in reviews such as Polar Record, Inter-Nord, Études mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines and Studies in Travel Writing. He is the author of the portrait Jean Malaurie, un homme singulier (Paris: Éditions du Chêne, 2005) and co-editor of twelve collective volumes including Le Froid (Montreal: Presses universitaires du Québec, 2018), German Representations of the Far North (17th-19th centuries): Writing the Arctic, With a Preface by Jean Malaurie (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2020) and Jean Malaurie. Cahier de l’Herne (2021) as well as the forthcoming Representations of the West Nordic Isles – Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands (Eutin, Wachholtz Verlag, 2022). Past research project participations include Green Greenland (funded by the French National Research Agency ANR), POLARIS (FP7-Marie-Curie-IRSES) and EDU-ARCTIC (H2020), ongoing participation the Belmont Forum project NICH-ARCTIC. Jan Borm is general editor of the book series “Arctic Humanities” published by Brill. In 2019, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Lapland at Rovaniemi, Finland.

Melody Brown Burkins is the Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth, where she also serves as Senior Associate Director in the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies. Trained as a polar scientist, she focuses on issues of Arctic and global science diplomacy, climate change, sustainable development, and inclusion. In UArctic, she serves as Special Advisor and Assembly Member, is Vice Lead to the Model Arctic Council (MAC) Thematic Network, and is a founding member of the UArctic Gender in Arctic Knowledge Production Thematic Network. Dr. Burkins also holds a variety of international positions that advance Arctic and global science cooperation, inclusion, and sustainability in global science governance. She is as an elected member of the International Science Council (ISC) Governing Board, Chair of the US National Academies’ Board on International Scientific Organizations (NASEM-BISO), and recently served as a scientific advisor to the 2021 ISC report, Unleashing Science: Delivering Missions for Sustainability. She also serves on the Global Independent Expert Group on Universities and the 2030 Agenda (EGU2030) convened by UNESCO and the University of Bergen and the Advisory Board to the 2022 UN Disaster Risk Reduction Global Assessment Report (UNDRR-GAR) addressing global systemic risk. Most recently, she was appointed to the 4th International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV) Steering Committee, for which she is honored to help support more meaningful Arctic collaborations and the engagement and inclusion of more diverse knowledge systems in global research strategies for the next International Polar Year (IPY).

Bing Chen is a Professor in Environmental Engineering, Associate Dean (Acting) of Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science and former Department Head of Civil Engineering, and Director of Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollution Control (NRPOP) Laboratory at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He also serves as the founding Director of a global Network on Persistent, Emerging and Organic PoLlution in the Environment (PEOPLE Network). He has been selected as a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), and Member of the Royal Society of Canada (College). Dr. Chen is an internationally recognized leader in environmental engineering research and applications and particularly in marine and coastal pollution mitigation, environmental emergency (e.g., oil/chemical spills) responses, persistent and emerging contaminants studies, water and wastewater treatment, AI-aided decision making, environmental sustainability, cold region (Arctic and Subarctic) and climate change studies. He has produced more than 460 technical publications and 8 patents/disclosures and trained over 80 thesis-based graduate students and postdocs. He is an Affiliated Faculty with University of California Berkeley and Adjunct/Visiting Professor of five other institutions worldwide. He has served as Senior Advisor of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), VP of CSCE, VP of Canadian Association on Water Quality (CAWQ), VP of Sigma Xi Avalon Chapter, member of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan’s National Advisory Committee on Multi-Partner Research Initiative, member of Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel, etc. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Systems Research, Associate Editor of two refereed journals and Editorial Board Member of six journals. He has given over 80 invited keynotes and guest lectures worldwide and received over 50 awards and honours at institutional, national, and international levels. As a registered Professional Engineer in Canada, he has provided consulting service to government, industry, NGOs, and communities globally.

Hanne H. Christiansen is a professor in Physical Geography at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and presently a visiting researcher at the Aarhus University in Denmark. Her research is within periglacial geomorphology, focusing on active layer – permafrost dynamics including the ground thermal regime, cryostratigraphy, and climatic and meteorological control on periglacial landforms, processes and sediments. She has field experience from Greenland, Svalbard and former cold climatic landscapes of Scandinavia from the last 25 years. Hanne has been involved in the establishment of the Arctic Safety Centre at UNIS and works with the consequences of climate change on permafrost in Arctic communities focusing on geohazards. Presently she is leading the UNIS interdisciplinary geoscientific strategic project ‘Developing a permafrost and meteorological climate change response system to build resilience in Arctic communities’. She has been the Vice Dean for Education (2018-2020), Head of the Arctic Geology Department (2013-2021) both at UNIS, and President of the International Permafrost Association, IPA (2016-2020). As a UArctic Chair of Permafrost Physical Processes she will be focusing on increasing the Nordic links within the High Arctic, especially between North Greenland and Svalbard and further developing permafrost education within science and engineering, especially working with internship development and field learning.

Kamrul Hossain is a Research Professor and the Director of the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEM) at the Arctic Centre and an Adjunct Professor of Public International Law at the University of Lapland. He is also the leader of the University of Arctic's Thematic Network on Arctic Law. By training, he has specialized in public international law. His research focus currently lies broadly in international environmental law and human rights law, particularly concerning the indigenous peoples' rights that apply to the Arctic. Over his academic career, Prof. Hossain has extensively published in almost all areas of Arctic governance, including climate change, environmental protection, biodiversity, geopolitics, the law of the sea, maritime safety and security, human rights and human security, etc., highlighting, legal, institutional and policy perspectives. He has been the Principal Investigator (PI) of several international and national research grants funded by the agencies, such as the Academy of Finland, the NordForsk, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and the Finnish National Agency for Education, etc. Prof. Hossain has held several visiting positions in renowned foreign universities, such as the Law School of Harbin Institute of Technology in China as a visiting professor; the University of Technology, Sydney as a senior visiting fellow; and as a visiting scholar to several other institutions, including University of Toronto, Canada; Hokkaido University and Muroran Institute of Technology, Japan; the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge, the UK. In addition, he serves as the editor-in-chief of the journal of environmental law and policy and sits on the Editorial Boards of over ten international scientific journals. Furthermore, Prof. Hossain has served as the Special Editor for several internationally renowned journals, e.g., the Yearbook of Polar Law. He teaches at the University of Lapland and also other foreign universities in Europe and Asia.

Professor Roland Kallenborn is a senior scientist and University teacher in the field of organic analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry and environmental risk assessment, bioaccumulation and food web responses to environmental contaminants. He is an environmental chemist with main research interests in method development for characterisation, quantiative analysis, risk assessment, and mitigation of organic environmental pollutants (including contaminants of emerging concern and their transformation products). Currently, his research focuses on the elucidation of pollutant profiles in Environmental samples including the Arctic. He applies modern advanced trace analytical methods in an interdisciplinary context in his research strategies. Kallenborn is involved in interdisciplinary research in fate, risks and distribution profiles of environmental pollutants in pristine and contaminated environments. For his research he collaborates with experts in chemistry, biology, physics, modelling, toxicology and veterinary medicine. For his scientific activities, he applies quantitative validated analytical methods for the determination of legacy and emerging priority anthropogenic pollutant. Kallenborn is author/ co-author of 120 per reviewed publications, 12 books/ monographs (author, chapter author and editor), 20 contract reports, 10 popular science papers and more than 300 presentations (poster/ oral) in international conferences and seminars. He serves as editor/ editorial board member for the IF registered scientific Journals “Current Chromatography”, “Fresenius Environmental Bulletin”, “Ecotoxicology and Chemistry”, “Environmental Science and Pollution Research” (Springer) and “Chemosphere” (Elsevier).

Karl Kreutz is the Director of the School of Earth and Climate Sciences, and a Professor in the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. He is an Earth scientist who uses geochemical tools to study the full dynamic range of the climate system. He specializes in the ice core record of climate and environmental change developed from the polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. His research focuses specifically on polar amplification and feedbacks, hydroclimate variability, abrupt climate change, and coupled ocean-atmosphere processes. Over the past 20+ years, he has worked on projects ranging from the South Pole to the Arctic to the world’s highest mountains to Maine’s diverse landscape.

David Natcher is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada). Trained in cultural anthropology, David’s research focuses on the social dimensions of water, energy, and food (WEF) insecurity in Arctic regions. David has served as the UArctic Thematic Lead in Northern Food Security since 2016. In addition to this role, David serves as a Canadian representative on the International Arctic Science Committee – Social and Human Working Group and the Arctic’s Council’s (SDWG) Social, Economic, and Cultural Expert Group (SECEG). During his term as a UArctic Chair, David will examine the distinct social, cultural, and environmental contexts that produce WEF insecurities in the Arctic. This includes identifying the interactions, synergies, and trade-offs involved in the attainment of WEF-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2, 6 and 7). The focus on WEF SDGs is particularly warranted in Arctic regions given the prevalence of WEF insecurities experienced by Indigenous and other remote Arctic communities.

Philip Steinberg is Professor of Political Geography at Durham University (UK), where he leads the Durham Arctic Research Centre for Training and Interdisciplinary Collaboration (DurhamARCTIC). His research interests range from legal mechanisms that recognise the sensitivities of sea ice to sonic evocations of Arctic environments, and from media representations of the Arctic as a ‘global’ space to the potential for field-based education to foster understanding between Arctic and non-Arctic peoples. He has served as PI on Arctic-related grants from the US National Science Foundation, the European Commission, the International Council for Canadian Studies, and the Leverhulme Trust and has been a collaborator on grants from the Norwegian Research Council, the Academy of Finland, and the Velux Foundation. He has published over twenty articles and book chapters on Arctic topics, as well as co-authoring the book Contesting the Arctic: Politics and Imaginaries of the Circumpolar North (Bloomsbury, 2015).

Professor Tuija Turunen holds a position of Dean at the Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Finland. She is a leader of the teacher education programme. Turunen holds the UArctic Chair in Education for Social Justice and Diversity and leads the UArctic and the UNESCO/UNITWIN networks on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity. Professor Turunen is an internationally recognized expert in these fields and has given invited addresses throughout the globe both in scientific and popular arenas, e.g. UNESCO Teacher Task Force in Jamaica, Arctic Forum in Russia, IICBA in Ethiopia and various forums in Europe. She has published widely and leads several national and international projects. Professor Turunen’s current research interests focus on teacher education, indigenous education, professional development in higher education, educational transitions (especially starting school), multi-professional work in schools, and preventative school welfare work.

Jeff Welker has been studying Arctic plant & ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry and biosphere-atmosphere interactions since his research activities at NyAlyesund, Svalbard and Abisko, Sweden started in 1990. His research program focuses on four themes: a) tundra plant and ecosystem structure and function now and in the future using the ITEX (International Tundra Experiment) program; b) the Arctic Water Isotope Cycle and sea ice controls on shifting patterns, sources and distribution of precipitation; c) terrestrial and marine food web processes focused on diets and space-use of wolves, polar bears, brown bears, caribou and reindeer and d) herbivore and climate effects on greenhouse gas emissions, sources and ages. Dr. Welker serves on the US Arctic Icebreaker Coordination Committee (AICC), the NSF Office of Polar Programs Advisory Committee and as the Arctic Research Advisory to the Chancellor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is convening a UArctic Congress 2018 session on caribou-reindeer-cultural practices and is leading a new project titled: “Pan Arctic Water Isotope Network” which was granted INTERACT remote access to research stations. The project involves colleagues from Iceland, Denmark, Greenland, Czech Republic, Poland, USA, Finland, UK, Canada and Norway.

Arja Rautio is Professor in Arctic Research in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oulu (UOULU). Her research focuses on health and wellbeing in the Arctic, climate change and interdisciplinary research ethics. She uses community based participatory research and One Health approaches in the projects funded mainly by Horizon Europe. She has field experience from Northern Canada, Svalbard, Greenland, Russia, and Nordic countries. Arja is a leader of community health and wellbeing in the on-going research projects of Nunataryuk, ILLUQ, EDCMET, ArcSolution, and Sámi reindeer herders’ health and wellbeing. As a medical doctor and toxicologist, she is acting in the human health expert groups (AHHEG and HHAG) under the working groups of Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Sustainable Development (SDWG) in the Arctic Council. During the Finnish Chairmanship of Arctic Council, she was acting a Chair of the AHHEG. Arja has been the VP Research UArctic and former leader of TN Health and wellbeing in the Arctic. The main educational activities are PhD education and international masters’ program on Health and wellbeing in the circumpolar region (leader, 2008-16). She has been a member of the Social and Human Working Group in the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Arja was appointed the director of Thule Institute (2017-23), and Rector in Scientific Affairs of Summer University Central Bothnia (2001-09). She has been an organizer of several international conferences, workshops, and PhD courses. Arja is a head of Nordic Society of Circumpolar Health, and board member of International Union of Circumpolar Health.

Prof. Sudip Rakshit is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Bioenergy and Biorefining Processes at Lakehead University, Canada. He is affiliated with the Biorefining Research Institute (BRI) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the university. Dr. Rakshit is a trained Biochemical Engineer, having completed his graduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India. Dr. Rakshit began his academic career at IIT Madras before transitioning to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand, where he served as Vice President for Research for eight years. Upon moving to Canada, he served as the Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering and continued his involvement with the BRI. His current research focuses on producing value-added platform chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass, with particular emphasis on system integration and holistic sustainability. This includes Techno-Economic Analysis, Life Cycle Analysis, and the depolymerization of plastics to advance the development of a circular bio-economy. Dr. Rakshit also aims to incorporate social dimensions into his research to address the broader implications of these advancements especially in the Arctic region. Over the years, Dr. Rakshit has established numerous international research collaborations. He has worked with institutions such as the National Institute of Biosciences and Human Research (NIBH) in Japan, the Centre for Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development (CIRAD) in France, Korea Institute of Technology (KIST), South Korea, Borås University in Sweden, Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT) in Germany, Ohio University in the USA, and the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (CINVESTAV) in Mexico. He has also served in numerous international committees and as visiting faculty in several countries, including France, South Koea, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, further enriching his global academic footprint.

Allison Crawford, MD, PhD is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, where she led the application to join the UArctic. Allison is a psychiatrist and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health research hospital, where she is Medical Director of Virtual Mental Health and Psychiatry Outreach. She is also the Chief Medical Officer for 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline (www.988.ca), the national suicide prevention service. A key focus of Allison’s work is improving access and equity in mental health care, including research on digital health. The Psychiatry Partnerships with Northern Communities program at CAMH provides mental health services across Northern Ontario and in Nunavut. Allison has worked as a psychiatrist in Nunavut for over 15 years. She has consulted to the Federal Government in the area of suicide prevention and to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami on the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy. She also works with the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group on circumpolar wellness and suicide prevention initiatives, and in 2022 was a Fulbright Research Chair at Johns Hopkins Centre for Indigenous Health. Through her HeART Lab (www.healthequityART.com), which centres health equity through Art, Research, and Technology, she hopes to use the UArctic Chair as an opportunity to engage with researchers, Indigenous knowledge keepers, students and community members in co-designing solutions for community-based, culturally safe and affirming digital health care, and to contribute to A Connected Arctic.

Maria Huhmarniemi is a Vice Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Lapland. She is dedicated to art and research that enhances cultural sustainability in the Arctic and promotes and researches Arctic art and Arctic art education. She has actively created socially and environmentally engaged art and pioneered arts-based methods to address societal needs in the Arctic context. Huhmarniemi also carries the title of docent at the University of Eastern Finland, specialising in the field of social pedagogy. Her contributions include publishing research and participating in art exhibitions, showcasing her research as an installation artist. She is also leading the Thematic Network Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (ASAD).

Professor Tiina Ikäheimo has comprehensive knowledge from research related to environmental temperatures, human performance and health complemented with studies on physical activity and health. Her background education is in human physiology, and she has research experience from branches of science, such as public, environmental, and occupational health, as well as exercise sciences. Ikäheimo is a full-time professor in occupational health at UiT The Arctic University of Norway at the Department of Community Health and continues with a small work share at the Research Unit of Population Health at the University of Oulu, Finland. Her main research interests are focused on examining the impacts of climate and its abrupt change in the Arctic on occupational safety and health and with an interest on vulnerable groups of workers. Another objective of her research is to improve preparedness and resilience of workplaces through developing models and methods for reducing the expected adverse health effects of climate change. She leads two Arctic network projects with participants from the Nordic and other Arctic countries helping to fulfil these goals. She has through her research contributed to several peer-reviewed original articles and reviews, and produced international and national expert material, such as chapters in textbooks (including Arctic health) and professional guides. She has participated as a PI or co-PI, to several research and development projects. One example of international applicability related to her research is the production of an international standard for thermal environments (ISO15743 Cold workplaces-risk assessment and management). Professor Ikäheimo has profound experience in international co-operation through her work in publishing, first as an editor, and later as Editor-in-Chief (2003-11), of an international publishing association that published a peer-reviewed medical journal (Int J Circumpolar Health) on health matters of the Arctic areas. Being an active member of the international scientific community and chairperson or board member of several circumpolar health societies (International Union of Circumpolar Health, Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health, Finnish Society of Arctic Health and Biology) has connected her to different international positions of trust which are linked to high profile decision making concerning human health in the Arctic. For example, professor Ikäheimo co-operated with the Arctic Human Health Expert Group of the Arctic Council while serving in the International Association of Circumpolar Health Publishers. She was also recently appointed as an Arctic Six Chair (2024-6) which purpose is to promote co-operation in research and education between the six Nordic Arctic Universities. In addition to her long-term engagement in Arctic health, she has collaborated with WHO working as consultant related to low temperatures and human health, as well as having produced information material. She has also served as a Vice Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre of Global Change, Environment and Public Health at University of Oulu (2014-22) and participated to international high-profile meetings related to climate, environment, and health. Throughout her academic career she has participated in teaching environmental, occupational, and public health and contributed to developing higher education in fields of global public health. Currently, she has interests to promote co-operation between the Arctic universities to include contents related to Arctic occupational health to their higher education. She is also co-operating with two Arctic Doctoral Schools in Norway and Sweden though supervision of students. ORCID-ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2763-6004 Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tiina-Ikaeheimo

Dimitrios Dalaklis is a professor in safety and security at the World Maritime University. He joined WMU in the summer of 2014, upon completion of a twenty-six years distinguished career with the Hellenic Navy (HN). Having spent numerous years at sea, his expertise revolves around safety and security issues, including topics under the maritime education and training agenda. At the same time, he has maintained a very strong interest in developments relating to the wider Arctic region. Upon graduation from the Hellenic Naval Academy (HNA), he served on-board various large warships of the Hellenic Fleet. A very seasoned navigator, he has repeatedly dealt with navigation in confined waters; he has also completed a command tour at sea, being the Captain (CO) of H.S. NIKIFOROS. Dr. Dalaklis is a graduate of the Hellenic Navy's Command Staff College and after his graduation from the Hellenic Joint Warfare College he became the Head of the Navigation Simulator Department in the HNA. He then continued with various educational and training senior positions ashore. Based upon his expertise, he has performed, coordinated and supervised many series of training involving the use of simulators, as well as on-board practical workout programs. The same applies to various educational and/or professional development activities. Dr. Dalaklis, an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute (NI) and a Member of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), holds a Bachelor in Maritime Sciences from HNA. His postgraduate studies took place in the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) of the United States, during which he was awarded with two different Masters' degrees (MSc in Information Technology Management, with distinction & Defence Analysis). He then conducted his PhD research at the University of the Aegean, Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport. He is the author/co-author of many articles, journal papers & studies in both the Greek and English language, with a strong research focus on issues related to the implementation of the SOLAS Convention and especially electronic equipment/systems supporting the safety of navigation. His academic work includes the books (2008) "Electronic Navigation Equipment” (and its new updated version (2016) "Electronic Navigation Equipment and Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS)”), as well as (2011) "Contemporary Sea Transport System and Piracy" and (2014) “GLOBAL GEOGRAPHY: The Key role of the Mediterranean in energy, maritime transport and environmental protection”, currently in use in various Greek higher education institutions. His first book in English (2018) “Trends and Challenges in Maritime Energy Management" was made available by Springer International Publishing AG. Discussing cutting edge technological developments, there are also (2022) “"Autonomous Vessels in Maritime Affairs” and “Smart Ports and Autonomous Systems", that were both made available by Palgrave Macmillan.

Daniel Chartier is full professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and director of the International Laboratory for Research on Images of the North, Winter and the Arctic. In recent years, he has published and directed some thirty books and a hundred articles on the representation of the North, the Arctic and Winter, Québec, Inuit, First Nations Arctic and Nordic cultures, cultural pluralism, including The End of Iceland's Innocence (2010), Le froid [Cold] (2018), The Northern Forest (2022) and a multilingual essay in 16 Northern languages on What is the ‘Imagined North’? Ethical principles (2018-2023). He has co-directed the collective project ‘Iceland and Images of the North’ at the Reykjavik Academy, an International Polar Year project to promote the written Inuit heritage of Nunavik (2008-2011), a project on the literary history of Nunavik (2015-2027) and a project for cooperation and reflection on the future literature in the northern cultures of Québec and Norway (2012-2028). He intensively worked on cultural and academic cooperation between Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and Sweden. His current main research program aims to create links between different circumpolar cultures, including Indigenous cultures, and to reflect on the conditions of representation of images of the North and the Arctic.

Hans C. Bernstein is a professor in Microalgae and Microbiome Engineering at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. He has significantly contributed to molecular microbial ecology and bioengineering, with a focus on Arctic marine ecosystems and biotechnological developments for environmental sustainability. Bernstein leads the Microalgae and Microbiomes Research Group (M2RG), synthesizing academic and industrial research to address sustainability challenges. Bernstein has spearheaded major projects in microbial carbon capture, sequestration, and utilization, notably through the ARC – The Arctic Centre for Sustainable Energy, where he utilizes marine and terrestrial ecosystems as inspiration for biotechnological innovation in carbon capture, sequestration and utilzation. His group has advanced the understanding of marine microbiomes, exploring how marine diatoms interact in complex communities and adapt to changing CO2 levels, thus influencing carbon cycling and potential sequestration strategies in the Arctic. Additionally, Bernstein has enhanced the development of microbial synthetic biology tools, enabling the creation of microbial communities tailored for optimal performance in Arctic industrial settings. His work involves integrating engineered genetic circuits within marine microbiomes to enhance their ecological and biotechnological functions in industrial bioreactors and future microbial biofactories. Bernstein's efforts underscore his commitment to integrating ecological principles with advanced engineering to address climate change and sustainability. He also dedicates significant effort to mentoring early-career scientists and fostering global collaborative networks, focusing on empowering a new generation of researchers to merge engineering with ecology for improved environmental and societal outcomes. Through outreach initiatives, such as the PHOTOSYNTECH PhD training school, Bernstein promotes knowledge sharing and innovation, driving the development of ecosystem-inspired solutions.

Alun Hubbard is an applied glaciologist and geophysicist who has spent over three decades investigating the response of glaciers and ice sheets to atmospheric, oceanic and geological forcing. His primary focus is on the long-term stability and legacy of glacial systems and their impact on the environment, landscape, carbon-cycle, as well as their commitment to ongoing global sea-level rise and coastal flooding. His approach encompasses innovative field-data collection to yield new process insights and help constrain numerical models. He has ongoing research across the Arctic, including Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard with additional projects in Patagonia, Asia, New Zealand and Antarctica. He has worked on the Greenland ice sheet (in remote field camps) for over 70 cumulative months and has led as many successful research/exploration expeditions across far-flung remote regions of the planet. Many of these conducted from his own ice-strengthened sailboat and helicopter logistics non-profit. He is an active commentator on issues relating to the cryosphere, and has presented on many award-winning documentaries including BBC's Frozen Planet 1 & 2, Netflix "Our Planet", and National Geographic "Chasing Ice" to name a few.