Introducing the winning project of the 2026 Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award

About the winner and his project:

The winning initiative is led by Professor Philippe Amstislavski from the University of Alaska Anchorage. His project, CoFoam: Forest-inspired Fungal Biotechnology for Carbon-Neutral and Plastic-Free Arctic Fisheries, is a collaborative initiative with fishermen across the Arctic addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, plastic pollution, and the growing impacts of warming on Arctic communities, ecosystems and fisheries. Rapid warming is destabilizing housing, infrastructure and ecosystems, while higher temperatures make it more difficult to safely store fish and traditional foods. Warming also contributes to insect outbreaks and increased tree mortality in Alaska’s forests, leading to more frequent wildfires, greater black carbon emissions and risks to human health. At the same time, fisheries and construction in the Arctic and beyond depend heavily on fossil-based insulation. Tens of millions of single-use Styrofoam boxes are used each year to transport fish to global markets and medicines around the world, generating greenhouse-gas emissions and persistent plastic pollution that threatens food security, human health, fish and wildlife.

The CoFoam project leverages the forest microbiome to bioconvert insect-killed trees and other plant residues into safe, carbon-storing cold-chain boxes. In collaboration with fishing communities, the initiative replaces polluting Styrofoam/EPS boxes with high-performing CoFoam boxes that can be produced locally and safely composted anywhere, with potential applications in fishnet floats, buoys and building insulation.

The Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award provides high-level recognition for innovative ideas that transform knowledge into action to help address the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. The prize comes with a 100,000 euro unrestricted grant that is intended to help develop the ideas through outreach, engagement, and communication. The award is named after Dr Frederik Paulsen who has been a prominent supporter of scientific research and collaboration in the polar regions for decades.