The Ocean Decade Blue Catalyst

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Project members

Corine Wood-Donnelly

Nord University

Sofie Elise Quist

Doctoral Research Fellow

Quist, Sofie Elise

Doctoral Research Fellow

+4777644851

sofie.e.quist@uit.no

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Sonya de Laat

Global Health McMaster, School of Global Health and Social Medicine, McMaster University – Academia, Canada

Alex Drossos

Alex is an Associate Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and also a Paediatric Psychiatrist.

Alex Drossos

Alex is an Associate Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and also a Paediatric Psychiatrist.

Global Health McMaster, School of Global Health and Social Medicine, McMaster University – Academia, Canada

Alex is passionate about Arctic Health with a clinical practice in Nunavut (in addition to locally in the south of Canada at McMaster), and he is also very active with scholarly/academic work in Arctic/Circumpolar Health. He loves the Ocean and spends much of his time in Greece by the seaside where he also grew up spending his summers, and now also by the Arctic Ocean and related waterways when working with Inuit in Nunavut.

Laura Vita

OIN Project developer

Laura Vita

OIN Project developer

Global Health McMaster, School of Global Health and Social Medicine, McMaster University – Academia, Canada

Annegret Kuhn

Center for Ocean and Society (CeOS, Kiel University, Germany)

Aila Biret Henriksen Selfors

Associate Professor

Selfors, Aila Biret Henriksen

Associate Professor

aila.b.selfors@uit.no

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Dana Ahmed

Project member

Dana Ahmed

Project member

EcoSpectrum, Asfour Initiative and University of Glasgow:

Deborah Diliberto

Assistant Professor and Director of Education Mary Heersink School of Global Health & Social Medicine, McMaster University

Deborah Diliberto

Assistant Professor and Director of Education Mary Heersink School of Global Health & Social Medicine, McMaster University

Global Health McMaster, School of Global Health and Social Medicine, McMaster University – Academia, Canada

Assistant Professor and Director of Education Mary Heersink School of Global Health & Social Medicine, McMaster University

Mana Elise Hera Tugend

Doctoral Research Fellow

Tugend, Mana Elise Hera

Doctoral Research Fellow

+4777646472

mana.e.tugend@uit.no

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Gilbert Ajebe Akame

PhD Research Fellow

Akame, Gilbert Ajebe

PhD Research Fellow

+4777644187

gilbert.a.akame@uit.no

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Endalew Lijalem Enyew

Associate Professor

Enyew, Endalew Lijalem

Associate Professor

+4777625204

endalew.l.enyew@uit.no

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Margherita Paola Poto (Project manager)

Research Professor, Faculty of Law

Poto, Margherita Paola

Research Professor, Faculty of Law

+4777623145

margherita.poto@uit.no

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Romain Chuffart

Dr. Romain Chuffart is the current Nansen Professor in Arctic Studies at the University of Akureyri.

Romain Chuffart

Dr. Romain Chuffart is the current Nansen Professor in Arctic Studies at the University of Akureyri.

University of Akureyiri; Arctic Institute, Iceland

His research interests include human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, international environmental law, law of the sea and Arctic ocean governance. Romain also conducts more theoretical research on public international law combining insights from political theory, international relations, political geography, and other social sciences.

Stéphanie Heckman

Visual artist

Stéphanie Heckman

Visual artist

EcoSpectrum, Asfour Initiative and University of Glasgow:

www.stephanieheckman.com/visualpractice

Stéphanie has worked with over 200 organisations, but focuses on supporting those advancing climate action and leadership development. Since 2020, she has collaborated regularly with UN Climate Change, her live artworks illustrating the summary reports of three consecutive UN Ocean & Climate Change Dialogue events. She has published about her work in the New England Journal of Public Policy (O’Malley ed., 2023) and The Ocean Incubator Network Learning Toolkit (Poto, Vita eds., 2025).

Rada Pandeva

Project member

Rada Pandeva

Project member

Thalassophile and The University of Exeter

Rada is a passionate thalassophile — a lover and friend of the Ocean — a Young Ocean Advocate, and a first-class Marine Science graduate working at the intersection of science, senses, and sound. She is the founder of the Thalassophile Project — an EU-funded and UN Ocean Decade-endorsed initiative dedicated to making ocean literacy accessible to d/Deaf and blind communities, empowering everyone to connect with and care for the Ocean

Mary Crea-Arsenio

Global Health McMaster, School of Global Health and Social Medicine, McMaster University – Academia, Canada