Council Co-Chairs
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Hugo Guímaro - Portugal
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Portugal
Greetings from Portugal! I'm Hugo Guímaro and I am a PhD candidate at the Marine and Environmental Science Centre (MARE) of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Cambridge, UK. My research focuses on Antarctic marine animal ecology with a particular interest in ecological interactions of apex predators to climate change and conservation in the Southern Ocean. My history began when I graduated in Biology from the University of Coimbra in 2016 and continued when I achieved my Master degree in Ecology from the same University in 2019. Besides my scientific work, I'm highly involved in education and outreach activities related to polar science, raising awareness for environmental issues. I also love photography and to write, being the Executive, Science and Technology, and Photography Editor at an Academic Journal, with several journalistic science articles already published online and in press. For me, storytelling and science communication are the best tools for promoting awareness. My experience with APECS began since 2018, where I'm the Representative from APECS Portugal since then. Being part of the polar community and being able to help others is something that I'm passionate about. Joining the APECS ExCom will be a great challenge and a great way to continue my passion for helping other early career students.
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José Queirós - Portugal
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Portugal
I’m a PhD candidate in Marine Ecology at the University of Coimbra. My research focuses in the trophic interactions and fisheries activities in the Southern Ocean deep-sea. I started to work in the Southern Ocean early in my academic career studying the cephalopods of the Pacific sector. During my master degree I started to work with Antarctic fisheries looking in detail to the ecology and contamination levels of Antarctic toothfish in the Ross, Amundsen and Dumont D'Urville Seas. Nowadays, despite my research goals still look with particular interest for the commercial species, the impact of fisheries and climate change in the demersal communities assume a major role. Besides my academic research, I’m enrolled in several Education and Outreach activities such as talks in several schools and general public events.
I became an APECS member in 2014, being part of the Portuguese ExCom until 2019. In 2016 I decide to join APECS Council where I remain until today.
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Priyanka Rajput - India
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India
Greetings from New Delhi, Capital of India. Currently, I’m working as a Consultant for Glacial Risks Management at National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India(GoI); and qualified as a Masters’ of Science graduate in Environmental Studies and Resource Management (ESRM) from TERI School of Advanced Studies (formerly TERI University), New Delhi. My major areas of interest converge in Glaciology, Climate Change and IWRM Practices. Initially, I joined APECS as an individual council member for the 2019-20 term and worked at various projects within one year of my engagement here. This has been an extremely rewarding experience which helped me earn my first job by improving my skills as the result of my involvement in multidisciplinary activities. I had the experience of being a part of - ‘The Himalayan expedition, when I got an opportunity to visit East-Rathong Glacier in Sikkim, Eastern Himalayan region’. I did my major dissertation project in the field of Glacier Hydrology at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. I have undergone a training program on ‘Glacier Studies and Remote Sensing’, primarily focusing on the Himalayas at Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru. Recently, I have completed a ‘Certificate course in Glaciology’ and received the entitlement of ‘Certified Glaciology Expert’ from Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment (IIEE), New Delhi. I am excited and passionate to continue further at APECS in 2020-21 term with my fellow ECRs. Where I’m looking forward to enjoying more of my involvement, reach new horizons and create new benchmarks for future terms.
National Coordinators
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Susana Hancock - United States
University of Oxford/unaffiliated, United States
Susana Hancock, MSt, MPhil, DPhil (PhD). My experiences in the polar regions run the gamut from working with Antarctic astrophysicists while in high school and interning as a glaciology field assistant during college to graduate work on language and identity politics among Arctic indigenous communities. My current foci in the polar regions have morphed into interdisciplinary approaches to climate change and the geopolitics of the Arctic. However, I try to stay involved in various past projects in the physical sciences! PhD research in the Middle East and China has also spurred my interest in their role as stakeholders in the Arctic community. In addition to work directly in polar and cryosphere regions, I am on the Board of Directors of several organisations that combine academic, political and community engagement to tackle the climate crisis and foster democracy. I have previously been affiliated with UiT—The Arctic University of Norway and the University of Oxford.
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Sakshi Mankotia - India
Jamia Millia Islamia, India
My name is Sakshi Mankotia. I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Geography , Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi , India. My Research Focuses on Climate Change impact on North Western Himalayas , particularly in Ladakh region .The region has been experiencing Drastic climate change impact in forms of Frequent Flash floods, Glacier retreat and scarcity of water both for domestic and agricultural purposes. The data will be gathered both by remote sensing satellites for temporal studies and primary survey to interact with local population.My research will help to develop new ways to collect and analyse the remotely accessed areas of the region. I am interested in teaching and conducting sessions on Climate change role in impact , risk and Human response in Himalayan region. In my spare time I like Running, Photography and trekking. I would like to be a part of APECS platform to connect and contribute to the organisation.
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Shalaka Patil - Norway
University of Bergen, Norway
I am a doctoral candidate at University of Bergen, Norway. I am an Indian, but my interest and experience to work with extremophiles gave me an opportunity to explore Arctic region. My research is about understanding the functional role of microbiome from thawing permafrost soil which plays definite role in carbon cycle and emission of carbon from permafrost and has been sequestered there since ages. Climate change has shown altered diversity within the soil microbiome, this is related to rapid changing of Arctic environment. Understanding the effect of temperature on microbial biodiversity and metabolic processes, will direct in improving knowledge about how production and emission of biogenic methane takes place, one of my study also includes methane flux experiments at the Pingos in Svalbard, whereas fieldwork is based on studying different Pingo sites in Svalbard and exploring the ecology, geology and microbiology in collaboration with experts at University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and University of Tromsø (UiT). My work includes microbial community profiling, isolation of novel microorganisms, on-field methane flux experiments and bioinformatic approach for decoding different functions at biochemical level. I also worked as junior research fellow (2017-2019), at National Centre for Cell Science - National centre for Microbial Resource (NCCS-NCMR), India. I was involved in establishment of anaerobic facility and conducted research for national funded project dealing with study of methane generated from landfills and their implications on global carbon budget. Hence, working for environment has always been my interest and research in Arctic has opened many opportunities for unlocking the biological roles at microbial levels present in methane liberation and their consequence on global climate change and faster depleting Arctic.
Social Media Coordinators
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Mia Bennett - China
The University of Hong Kong, China
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and School of Modern Languages & Cultures (China Studies Programme) at the University of Hong Kong and editor of the Cryopolitics blog. Through fieldwork and remote sensing, I research the politics of infrastructure development in frontier spaces, namely the Arctic and areas included within China's Belt and Road Initiative. I received my PhD in Geography from UCLA, where I focused on examining Arctic transportation infrastructure projects. As part of this research, I considered case studies ranging from the role of the Inuvialuit in constructing Canada's first highway to the Arctic Ocean to the Singaporean government's efforts to keep a watchful eye on Arctic shipping. In my spare time, I enjoy running, 80s music, and photography.
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Lina Madaj - Germany
MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany
I am a Geoscientist by training and a soon to-be-finished PhD student at MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany. My research interests are focused around Holocene ice-sheet dynamics of the western Greenland Ice Sheet based on sediment provenance studies. I fell in love with the Arctic during my first research expedition to Baffin Bay in 2015, and have been ambitious to contribute to research and outreach about this unique environment ever since. I am passionate about science communication and have been involved in several outreach activities and projects during the past years. I am convinced that sharing our science an essential part of research these days, especially when it comes to polar and climate science.
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Rupa - Germany
University of Bonn, Germany
I've recently started my Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Bonn, Germany where I'll be focussing on the risk aspects in the Indian Ocean World countries. I have more than 5 years of work experience in diverse fields from the conservation and management of natural world heritage sites, disaster risk management, and biodiversity informatics to the environmental sustainability and science-based targets for GHG emissions reduction in the corporate sector. I have been associated with APECS as Social Media Coordinator and Council member for 2 years now and look forward to the new term.
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Melanie Stammler - Germany
Uppsala University, Sweden
Hej everyone, my name is Melanie and I am about to finish my geomorphology and glaciology focused Masters at Uppsala University. Currently I am working on the potential of semi-automatically mapping sand dunes in Northern Sweden which could then lay base for further fieldwork and investigation of the features. Simultaneously, I am applying for PhDs in the fields of (para-, peri-) glacial geomorphology with a connection to geographic information sciences and / or georisks. My interest in high alpine and polar landscapes was steadily intensified when studying abroad in British Columbia, and after joining summer schools / courses to Katmai in 2017 and Svalbard in 2019. Generally, I am super enthusiastic about the outdoors and fieldwork as well as bike-packing.