Council 2012-2013

The following early career researchers served on the 2012-2013 Council. In addition, the members of the APECS Executive Committee 2012-2013 are also part of the Council: Penelope Wagner, Erli Costa, Jennifer Provencher, Ines Tavernier, Yulia Zaika as well as Gerlis Fugmann (ex-officio) and Allen Pope (ex-officio)

We would also like to recognize our past leaders as they continue to serve our organization as Ex-Officio members of the Council: Tosca Ballerini, Ben Beall, Francisco Fernandoy, Silje-Kristen Jensen, Kim Jochum, Daniela Liggett, Inga May, Dirk Notz, Angelika Renner, and Carolyn Wegner.

• Sanna Majaneva - University of Helsinki / Finnish Environment Institute / Marine Research Centre / University Centre in Svalbard, Finland / Norway

  My name is Sanna Majaneva, and I come from a small city called Imatra in the eastern border of Finland. Later on I moved to Helsinki to study Marine Biology and Geography at the University. After four years of basic studies in the "warm" coast of the brackish "sea", I needed the real sea, the real snow, and proper winter. I was accepted to write my Master's thesis on Arctic copepods at the University Centre in Svalbard. My planned half a year long Svalbard visit prolonged into several years, because I worked both as a nature guide and as a research assistant, but mainly for the reason that I fell in love with the white silence. My stay at Svalbard left a spark towards polar research and I somehow drifted to make doctoral thesis project in collaboration with the University Centre in Svalbard and the Finnish Environment Institute / Marine Research Centre. The main objective of my doctoral thesis is to gain information on ctenophore populations in the Northern Seas. The project studies the role and importance of ctenophores in the food webs and how different aspects of the changing climate could affect these communities. On my free time, I'm mostly in the out in the nature with a back bag and hiking boots, skies, kayak or dog sledge. The more I learn about this white nature, the more amazed I am, and therefore the Arctic issues have become extremely dear to me.

• Christie Wood - Clark University, USA - APECS Council Co-Chair 2012-2013

  I am a graduate student in the Geography department at Clark University in the United States. I work with Professor Karen Frey as part of her newly formed Polar Science Research Lab. I am interested in how variations in climate impact the Arctic marine system. In particular, I am looking at how changes in Arctic sea ice affect the ecology and biogeochemistry of the Arctic Ocean. My dissertation research focuses on understanding the impacts of sea ice decline in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas on the dynamics of dissolved organic matter, which plays an important role in the marine ecosystem as both a carbon source for the microbial food web and as an inhibitor of light. This work is carried out through a combination of field measurements (as part of NASA's ICESCAPE mission), lab experiments, and satellite remote sensing observations. Prior to working at Clark, I earned two bachelors degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The first was in mathematics and the second was in earth, atmospheric and planetary science. After that, I completed a master's degree in physical oceanography in the joint program between MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

• Emily Choy - Fisheries and Oceans Canada and University of Manitoba, Canada

  I am a PhD student at the University of Manitoba and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, studying the diet and energetics of the Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga population under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Loseto and Dr. Jim Roth. I finished my MSc. in the Chemical and Environmental Toxicology program at the University of Ottawa, studying biovector transport of contaminants (mercury, PCBs, and DDT) from a large seabird colony to High Arctic food webs at Cape Vera, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. I have worked at Environment Canada on various projects in environmental toxicology, such as monitoring temporal trends of perfluorinated compounds in polar bears, immuntoxicity in bivalves, and the effects of brominated flame retardants on the reproductive success of tree swallows. I have also worked as an evaluator for the Ecological Assessment Division, studying the toxicity and bioaccumulation of selenium and other inorganic substances in aquatic ecosystems. I am very interested in the impacts of contaminants in Arctic ecosystems and their interactions with other stressors on marine mammals. I am also involved in science education and outreach, and have a B.Ed from the Outdoor Education program at Queen's University and have worked as an educator at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

• Sarah Crowley - Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, United States

  Sarah Crowley currently works as an education project manager for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States in Fairbanks, AK. She manages PolarTREC, a teacher-researcher experience program via a grant from the National Science Foundation. With partners such as UA-Fairbanks, Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service, Sarah develops and implements teacher trainings on climate change and polar science for online platforms and in-­field experiences. Most recently she has worked tirelessly with partners such as APECS to build Polar Educators International; a professional network for those who educate in, for, and about the polar regions. Through her years teaching environmental education, Sarah developed a passion for polar science and facilitating meaningful nature/science education experiences for her students and other teachers. Her undergraduate work earned her a BA in Geography in 2004, with a minor in Global Studies. In 2010 she received her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction for Science Education and a Graduate Certificate in Education, Environment, and Community from the University of Washington-Seattle.

• Eleanor Darlington - Loughborough University, United Kingdom

  Ten years ago a family friend showed a slide show of him working at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. I was hooked! I organised my high school work experience at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge; a week of metrological observations, ice cores and the desire to travel had me fixed on a career in science. My Masters thesis was observing the interactions between the inflow of Atlantic Water into the Barents Sea, and how this was impacting sea ice formation. This project led to the UK Arctic Sciences conference, a UKPN workshop and networking day, and a Southern Ocean research cruise! From there a Fram Strait cruise with the Norwegian Polar Institute and at present, an internship with Education Through Expeditions working on the AMT20 project, bringing real science into the classroom from the middle of the Atlantic.

• Pedro Echeveste - University of the Balearic Islands, Spain

  Pedro finished his BSc in Biology at the University of Navarra and moved to Madrid to develop a MSc in Climatic Risks and Environmental Impact. After this period, he moved to Finland to study the effects of Climate Change in Finnish forests, and returned to Spain after five months to develop his PhD on the effects of legacy contaminants (POPs and trace metals) on marine phytoplankton. Originally interested in near shore waters including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, during his PhD he had the chance to discover the Arctic and the Southern Oceans, becoming fascinated about these environments and improving his studies in those remote areas. With his PhD recently achieved, Pedro is interested in the role that contaminants play in polar ecosystems, how they affect the biogeochemical cycles occurring in these ecosystems, how they disturb species interactions (predation, competition, etc.) and, in summary, in the effects that anthropogenic pollutants will have to polar biota in a changing world.

• Russell Fielding - University of Denver, USA

  I am a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Denver in Colorado. I earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Florida, a master's degree at the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. at Louisiana State University. I also participated in the Canada-US Fulbright Program, spending a year with the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. As for research, I am interested, broadly, in questions of subsistence, cultural tradition, and resource conservation. Since 2005 I have been involved in a study of artisanal whaling traditions throughout the Atlantic, with field sites in the Faroe Islands, Newfoundland, and the Caribbean. Other research pursuits have involved biogeography, sustainable energy production, local food production, aquaculture, and the changing economic and ecological conditions of islands when bridges are built from the mainland. I regularly publish the results of my research in peer-reviewed journals as well as in popular media outlets. In addition to these research pursuits, I am active in teaching at the University of Denver, with courses on sustainability and natural hazards. Whenever possible, I use case studies from my research as examples in my lectures. I am also active in the University of Denver's field course program, having taught field courses in the Florida Keys (biogeography) and in Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands (natural resources and natural hazards). My hobbies include hiking, rock-climbing, mountaineering, capoeira, and travel.

• Jolie Gareis - Simon Fraser University, Canada

  Although I grew up in the middle of a major Canadian city, I gravitated to the outdoors as a child. A job as a camp counselor during my teens transformed into a job as a field assistant during my undergraduate degree. I fulfilled my lifelong dream to see and experience northern Canada in the summer of 2004, when I traveled to the Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories to do field work for my Masters. The arctic got under my skin, and I've been looking for excuses to return ever since. Currently, I'm enrolled in a PhD program at Simon Fraser University. My doctoral research (based on data gathered while I worked as an IPY field and lab manager from 2007-2009) examines fluxes of nutrients and carbon exported from the Mackenzie River during the annual flood and high-water periods following ice-out. In January 2011 I finally had the perfect reason to relocate to my beloved field site and home-away-from-home in Inuvik, Northwest Territories – I was hired as the manager of the Inuvik Research Centre, a division of the Aurora Research Institute. So, I am concurrently a full-time student and a full-time research centre manager – and I love doing both equally. In my spare time, I like to swim, ski, watch movies and read anything that isn't a journal article or textbook.

• Maeva Gauthier - Coastal and Ocean Research Inc., Canada

  Recently graduated from the University of Victoria with a Masters in marine ecology, Maeva is interested in projects encompassing ocean sciences, filmmaking & outreach, and coastal communities. She is currently working as a marine ecologist and outreach coordinator at Coastal and Ocean Resources Inc. Her background is in biology and tourism, and experience ranges from event organization, to fundraising, to educational projects (i.e. underwater webcasting, educational dives), and project coordination. In her spare time, she enjoys sailing, diving, hiking, and doing yoga. Field expeditions brought her to both poles in 2009 to learn about the Antarctic with Students on Ice and study seafloor species in the Arctic with the Census of Marine Life & the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network. Maeva is also an active member of the Explorers Club and has been involved in film production since 2009, which won the TD Go Green Challenge 2011 (3rd national position) and Best Cinematography & Best Editing awards at the UVic Film Festival 2011. Recently, she led a project combining a film workshop with youth and documenting traditional knowledge of the coast in two arctic villages on the North Slope.

• Kristen Gorman - Simon Fraser University, Canada

  Kristen Gorman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University. Kristen has conducted ecological research since 1994, primarily focusing on birds. Her field experience ranges from the forests of tropical Australia, New England and the Rocky Mountains, to coastal-marine systems of the Pacific Northwest including Alaska, and the western Antarctic Peninsula. She is especially interested in global change biology, high latitude ecosystems, evolutionary ecology and physiology. Her MSc research involved extensive fieldwork at a US Geological Survey field camp located on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, western Alaska, which resulted in 4 scientific publications on the reproductive energetics of female greater scaup. Kristen's dissertation, in collaboration with the Palmer Station, Antarctica, Long-Term Ecological Research Program, US National Science Foundation, is examining nutritional and physiological correlates of variation in breeding performance by three closely related species of penguin (genus Pygoscelis) demonstrating pole-ward shifts in breeding bio-geographic range in response to regional climate warming throughout the Scotia Arc and Antarctic Peninsula. She also is developing a population genetics component to her dissertation that will use microsatellite genetic markers to provide a quantitative understanding of the relative importance of demographic parameters (fitness versus dispersal) in driving observed shifts in Pygoscelis breeding range. Kristen has deployed on 8 expeditions to the Antarctic since 2005, and has published 10 scientific manuscripts on the nutritional ecology, evolutionary physiology, and life histories of birds. She has won research and scholarship awards through the American Ornithologists' Union, Explorers Club, American Museum of Natural History, Anne Vallée Ecological Fund, Antarctic Science Ltd, and Simon Fraser University. She has served as a peer-reviewer for scientific journals such as Journal of Avian Biology, Marine Ecology-Progress Series, Biology Letters, Waterbirds, and the Journal of Animal Ecology. Kristen is the current graduate student representative to the US LTER network for her Antarctic research group and was co-organizer of the seminar series, Les Ecologistes, at Simon Fraser University (2010/11). She is a passionate trail runner, rock climber, backcountry skier, and surfer. These outdoor pursuits have been key in her continued experiential learning and in leading a balanced life style. She also is particularly fond of her dog, Yugi.

• Molly Zhongnan Jia - University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania

  I finished my undergraduate in Marine Science in China in 2007. Travelled a bit during a gap year, and then come to Hobart for master study on Antarctic Science in 2009, where I officially started my polar research life. After the master degree, it is just too much fun for research on Antarctic krill so I decided to keep going for a PhD in Hobart, in the same institute – Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. My PhD research focuses on diet of larval Antarctic krill in the winter. It investigates the relationship between krill larvae and sea ice in the southern ocean.

• Alia Khan - University of Colorado, USA

  A native of the Tarheel state, I completed my BS in Public Health in the US at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, School of Public Health. My research interests began in detecting fecal contamination in rural drinking water in developing countries. After travelling in the high mountains in the Himalayas between field work in South Asia, I discovered a love and passion for cold environment field work. In May 2010 I began my MS at the University of Colorado – Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Studies. During that time I completed a UNIS field course on 'Fate and Modeling of Pollutants in the Arctic, and was also a member of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Long Term Ecological Research Site (LTER), 'Stream Team'. The Stream Team is tasked with measuring discharge of ephemeral glacier fed streams in the Dry Valleys which flow 6-10 weeks per year, as well as collect water samples for chemical and biological analysis. We spent almost four months camping in the dry valleys and hiking to and from the stream sites. I am now in the first semester of my PhD, also at CU-Boulder. My dissertation specific research interests are in local and long range transport of contaminants and pollutants, and impacts on water quality and the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, I am interested in climate impacts on water quality in polar and alpine areas. I am also very interested in the social and human impacts of climate change and have worked with the Stockholm Environmental Institute Oxford, UK, and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo. Like many researchers in the polar sciences, I love the great outdoors! I'm an avid snowboarder, hiker, backpacker, and also enjoy rock and ice climbing.

• Michael Laiho - Arctic Centre (University of Lapland), Finland

  Born on 19th October 1984, Michael John Laiho is half Finnish, half British and living in Finland since 2010. In 2010 he graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in London, after which time he decided to do his Finnish military conscription and subsequently moved to Finland that year. After completing his military service in Pori, he has started a PhD at the Arctic Centre (University of Lapland) on the topic of the EU's influence in Arctic governance. So far he is in his second year, has attended and presented at various important conferences, nationally and internationally, and has published his work in peer-reviewed publications. For 2013 he is aiming to complete two student exchange programmes – one in Central Europe as part of Erasmus, and the other in the Arctic region as part of North2North. As a member of APECS he has volunteered to organize the next Arctic Science Summit Week in Krawko in 2013 and wishes to organize an APECS conference some day at the Arctic Centre, in Rovaniemi. Outside of the scientific community, Michael is also a keen writer, artist and marathon runner.

• Maja Lisowska - Jagiellonian University, Poland

  I work as a research assistant at Dept. of Polar Research and Documentation, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Poland. Since 2009 I have been a member of APECS Poland.I completed my Master's degree in biology at the Jagiellonian University, in 2007, working on lichen biomonitoring. My polar experience started in 2007, when, as a fresh PhD student, I became involved in a project on environmental changes in Sørkapp Land, Svalbard and got an opportunity to do research in the High Arctic. I was a part of a botanical team which conducted comparative tundra vegetation mapping. In 2009 I attended the Arctic Plant Ecology course at the University Centre in Svalbard. My PhD project, completed in 2011, was focused on vegetation succession - including vascular plants, mosses and lichens - on two glacier forelands in Central and Southern Svalbard. My research interests cover several lichen- and polar-connected issues: lichen biogeography, ecology and taxonomy; colonization and succession in glacier forelands; Arctic tundra vegetation changes; lichen adaptations to extreme environments; biomonitoring using lichens.

• Silvia Lourenco - Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

  I am a Marine Biologist with a MSc in ecology, management and modeling of marine resources by the University Nova de Lisboa. I am a PhD Student in the Oceanography Centre of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where I'm studying the effect of environmental factors in the life cycle of octopus. My research interests are mainly fish and cephalopods marine ecology studies, particularly the ones dedicated to growth, trophic ecology and population dynamics.Since 2009 I've been working in the Polar Project under José Xavier coordination (IMAR University of Coimbra) in collaboration with Martin Collins, John Watkins (British Antarctic Survey), Carlos Assis (University of Lisbon) and Yves Cherel (CEBC-CNRS, France). My work field is mainly dedicated to fish and cephalopods ecology, growth and population dynamics studies.I am a member of the APECS Portugal executive committee and member of the APECS council since October 2010. Under APECS I also collaborate in the Funding Resources working group.

• Heather Mariash - McGill University, Canada

  I am interested in the ecological consequences of ice cover to freshwater ecosystems. The acute seasonality between the extended dark winters and short cold summers with 24 hrs of day light, have distinct constraints to food availability and consumer survival. My research focuses on the aquatic ecosystems of the arctic and subarctic studying the dietary strategies used by zooplankton to cope with these harsh environments. Starting September 2013 as a W. Garfield Weston Postdoctoral Fellow, working in Northern Canada.

• Jean-Sébastien Moore - University of British Columbia, Canada

  I am currently a PhD candidate in the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver. My research uses modern DNA technology to help study the migratory behaviour of Arctic char in the Canadian Arctic. Arctic char is a species of great importance to the Inuit people of Canada, and is fished both commercially and for subsistence in most communities. My research addresses some important issues relating to the management and conservation of this species in the face of climate change. As such, I work closely with several collaborators with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. I am very grateful that my research has allowed me to work in the beautiful Arctic regions of Canada, and working with Inuit fishers has been one of the most rewarding and eye-opening experience of my life. I am therefore very excited that I will be continuing my involvement in Arctic science with a post-doc starting in January 2013 at Université Laval, working again on Arctic char migrations!

• Dagmar Obbels - Ghent University, Belgium

  APECS Belgium
  After completing my master degree in Biology at the C atholic University of Leuven (Belgium), I started my PhD in 2009 on the AMBIO (Antarctic microbial biodiversity) project at Ghent University. In 2010 I obtained an IWT scholarship which focuses on the adaptation of drought and salinity stress in Antarctic filamentous cyanobacteria. To gain a better understanding of the genetic adaptation we want to perform a genome analysis. In addition we want to identify stress regulated genes through a transcriptome analysis under experimental induced salinity and drought stress and perform ecofysiological experiments to investigate local adaptation of salinity and droughtstress in filamentous cyanobacteria.

• Julia Schmale - Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V., Potsdam, Germany

  I am an environmental engineer specialized in contaminated soil remediation and waste management. I studied at the University of Leoben, Austria, and spent approximately two years in Concepción, Chile, during this time doing some practical work in organic waste management. So, how did I end up with atmospheric science in Polar regions? After having learned a lot about anthropogenic emissions to soil, water and air and how they can be mitigated, I thought exploring the effects of atmospheric emissions would very much complete the picture. So, I started a PhD performing aircraft-based aerosol mass spectrometric measurements. My first campaign was on long-range transport pollution over Greenland during the International Polar Year in 2008. This experience got me hooked on studying Polar aerosol and was the motivation to join APECS. I also had the chance to measure a 3 months old volcanic aerosol plume from the Okmok and Kasatochi eruptions in the tropopause region over Central and Western Europe in fall 2008. After having explored a very little bit of Arctic aerosol, I had the chance to measure particles in Sub-Antarctica for three months on Bird Island, South Georgia, a research station operated by the British Antarctic Survey. As a visiting scientist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh, Scotland, my task was to find out about the contribution of sea bird emissions to the local submicron aerosol by studying particle chemical composition with specific focus on biogenic compounds and ammonia. Since May 2012 I am leading a project on short-lived climate-forcing pollutants (SLCPs) at the interface between science, policy, society and the private business sector. Using transdisciplinary research methods my team is working on identifying research needs and pathways to policy implementation for the reduciton of SLCPs.

• Anton Van de Putte - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium

  APECS Belgium
  Anton Van de Putte is a Marine Biologist with a strong interest in the role of fish in the Southern Ocean Ecosystem. He received his PhD in 2008 for his research on the ecology and evolution of Southern Ocean fish, whit special focus on the mesopelagic lantern fish Electrona antarctica. He has experience in Science Education and Outreach. Currently, he is a science officer for the Belgian SCAR-Marbin and AntaBIF projects that aim to provide free and open access to Antarctic biodiversity data.

• Tristy Vick-Majors - Montana State University, United States

  I study microbial ecology, limnology and biogeochemistry in icy, cold environments. I have spent three field seasons in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica sampling permanently ice-covered lakes, and will soon visit the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to study subglacial Lake Whillans, which lies 800 meters beneath the ice. I am fascinated with microbial processes and the ecology of terrestrial aquatic and marine systems. I am constantly looking for new ways to form collaborations and to improve networking opportunities for graduate students and other aspiring scientists. I am currently co-chair of the graduate student group, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at my home institution of Montana State University, and am working on an array of projects that aim to sustain a supportive community for female graduate students. In my spare time, I love to take in the beauty of Montana by hiking and learning to cross-country ski, read, and work on fixing up my tiny house.

• Mariette Wheeler - Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa

  Standing on the beach as a child, I used to stare at the horizon and wonder what it would feel like to sail away until I only had the ocean surrounding me. Later, when I learned about sub-Antarctic Marion Island, it became my dream to go there. It came true in 2004, when I went to the island to conduct field work towards my PhD studies. My PhD work focused on the effects of human activities on the seabirds and seals at the island. Sailing away and living on the remote island for a year! I obtained my PhD in 2009. I am currently working as an environmental consultant investigating the impacts of developments on fauna and flora as well as on water resources. I am based in South Africa. We have an Internet network entitled South, for people interested in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic research and the environment. Unfortunately APECS is still relatively unknown here. I know many of the researchers working on Marion Island and Gough Island as well as staff members from the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP).