APECS Council 2023-2024 - Council Leadership

Council Chairs

• Lin Chen - United States

  

  University of California, Riverside, United States

  Dr. Lin Chen is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside, USA. His postdoc project focuses on the development and implementation of computationally efficient methods for hydrologic modeling at the watershed scale. Lin completed his Ph.D. at the University of Montreal, Canada, where he utilized a combination of field observation and numerical modeling to quantify the surface energy components for different land cover types and to investigate the impacts of subsurface water flow on the thermal stability of roads and highways in high-altitude and high-latitude cold regions. His current research interests include permafrost modeling, cold-region infrastructure, surface water-groundwater interactions, solute transport, sediment transport, and computationally efficient algorithm.

• Scarlett Zetter - Norway

  Arctic University Museum of Norway (UiT), Department of Botany, Norway

   

  Hey! My name is Scarlett and I am a third year PhD Candidate of the ECOGEN project, based at the Arctic University Museum of Norway. I started with my bachelors in Zoology because I thought I would never want to work with plants... how wrong I was. My bachelors thesis looked at the effects of human land use on Lepidoptera species diversity across Northern England. My masters thesis looked at the effects of climate on the interspecific interactions of grassland plant species, and thus my love for plants was sparked. Before my PhD, I worked as a technician using molecular biology techniques to look at the effects of climate change on insect species and I knew that this is what I loved doing. My PhD ties my interests from my bachelors, masters and my job all together. It focuses on using ancient sedimentary DNA to identify the effects of climate change and human land use on plant biodiversity around sub-alpine/alpine lakes across the Alps and Northern Norway since the last glacial maximum. Outside of work I love to fell run, road cycle, xc ski and hike. If the weather is bad, you'll find me reading, annoying my housemates by playing the violin or playing video games.
   
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National Committee Coordinators

• Elaine Runge - Germany

  Not affiliated, Germany
  

  Hejsa all! My name is Elaine Runge. Being passionate about many aspects of the marvelous polar sciences, so far I have been fortunate to study primary production in land fast sea ice in Svalbard and the biogeochemistry around increasing glacial meltwater influx and productivity patterns in the high Canadian Arctic. So I really like the tiniest things in the oceans! The later project included cooperating with local communities in the North, learning from their unique and incomparable knowledge of the region and their experiences that prove vital in better understanding the system’s dynamics and its changes as well as their help with field work campaigns. Past internships and volunteering have made me keen to learn more about the Earth's system interconnectivity as well as the social elements around climate knowledge, capacity building, and the power of societal involvement and activism. I have often had the immense privilege to work within a multi-national, interdisciplinary research team which has broadened my horizon and approach to Arctic research and shaped me in the way I see and want to contribute to scientific progress. Lately I have joined different working groups to learn more about minorities in polar research and how a more supportive and inclusive system can be created. In my free time I like to go for adventures outdoors, do gardening and tap dance, engage in different forms of volunteering and political activism and still try to master the cello.

• Priyanka Vadrevu - India

  The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India

  Namaste from India! I am an environmentalist by qualification, specializing in Hydro-glacial studies. My major areas of interest converge in Glaciology, Climate Change, and IWRM Practices and I am currently working on the amalgamation of the same at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). I joined APECS as an individual council member in the year 2019 and worked on various projects within that one year of my engagement, which has been an extremely rewarding experience for me. Since then, I have always taken up leadership roles here (especially as a council chair for two consecutive terms). Apart from my involvement at APECS, I am also part of the Indian National Committee, i.e.., IPRN (APECS-India) as President under Executive Committee for 2021-22 term. I had experience participating in the Himalayan expeditions, which are the most memorable part of my career till now. I have pursued various training programs on Hydro-Glacial Studies, Climate Change and Remote Sensing of polar regions (including Himalayas) from most of the eminent institutes nationally, as well as internationally, both; these helps me in keeping up with the trending technical skills. I have been entitlement as a ‘Certified Glaciology Expert’ from Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment (IIEE). I am excited and passionate to continue further at APECS in this term with my fellow ECRs as the part of the council leadership for the fourth time once again.

Social Media Coordinators

• Anastasia Deyko - Peru

  Not affiliated, Peru

  I balance my international career in anthropology and global studies. Recently, I switched to experimental photography to reflect long term socio processes and build up future trends. Over my recent One Arctic-Thousand cameras project I make Polar related scientific data understandable independent of age, nation, country or language. Since my 5 years of research of Barents and Lapland, indigenous North changed my multicultural experience completely. Shortly, is “So close, yet so far”. “So close” means my observation: philosophy of life behind the polar circle, coexisting and conquering nature, fighting in eternal winter and taking the most of every moment during the short summer. Those are gentle uniting points of every one from the high North region. Those secret ancient knowledge that let natives to survive independently of language, borders and fast recent changes. It is my core interest - to involve culture, scientists and enthusiasts united. By “So far” I mean not only density of population, but also massive, from point to point, cross country territory, with bare inside transport connection. But mainly bureaucracy, economic and political borders, which destroyed the original net of centuries long human beings' values. I will aim to blur the barriers and find more uniting points between culture, politic and social studies in Polar territories. Hopefully, build stronger “bridges” between established science institutions and emerging initiatives. I believe it is possible to detect weak points and develop new ways of cross studies and cultural international collaborations. Blurring borders in remote Northern territories is my priority interest in the present career level.

• Anika Happe - Germany

  ICBM, University of Oldenburg, Germany

  My name is Anika Happe and I am a PhD student interested in phytoplankton, multiple stressors, environmental fluctuations, stoichiometry and biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (Germany). I found my way into APECS and my fascination for the Arctic during my participation in the MOSAiC School 2019 (organized by AWI and APECS) and have very much enjoyed communicating my experiences. Since 2020 I am part of the APECS Social Media Coordinator Team. Besides my research interests and the polar regions, I am passionate about the outdoors, rock climbing, arts and slow-traveling.

• Dan Grafton - United States

  University of California, Santa Barbara & San Diego State University, United States

  I am a PhD student in the joint doctoral program in Geography between the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego State University. My research focuses on the impacts of global climate change on Arctic tourism, centered on questions of moral responsibility, through a feminist theoretical framework. I served as the lead for the USAPECS social media task group (22-23) and enjoy connecting with other polar researchers through online platforms. Alongside my research interests, I am a proud father to two little boys and enjoy gaming.

• Kimberly Montañez-Medina - Sweden

  Lund University, Sweden

  Hola! I'm Kimberly Montañez-Medina, a Colombian researching the Arctic. During my master's degree, I focused on studying the soil-plant interaction, specifically how snow influences nitrogen uptake in plants in an Arctic tundra biome. My research has been mainly focused on Greenland. Currently, I am beginning to explore Arctic roots and hope to understand their role, considering various factors, by using models. I live in Sweden and I am affiliated with Lund University. I am passionate about Arctic topics and I look forward to making contributions and collaborating with others in any way I can :D

Representative Coordinators

• Gwenaëlle Gremion - Canada

  Institut Des Sciences de la Mer - Université du Québec à Rimouski, Canada
  

  Greetings from Rimouski in Canada! Despite growing up in the tropical island of Guadeloupe (French West Indies), I have been interested in the polar landscape, ever since a trip I took to Spitzbergen with my grandmother when I was 8. Since then, I’ve mainly focused my academic background in polar marine sciences. My bachelor degree was in Geology and Biology, and my master's degree in Oceanography. I finished my PhD in 2021 in Physical and Biological Oceanography. Because my research is only computer related, and I really enjoy going to the field, I often find myself helping with others' polar projects. That attitude led me to travel to the Carlini base (Antarctica, Argentina) and to Baffin Bay (Nunavut, Canada) for oceanography missions to study the impacts of marine variables on the ecosystem. I’ve been a member of the Council and on the board of APECS France since 2017, and have thoroughly enjoyed the sense of community, network, and opportunities that APECS has provided. Within the Council, I was mainly involved in the leadership of the IPCC review Project Group which aims to provide opportunities to early career scientists to take part in the review activities of IPCC reports. I learnt to work with a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds, meeting hard deadlines in order to achieve our goals ! After my two terms served as ExCom with one as President for 2020/21, and I am now finishing my frist term as ExOfficio and APECS Rep.Coordinator. This experience was just amazing ! I encountered colleagues and friends that I was happy to work with and join every day since now ! After this experience, I’m looking forward to work again with the Council to continue the amazing job we did with the ExCom the previous terms, to continue to grow APECS and make it shine on the international scene of polar associations through its continued support of early career scientists.

• Otaiba Yahya - Sudan

  Sudan Meteorological Authority, Sudan
  

  My name is Otaiba Yahya from Sudan -Darfur region, environmental activist and One of the founders of Youth Organization for Climate Change in Sudan. I graduated 2020 with a BSc (Hons) in physics I start my professional career as a meteorologist at Sudan Meteorological Authority, and now I'm a master's student in mathematics at Wuhan University of Technology in China in my final year. My research interests focus on fluid dynamics and turbulence. and my graduate thesis will deal with the issue of vortex dynamics. Through my thesis, I seek to present a new mathematical approach in characterizing and modeling the behavior of vortices and their interaction with each other. My mission is to understand and protect our home planet.