Executive Committee

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 am currently finishing my PhD in Physical and Biological Oceanography at the Institut des Sciences de la Mer - Université du Québec à Rimouski (Canada), in which I model how primary production and pelago-benthic coupling will respond to environmental changes in the North Water Polynya in the Arctic. 

Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany

It seems that I'm passionate about cold and inhospitable regions. I have been through Siberia and the Himalayas, Iceland, and even Paris! Still, going to Antarctica was yet another level of crazy. It has been the most amazing experience of my life. Luckily for me, ice carrots (we call ice cores ‘carotte de glace’ in French) grow well in Polar Regions (I think that it's probably because the penguins scare the rabbits off!), so I will probably be able to return there to study them more. I'm now working at the Alfred Wegner Institute (AWI) doing a post-doc on past climate reconstruction from ice cores in Antarctica but also in the Himalayas and the Arctic. Despite being very much European, I’ve been involved in exchanges in the UK, Russia, China, and Laos, and hopefully will have the privilege to work in many more places in the future! I’ve been broadly involved in Early Career Networks (ECN) throughout the last years. First, of course, I’ve been involved in APECS as a Council member (two years), a project group leader (one year), and a temporary ExCom member in 2018 (two months filling in for Alex Thornton). I initiated the IPCC review Project Group in 2017, and I’m so happy to see that the project has grown (more than 120 participants for the last run, partnering with 5 other ECN), and has resulted in 1 opinion article in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05956-7), and 2 peer-reviewed papers (https://gc.copernicus.org/articles/3/89/2020/gc-3-89-2020.html). Last year, I stepped down temporarily from the Council, as I became involved in the ExCom of Ice Core Young Scientists (ICYS), and in the organisation of a workshop for ECS in the framework of the International Partnership in Ice Core Sciences. Still, I remained quite involved in APECS activities, for instance, being a co-chair of the IPCC review Project Group, initiating a cross-ECN study including both APECS and ICYS (https://www.adv-geosci.net/53/1/2020/), and participating in the ICYMARE workshop (International Conference for Young MArine Researchers, co-organised by APECS Germany).

University of Colorado Boulder / National Snow and Ice Data Center, United States

Originally from San Francisco, CA, I’m a PhD candidate in the Geography department at the University of Colorado Boulder. My research focuses on the evaluation of patterns in the surface energy budget across the Arctic Ocean and how those patterns relate to the changing sea ice concentration. I use atmospheric reanalysis and satellite data with some in situ data for model validation. I previously received my Masters from Clark University in Environmental Science and Policy. This track was important in my work because I believe that in order to improve the working relationship between scientists and policy-makers each party needs to know a bit about the other side. Through conference and international school attendance, I have further learned the importance of cross institute and country communication and collaboration. I’m extremely interested in mentoring, advocacy and communication. Outside of academia, I enjoy hiking, baking, and photography.

Norsk Polarinstitutt, Norway

Autumn greetings from Svalbard- a land of the midnight sun and polar bears. My name is Neelu Singh, and I am from India. I moved to Svalbard in 2019 after completing my Ph.D. in Marine Geochemistry at Mangalore University, India. My doctoral thesis was primarily directed at assessing temporal and spatial variations in the Organic Pollutants in the sediments of the Kongsfjorden system of Ny-Ålesund and to relate the variations to anthropogenic interferences. My research interest is not only limited to the anthropogenic pollutants but I am also interested in science communications and outreach activities as I believe ‘connect and communicate’ with the general public, students, and researchers is a very crucial step in order to protect the Polar Regions. My experience with the APECS leadership role as an Excom Member (2019-20) National Committee coordinator (2017-18) and as Council Co-Chair (2018-19) has motivated me to run for another term of Ex-com.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Marmara Research Center, Turkey

Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey! I am a polar enthusiast that is coming from different story. I love to learn a lot and luckily throughout my education I could have chance to experience various disciplines and countries. I have completed my undergraduate in Marine Engineering. During this time I focused environmental and sustainability topics which made me focus on climatic changes to affect my thesis that was on evaluation of polar code adoption of ship systems in inventory. In the meantime I have learned several sea ice forms in basic level and continued going abroad to learn more about that and I found myself in Antarctica! I have never been there yet, but I studied a lot to the agreement and help to increase education and outreach on climate change in Antarctica. Following to topic I have started my masters on Geosciences that helped me to see another multidisciplinary way that makes me excited to go deep such geology, then glaciology and then… permafrost! In the last year of my education I have moved to Germany to write my thesis regarding carbon vulnerability in permafrost features focusing on carbon pool in terms of investigating organic matter with the help of dating methods. Now, I am still at the learning period as well as completing my thesis. Regarding APECS, since 2016 I have been in this gorgeous family and I can say that I gained a lot of skills thanks to the opportunities given by our organization. Besides, I enjoyed greatly with the lovely team members. From my beginning, I am in the council and representing APECS Turkey. Alongside having the roles in various project groups I could take part reviewing a section in one of the chapter of IPCC and currently I am leading Polar Week September with my excellent partner. Hereby with this excitement, I am looking forward working together to learn and inspire our community and help the polar researchers of future!

Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany

Greetings from Berlin, via Italy, hailing from Brooklyn, NY. I am a Humboldt postdoctoral fellow studying population structure in the Antarctic toothfish, commonly known as the Chilean Sea Bass. My hope is that the data generated from my research will inform fisheries management of this commercially relevant species, which also happens to be the largest of all Antarctic fish species, as well as help to push forward the implementation of a Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea region of the Southern Ocean. My research interests involve combining multidisciplinary techniques including genetics, otolith chemistry and trophic analyses in a hydrographic context in order to understand the health of Antarctic fish populations in order to gauge what impacts climate change and anthropogenic disturbances have on them.

I joined the APECS Council for the 2016-17 term and worked in multiple capacities before being elected to the Executive Committee for the 2017-18 term. I was re-elected to the 2018-19 Executive Committee, during which time I had the privilege to serve as APECS President. I am excited to continue to contribute in the 2019-20 term to the Executive Committee in the capacity of ex-officio, in particular as the APECS leadership works to define the Strategic Goals of APECS for the next five years.

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile

My name is Juan Höfer and I am greeting you from Valparaiso, Chile. I got my PhD. in biological oceanography at the Oviedo University (Spain). During those years, I worked in temperate and sub-tropical seas, studying plankton, especially spatial distributions, population ecology and its role in pelagic trophic webs (i.e. energy and matter fluxes). Three years ago, I moved to the south of Chile as a post-doctoral researcher at the Southern University of Chile and the IDEAL research center (http://www.centroideal.cl/en). Since then, my research has drifted south and further south (from Northern Patagonia to Southern Patagonia) until I reached Antarctica in summer 2017. Now, and at least until 2022, I will study the marine ecosystems of the Southern Ocean taking part in several national and international research projects. The drift of my research towards southern latitudes brought me to APECS, shortly after to its council and one year after to its Executive Committee. Joining APECS has been a wonderful experience for me and I would like to continue in ExCom one year more to keep helping ECRs to get interesting opportunities through APECS.

University of Canterbury, New Zealand

I’m Gabriela and I am a passionate advocate for the Polar Regions. I’m from Ushuaia (Argentina) but New Zealand is my home now. I have a PhD in Antarctic Studies from Gateway Antarctica, University of Canterbury. In my research, I look at the influence of Antarctic geopolitical agendas in the construction of Antarctic identities within the communities of gateway cities. My wider research interests are in polar policy-making, community identity, polar tourism and management, and polar education and outreach. I represent APECS at the SCAR Capacity Building, Education and Training Group (SCAR CBET) and participate in other polar community networks. In my downtime, I work for a small non-profit foundation for ecological restoration in remote islands, and I travel frequently to Antarctica working as a naturalist for ecotourism expeditions.

• Jennifer Cooper - APECS President 2019-2020 - University of Kansas, United States
• Carolynn Harris - Montana State University, United States
• Juan Höfer - Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile
• Lara F. Pérez - British Antarctic Survey, United Kingdom / New Zealand
• Neelu Singh - Mangalore University, India
• Jilda Caccavo - ex officio - Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
• Gabriela Roldan - ex-officio -Gateway Antarctica / University of Canterbury - New Zealand

• Jilda Caccavo - APECS President 2018-2019 - Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research - Germany
• Jennifere Cooper - University of Kansas - United States
• Clare Eayrs - New York University Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
• Juan Höfer - Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso & IDEAL research Centre, Chile
• Gabriela Roldan - Gateway Antarctica / University of Canterbury - New Zealand
• Hanne Nielsen - ex-officio - University of Tasmania, Australia
• Alexander Thornton - ex-officio - Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. - United States

• Hanne Nielsen - APECS President 2017-2018 - University of Tasmania - Australia
• Jilda Alicia Caccavo - The University of Padua - Italy
• Jean Holloway - University of Ottawa - Canada
• Gabriela Roldan - Gateway Antarctica / University of Canterbury - New Zealand
• Alexander Thornton - University of Alaska Fairbanks - United States
• Alice Bradley - ex-officio - Dartmouth College - United States
• Ruth Vingerhagen - ex-officio - University of Cambridge - United Kingdom

Photo (from left to right): Alex Thornton, Jean Holloway, Gabriela Roldan, Gerlis Fugmann, Jilda Caccavo, Hanne Nielsen, Alice Bradley, Heike Midleja, Clare Eayrs, Jennifer Cooper, Fiona Tummon.

• Alice Bradley - APECS President 2016-2017 - University of Colorado Boulder - United States
• Josefine Lenz - Alfred Wegener Institute - Germany
• Hanne Nielsen - University of Tasmania - Australia
• Alexander Thornton - University of Alaska Fairbanks - United States
• TJ Young - British Antarctic Survey / University of Cambridge / Scott Polar Research Institute - United Kingdom
• Heather Mariash - ex-officio - National Wildlife Research Centre - Canada
• Trista Vick-Majors - ex-officio - Université du Québec à Montréal - Canada
• Ruth Vingerhagen - ex-officio - University of Cambridge - United Kingdom

Photo: Front row from left to right: TJ Young, Josefine Lenz, Alice Bradley, Gerlis Fugmann, Heike Midleja. Back row from left to right: Alex Thornton, Hanne Nielsen, Ruth Vingerhagen 

• Ruth Vingerhagen - APECS President 2015-2016 - University of St. Andrews - United Kingdom
• Alice Bradley - University of Colorado Boulder - United States
• Heather Mariash - National Wildlife Research Centre - Canada
• Hanne Nielsen - University of Tasmania - Australia
• Trista Vick-Majors - Montana State University - United States
• Jean-Sébastien Moore - ex-officio - Université Laval - Canada
• Yulia Zaika - ex-officio - Khibiny educational and scientific base of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russia
• Sara Strey - temporary ExCom member - University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign - United States

Photo (from left to right): Gerlis Fugmann, Heather Mariash, Ruth Vingerhagen, Alice Bradley, Hanne Nielsen, Yulia Zaika, Trista Vick-Majors

• Jean-Sébastien Moore - APECS President 2014-2015 - Université Laval - Canada
• Ivan Dubinenkov - Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research - Germany
• Ruth Hindshaw - University of St. Andrews - United Kingdom
• Heather Mariash - National Wildlife Research Centre - Canada
• Trista Vick-Majors - Montana State University - United States
• Jennifer Provencher - ex-officio - Carleton University - Canada
• Yulia Zaika - ex-officio - Khibiny educational and scientific base of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russia
• Alice Bradley - temporary ExCom member - University of Colorado, Boulder - United States
• Sílvia Lourenco - temporary ExCom member - Universidade de Lisboa - Portugal

Photo (from left to right): Ivan Dubinenkov, Gerlis Fugmann, Trista Vick-Majors, Ruth Vingerhagen, Heather Mariash, Yulia Zaika, Jean-Sébastien Moore

• Christie Logvinova - APECS President 2013-2014 - Clark University - United States
• Frigga Kruse - University of Groningen - Netherlands
• Russell Fielding - University of Denver, United States
• Jean-Sébastien Moore - Université Laval - Canada
• Iglika Trifonova - Bulgarian Antarctica Institute - Bulgaria
• Jennifer Provencher - ex-officio - Carleton University - Canada
• Penelope Wagner - ex-officio - University of Delaware - United States
• Yulia Zaika - ex-officio - Khibiny educational and scientific base of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russia

Photo:  Front row from left to right: Iglika Trifonova, Frigga Kruse, Christie Logvinova. Back row from left to right: Gerlis Fugmann, Russell Fielding, Yulia Zaika, Jennifer Provencher, Jean-Sébastien Moore

• Penelope Wagner - APECS President 2012-2013 - University of Delaware - United States
• Erli Costa - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
• Jennifer Provencher - Carleton University - Canada
• Ines Tavernier - Consortium Marine@UGent - Belgium
• Yulia Zaika - Khibiny educational and scientific base of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University - Russia
• Gerlis Fugmann - ex-officio - University of Saskatchewan - Canada
• Allen Pope - ex-officio - Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge - United Kingdom

Photo (from left to right): Penelope Wagner, Erli Costa, Jennifer Provencher, Ines Tavernier, Yulia Zaika, Gerlis Fugmann, Allen Pope

• Yulia Zaika - APECS President 2011-2012 - Khibiny educational and scientific base of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University- Russia
• Allen Pope - Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge - United Kingdom
• Jennifer Provencher - Carleton University - Canada
• Angelika Renner - Norwegian Polar Institute - Norway
• Luis Guilherme Resende de Assis - Universidade de Brasilia - Brazil
• Gerlis Fugmann - ex-officio - University of Saskatchewan - Canada

Photo (from left to right: Jenny Baeseman, Julia Zaika, Luis Guilherme Resende de Assis, Allen Pope, Jennifer Provencher, Angelika Renner

• Allen Pope - APECS President 2010-2011 - Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge - United Kingdom
• Gerlis Fugmann - Justus Liebig University Giessen - Germany
• Angelika Renner - Norwegian Polar Institute - Norway
• Suhas Suresh Shetye - National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research - India
• Mariette Wheeler - M2 Environmental Connections, Pretoria - South Africa

Photo (from left to right): Mariette Wheeler, Suhas Shetye, Allen Pope, Jenny Baeseman, Gerlis Fugmann, Angelika Renner

• Gerlis Fugmann - APECS President 2009-2010 - Justus Liebig University Giessen - Germany
• Francisco Fernandoy - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Germany
• Daniela Liggett - University of Canterbury - New Zealand
• Kate Sinclair - New Zealand Ice Core Programme - New Zealand
• Alexandra Taylor - Stockholm University - Sweden
• Allen Pope - part-term - University of Cambridge - United Kingdom

Photo (from left to right): Gerlis Fugmann, Francisco Fernandoy, Daniela Liggett, Kate Sinclair, Alexandra Taylor, Allen Pope

• Daniela Haase Liggett - APECS President 2008-2009 - University of Canterbury - New Zealand
• Ben Beall - University of Western Ontario - Canada
• Francisco Fernandoy - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Germany
• Matt Strzelecki - Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań (Poland) & Durham University (U.K.) / The Association of Polish Geomorphologists - Poland
• Liz Thomas - British Antarctic Survey / U.K. Polar Network - United Kingdom

2008-2009 brought about some important career changes for 2 of our ExCom members. Jose and Tina have moved on, but still remain active in the organization.

• Jose Xavier, British Antarctic Survey (UK), CEBC-CNRS (France), and University of Algrave (PT)
• Tina Tin, Environmental Consultant (France)

Photo (from left to right): Daniela Liggett, Ben Beall, Francisco Fernandoy, Matt Strzelecki, Liz Thomas, Jose Xavier, Tina Tin

• Kriss Rokkan Iversen - APECS President 2007-2008 - University of Tromsø - Norway
• Narelle Baker - Scott Polar Research Institute / UK Polar Network - United Kingdom
• Hugues Lantuit - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research / Permafrost Young Researcher Network and International Permafrost Association Secretary / Co-Founder of APECS - Germany
• Daniel Pringle - University of Alaska, Fairbanks / Alaska Young Researcher Network - United States
• Jose Xavier - Center for Marine Sciences / Portuguese Youth Steering Committee - Portugal

Photo: APECS ExCom 2007-2008 in Iceland writing the APECS constitution. From left to right: Hugues Lantuit, Jose Xavier, Daniel Pringle, Jenny Baeseman, Halldor Johansson, Kriss Rokkan-Iversen, ?, Narelle Baker, Dave Carlson