Speakers

Adrian Lema
Director of Denmark’s National Center for Climate Research (NCKF) at the Danish Meteorological Institute. Chair of the Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese Committee for the UN Ocean Decade. With extensive experience bridging knowledge and policy, he works to translate climate science into public awareness, policymaking, and practical applications.

Agnes-Katharina Kreiling
Researcher at the Faroe Islands National Museum, Department of Terrestrial Zoology. She holds a PhD in Freshwater Ecology and works as an entomologist, monitoring terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates and co-managing the Koltur Research Station.

Annika Sølvará
Director of Research Council Faroe Islands since 2007. She represents the Faroe Islands in several boards and positons, e.g. the NordForsk board and the The Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese committee
for UN Ocean Decade, and Horizon Europe NCP Coordinator. The Research Council runs two dedicated programmes on the North Atlantic: MARiNAO and FASDiNA.  

Arne Flåøyen
Director of NordForsk since 2018. He holds a PhD in Veterinary Science and has two decades of experience at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, where he led the Department of Fish Health. Flåøyen has also worked internationally as a Project Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research in agriculture, food, and biotechnology.

Christian Riisager-Simonsen
Marine Science & Policy Advisor at DTU Aqua. His work focuses on developing future marine research initiatives, both nationally and internationally, with an emphasis on ecosystem services, nature-based solutions, and biodiversity.

Elmer Topp-Jørgensen
Coordinator of INTERACT, an international network of Arctic research stations that promotes collaboration and access. He plays a key role in global initiatives supporting coordinated, safe, and sustainable Arctic fieldwork (FARO, ICARP IV, IPY, POLARIN). With a background in biology, his work spans wildlife management, biodiversity conservation, and Indigenous and local knowledge in Greenland.

Halla Nolsøe Poulsen
Director of NORA – the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation – and Chair of the Programme Committee for the FASDiNA research programme under the Research Council Faroe Islands. She holds a master’s degree in Political Science and has previously worked with the Nordic Council at the Faroese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also served as Head of the Faroese Representation in Iceland for three years.

Heini í Skorini
Associate Professor at the University of the Faroe Islands. He holds a PhD in International Relations, with research focusing on human rights, freedom of expression, and religion and politics in the North Atlantic. Before entering academia, he worked as a journalist for Weekendavisen and Kringvarp Føroya.

Ian Salter
Senior Researcher at the Faroe Marine Research Institute, specializing in chemical oceanography. His research focuses on phytoplankton ecology, nutrient biogeochemistry, and the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) in biodiversity monitoring. He leads the Faroese Marine Ecosystem Observing Study (FAMEOS) and represents the Faroe Islands in international marine science networks such as GOA-ON and CAFF-CBMP. Salter has previously held research positions in Germany, France, and the United States.

Josephine Nymand
Head of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources since 2023. She holds a PhD in Biology, specializing in Arctic ecosystems, climate change, and the sustainable use of natural resources. Joining the institute in 2007, she later became Head of Department in 2024. Nymand has served as Chair of the Greenland Research Council and as a member of the MARiNAO Programme Committee.

Kari Evensen Netland
Manager of the Nordhordland UNESCO Biosphere Area, designated in 2019, where she also led the preparatory work from 2013 onward. A member of the Norwegian MAB Committee (Man and the Biosphere), she is project leader of the North Atlantic UNESCO Trail and has extensive experience working across UNESCO designations in a European context.

Kenneth Høegh
Appointed as the Arctic Ambassador for the Kingdom of Denmark in April 2025. He chairs the Arctic Council's Senior Arctic Officials for the 2025-2027 period. He holds a MSc in Agriculture. Previously he served as the head of Greenland's Representation in Washington D.C. He has also worked as the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs for the Government of Greenland and has held roles within the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mads Peter Heide Jørgensen
Professor at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, leading research on marine mammals and Arctic ecosystems. Holding a doctorate in Biology, he heads the “Heide-Jørgensen Group,” which investigates life-history signals in narwhal tusks through elemental, isotopic, and hormone analyses. His research includes satellite tracking, population assessments, and the effects of climate change on marine mammals. He has made significant contributions to NAMMCO (the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission), serving on its Scientific Committee and chairing several working groups.

Per Haugaard
Head of EU Representation in Denmark since 2022. He has worked at the European Commission since 1993 and, throughout his career, has been involved in many key policy areas as well as communication. Most recently, since 2019, he has served as a trade adviser to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Phie Ambo
Danish documentary filmmaker celebrated for her poetic and contemplative style. A graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, she explores themes of nature, consciousness, and climate. Her recent works include 70/30 (2021), a political climate documentary; Organiseret Vildskab (2022), about rewilding Danish forests; and Fire, Water, Earth, Air (2025) — also known as the CliCNord Documentary — focusing on Nordic collaboration on climate change. Ambo is co-initiator of the Center for New Global Narratives, which explores storytelling as a tool for environmental transformation.

Rico Kongsager
Associate Professor at University College Copenhagen (KP), Department of Emergency and Risk Management. He holds a PhD in Geography and has led major research projects including CliCNord: Climate Change Resilience in Small Communities in the Nordic Countries (2021–24), with fieldwork in the Faroe Islands, and LostToClimate: Addressing Unavoidable Non-Economic Losses to Climate-Induced Events for Communities in the Arctic (2025–29), involving fieldwork in Alaska.