2022 International Graduate Student Research Cohort

The annual International Graduate Student Research Cohort (IGSRC) brings together students and faculty from universities in Maine and across the North Atlantic region to collaborate on research that results in publishable papers and a joint presentation at the Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA) in Reykjavik, Iceland. | Read More

The members of the cohort network with one another through remote video conferencing sessions in advance of coming together in person at the ACA. The project demonstrates how universities and the private sector can work together, build on one another’s perspectives, and design integrated solutions for economic and environmental challenges in the Arctic and North Atlantic Blue Economy

Since students and faculty are drawn from a variety of fields, they work together in an integrated cross-disciplinary manner, while pursuing their own research. The annual IGSRC is the result of an ongoing partnership among the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the Maine North Atlantic Institute (MNAI) at the University of Southern Maine (USM), and the New England Ocean Cluster (NEOC) in Portland, Maine.

In 2022 the cohort participants focused their research on innovative best practices and partnerships in the Blue Economy as seen through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework:  “People, Planet, and Profit”.

The 2022 Cohort includes six students and four faculty members from the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the University of Southern Maine (USM), and the University of New Brunswick (UNB). An overview of the project and research will be featured in the media platform, JONAA, Journal of the North Atlantic & Arctic. The students and faculty presented at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 13, 2022 in the session, THE ARCTIC BLUE ECONOMY: INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH COHORT. Please see below to view the students’ full research papers.

Stephany Peterson | Beneath the Surface: Complexity for the Blue Economy Frontier

Lisa Luken | The Blueprint for the Blue Economy in the Arctic Must Focus on Communities and Recognize the Work of Women

Sona Hakhverdyan and Ida Amalie Nystad Reierth | Challenges and Opportunities of Marine Bioprospecting in the Arctic

Joan LeBlanc | Marine Protected Areas in a Rapidly Changing Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities for Balancing Equity, Economy, and the Environment

Courtney Catherine Burk | Marine Protected Area Planning – Arctic Environments Now and Into the Future