The Arctic Blue Economy

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.

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. The cohort participants focus their research on innovative best practices as seen through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework: “People, Planet, and Profit”.

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.

The 2026 Cohort included six students and six faculty members from the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the University of Southern Maine (USM) in the United States, Reykjavik University (RU) in Iceland, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Canada, and the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland. The students and faculty will present their research at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland in the session, INTERNATIONAL STUDENT STRATEGIES FOR THE ARCTIC BLUE ECONOMY. Please see below to view the students’ full research papers.

Kristian Munning | An Overview on Rangeland Restoration in the Arctic – How Restoration Can Benefit Local Pastoralist Communities

Erika Ouellette | Beyond Inclusion: Integrating Inuit Knowledge Systems into Blue Economy Governance in Inuit Nunangat

Rangika Piyadigamage | From Crustacean Shell Waste to Antimicrobial Chitosan Nanomaterials: A Blue-Economy Strategy for Climate-Linked AMR in Arctic Communities

Anna Schaeffer | Tourism Intensity and Housing Stress

Emma Stackfleth Chilton | Ground-Source Heat Pumps for fossil fuel Displacement in Isolated Arctic Communities: A Case Study of Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Rachel Straw | Cultural and Natural Vitality in Education: Sustaining Traditional Knowledge and Values within the Blue Economy

The 2025 Cohort included six students and six faculty members from the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the University of Southern Maine (USM) in the United States, Reykjavik University (RU) in Iceland, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Canada, and the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland. The students and faculty presented their research at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland in the session, THE ARCTIC BLUE ECONOMY: INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH COHORT. Please see below to view the students’ full research papers.

Bård Andersen | Sustainable Tourism in the Arctic Region 

Laufey Elísa Hlynsdóttir | Building Resilience in Arctic Communities: Evaluating Hybrid Renewable Microgrids Through the Triple Bottom Line

Emily Ireland | Postpartum Health in the Blue Economy: Through the Triple Bottom Line Lens

Andrea Krokan and Samuel Nemeroff | Securing the Seabed: Legal and Strategic Responses to Threats Against Arctic Undersea Infrastructure

Eleanor MacLeod | Spatial Fishery Patterns in the Arctic Region

The 2024 Cohort included six students and four faculty members from the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the University of Southern Maine (USM) in the United States, the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland, and  Reykjavík University (RU) in Iceland. The students and faculty presented their research during the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 18, 2024 to an audience at the Iceland Ocean Cluster. Please see below to view the students’ full research papers.

For more information about the 2024 International Graduate Student Research Cohort, click here

Joan Alza | Artificial Intelligence as a Decision-Making Tool for Sustainable Arctic Development

Brooke Camire | Is The European Blue School Curriculum a Viable Option for Teaching Arctic Youth the Triple Bottom Line?

Victoria Forkus | A Comparative Public Policy Analysis: Food Security Initiatives in The Arctic Region

Sydney Fox | Impact of Microplastic Particles on the Arctic through a Blue Economy and Triple Bottom Line Lens

Yara Nieuwenhuis | The potential ecological consequences of deep-sea floor mining in Norway

The 2023 Cohort included six students and four faculty members from the University of Tromsø (UiT) – The Arctic University of Norway, the University of Southern Maine (USM) in the United States, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Canada, and the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland. The students and faculty presented their research at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 21, 2023 in the session, THE ARCTIC BLUE ECONOMY: INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH COHORT. Please see below to view the students’ full research papers.

Veslemøy Mantor | Plastic Pollution in the Arctic: An overview of plastic pollution in the Arctic and the mechanisms of change towards an unnatural resource destruction of plastic pollution in Norway

Katie Ramirez | The Willow Project & Local Community Efforts to Foster Resilience in North Slope Alaska

Alona Roitershtein | Role of tourism strategy and governance in supporting sustainable coastal communities in cold-water archipelago destinations: cases of Faroe and Orkney Islands

Kelli Park | The Essence of a Changing Arctic: Relationality, Resilience & Decolonization

Kate Tucker | Sense of Place as a Determinant Of Health: Considerations for North Atlantic Coastal Communities

Magnus Vandbakk | Kelp Forests at Risk

The 2022 Cohort included six students and three 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). 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