Svalbard, Arctic shipping routes and port development – newest article
The newest article co-written by myself and my colleagues at Texas A&M University at Galveston just got published in Maritime Studies – https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-019-00143-4 Svalbard, which I have written about several times since I started my PhD studies in 2005, is and island group that is located in the Arctic Ocean, and is administered by Norway through the 1920 Svalbard Treaty. Due to its strategic location, the increasing activities of oil/gas exploration development and the possibilities of new routes to and from Europe and Asia using the Arctic passage, Svalbard represent a new potential development area within a new efficient transport route. The aim of this paper was to investigate Svalbard’s…
BBNJ treaty negotiations
The second Intergovernmental Conferene (IGCII) started on March 25th and lasted until April 5th 2019 in New York City. I once again was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the negotiations as an observer, and along with my colleagues Elizabeth Nyman, Elizabeth Mendenhall and Elizabeth De Santo, we spent two weeks gathering data, interviewing participants, developing a database of delegate and NGO/IGO interventions, and writing on articles together. It was exhaustive – as per usual – but also every rewarding in terms of not only data gathering but also in terms of experience with following negotiations, and learning more about the informal rules of the game – as…
TEDx style talk – how to prepare
I was recently invited to be one of the plenary speakers of the Fulbright annual conference in Puebla, Mexico, having a TEDx style talk – which immediately got me nervous since – well – I love TED talks *imposter-syndrom-kick-in* So first thing first – get a book on TED talks! I figure – I can watch as many TED talks possible but it probably helps to read (reading helps everything – I am a book-a-holic and read probably way too much fantasy and future dystopia and young adult novels for my own good, but it is a good escape from the realities of climate change and microplastic pollution and ocean…
YES – I am going to the UN meeting!
So very excited today – because I just received my approval from the BBNJ conference secretariat to attend as an ISA representatives to the BBNJ conference, being held in New York from 4-17 September 2018. I have even received my individual letters that iterates the details of my approved registration, including guidance to obtain my temporary UN grounds pass. This is an important element in my Fulbright study as well as my work on marine plastics with the GoJelly project financed by Horizon2020 – and it opens the door for my observational study and in-depth interviews! I have spent the morning finalizing the interview guide, and looking over documents from…
Fulbright award ceremony
The official award ceremony for my Fulbright Arctic Chair award was Monday kJune 4th at the Nobel Institute in Oslo and this group picture is the Fulbright class of 2018 – I am wearing a yellow shirt in second row. This is my official solo picture 🙂 This is the State Secretary if Education (left) and the US Ambassador (right)
The Fulbright brochure 2018
So every year, Fulbright presents their grantees for that given year in a brochure that is available online on the Current Fulbrighter page. So – just got a sneak peak at the one for this year, and yours truly is on the front page smiling very broadly! I was hoping to see if I could find the one from 2011 when I last went, but alas no success – maybe they have it on file – would be fun just to see how I described myself then as opposed to now! UPDATE – Fulbright read my post and sent med the 2011 brochure as well – so here goes my…
Phuh – finally see the light at the end of the tunnel
Thank God for Fulbright. In all honesty, I really dont know how other people without the resources of Fulbright in the back are able to do this… The beautiful people of Fulbright have now filled in my DS 2019 – Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status (J-Non Immigrant), and given med “hold my hand” instructions on how to fill in the DS 160 (which I can not even remember having filled out last time around – but I surely must have – and have proof of when I searched my own website for DS 160). I can see that even then, I was confused about the photos – and…
My first visit to Texas A&M University at Galveston
The last week of April, I went to Texas to: Meet future colleagues and check out campus; Find areas where I might want to live; Find a house; and Find good schools that belong to the neighborhood of said house. This post is about Texas A&M University at Galveston – where I will be working at the Maritime Studies program with Assistant Professor Elizabeth Nyman – a Political Scientist who works on interdisciplinary maritime issues like myself. The Maritime Studies program itself is interdisciplinary and works in collaboration with other programs at TAMUG. In fact, Maritime Studies students get to choose from classes in archeology, anthropology, history, literature, law, public policy,…
Date set for VISA interview!!
So – the date has been set for my VISA interview for our upcoming trip to the US – I am so very grateful I am under the wing of Fulbright here – since this is a long and complicated process and they are taking care of it for us! My interview date is June 4th – and both my husband and I have to go down to Oslo for the day. We are thinking of going there the day before so that it wont be so rushed – since I have to be in Brussels for a kick off meeting for a Horizon2020 project the next day. This day,…
We are on the move again!
In August, we will move again – to Houston, Texas! We are so excited all of us (with the possible exception of our oldest son who will be 17 soon). We had wanted to go again for a long while and I was so happy when I was selected as the Fulbright Arctic Chair for 2018 – which effectively ensured that it would be possible! I will be affiliated with Texas A&M University at Galveston, where I will be working on the following topics, with a special focus on the Arctic, marine plastics and climate change: The internationally legally binding instrument (ILBI) on the management of biodiversity in areas beyond…
