An Arctic conference in Hawaii – yes please!
August 14th-16th 2019, I went to the North Pacific Arctic Conference (NPAC), co-organized by the East-West Center and the Korea Maritime Institute, helt at the international Conference Center in Honolulu – to present on the BBNJ treaty negotiations, as part of my GoJelly project. What a place to hold a conference. Granted – its on the other side of the world – so I am still tired from this trip actually (Hawaii is 12 hours behind us in Norway). I got there a day before it started so that I could adjust – but alas – it was tough since I had only gotten back to Norway from Houston two weeks…
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…
ISA conference in Toronto, Canada
The International Studies Association held its annual meeting in Toronto, Canada this year – from the 26th – 30th of March 2019. It was a fun experience as always – and I presented two papers together with my colleague here at Texas A&M University at Galveston, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Nyman. I have gone to this conference for 12 years though, since 2007 – and only missed it twice in these years. It is therefore by .far my favorite conference and I love going there – and I have so many great memories of going there and presenting with the Oceans and Fish people that always .go there as well. This…
Instagram – come follow me there too!
So – I made a separate Instagram account for my work travels because I want to remove that part of my life from my private life (and instagram account) – so if you are on Instagram and want to see pictures from not only my work travels but from work in general – my name there is @researchermomonthemove – not very short or sweet – but WanderingReseracher in any kind of form was already taken 🙂
Getting ready for the 2nd round of BBNJ negotiations in NYC
My ISA colleagues and I are planning to attend the second round of negotiations on biodiversity protection in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) under UNCLOS in March-April 2019 – and the planning has started. These are the same women that I have now published in the Washington Posts MonkeyCage as well as in Marine Policy with – we informally call ourselves Rachel and the three Elizabeths 🙂 We are all members of the International Studies Association (ISA), which is an NGO accredited to the ECOSOC. This association allows for the distribution of grounds passes for their members, and they can have their members registered as observers to certain UN meetings…
A skip, a hop and a dash to Belgium and Greece for a week
January was a crazy month with the Horizon2020 project COASTAL that I am project leader on for SINTEF Ocean, and that I lead a work package on. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. It involves a unique multi-actor collaboration of coastal and rural business entrepreneurs, administrations, stakeholders, and natural and social science experts where the aim is to formulate and evaluate business solutions and policy recommendations that in time may improving the coastal-rural synergy and thereby foster rural and coastal development, while still preserving the environment. My role in the project is to lead WP1 on the Multi Actor Analysis. The…
Off to New York City, the UN and international negotiations
Part of my job while here in the US is to follow the negotiations of the upcoming treaty on biodiversity protection in areas beyond national jurisdiction, with a special focus (for me) on plastics and the Arctic, with the Arctic ocean being an emerging ocean as the ice is melting and more of it is becoming navigable. The negotiations are taking place for two years in New York City, twice per year, and there was an organizational meeting in April that my friend and colleague Elizabeth Nyman from Texas A&M University at Galveston – where I am affiliated – works, in the Maritime Studies program. The first meeting proper was…
Welcome to Houston
And here we are – we have arrived finally in Houston after flying via Amsterdam – and we are so excited! The kids were great – and I am so proud of them! My brother picked us up at the airport and my mom and dad were at the apartment, having packed out our stuff that we shipped and gone shopping for the basics (you forget how much basic stuff you have really – like a plunger, garlic press, potato peeler – not to mention towels and wash cloths). The apartment is stunning – much nicer than I can even start to explain – but I have added some photos…
Countdown is ON!
So – its the final countdown – we are definitely moving and the jitters are starting to come now. So I realize there are some things that I still do not have under full control, so I am making myself this check list to ensure that I am aware that I can not yet sit down and relax and wait for our flight to leave. What do I have to do? Heres my list in order of importance! Ensure that we are properly insured – we do have the insurance through the Norwegain government, so I need to ensure that this is either enough or that we need to buy…
Countdown to TX is on!
YES – we got our tickets to the US now – we are leaving on the 16th of August – myself and the three youngest children. As you know, my husband is not coming until Christmas and our oldest son is not moving with us (he is visiting us ever single vacation – so four trips in the year we are gone). The kids have been asking and asking for long it is left until we leave – so we decided to make a countdown calendar – and low and behold – the kids finished it and the countdown is on! We found out that there were 60 days left…
