AGP Scientific Consultants

Níels Einarsson

Director of the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri, Iceland. An anthropologist by training (Universities of Iceland, Oxford and Uppsala), Einarsson's research interests include northern environmental anthropology, circumpolar sustainability issues, social and environmental impacts of fisheries management, whale watching, whaling and changes in worldviews in Iceland, resilience, social capital and dynamics in fishing communities, Arctic/North Atlantic marine mammal conservation controversies, nature perceptions, ideologies and environmental groups, consumption patterns and sustainability, and social and cultural adaptation to climate change. He has led and participated in a number of international research projects with a focus on the circumpolar region, including as co-chair (with Oran R. Young) of the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR). As skipper of the sailing boat Stella, he also spends time fishing, hunting and sailing off the north coast of Iceland.

Terry Fenge

Based in Ottawa, Dr. Terry Fenge is the Principal of Terry Fenge Consulting Incorporated, specializing in aboriginal rights and interests, environmental affairs, and national and international public policy in the circumpolar Arctic and beyond. Dr Fenge took the position of Director of Research and later Executive Director at the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC). From 1985 to 1993 he was Director of Research and Senior Negotiator for the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN), the Inuit organization that negotiated the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Since 1996 he has worked on contaminants, climate change, biodiversity conservation, and intergovernmental issues. He was Strategic Counsel to the Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) from 1996 to 2006 and is currently the Senior Policy Advisor to the Arctic Athabaskan Council. Since 2000 he has also worked with the Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) to implement the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. In addition he has worked with the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) the Inuit Heritage Trust (IHT), and the Circumpolar Conservation Union (CCU). Dr Fenge is the author, co-author or editor of six books and monographs, and more than 60 published papers. His most recent book, "Northern Lights Against POPs: Combatting Toxic Threats in the Arctic," co-edited with David Downie of Columbia University, was published in 2003 by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Bernard Funston

Mr. Funston has more than 30 years of experience pertaining to the Canadian North and the northern circumpolar region, including systems of governance, domestic and international intergovernmental relations, negotiation and implementation processes relating to Aboriginal land claims and self-government, resource development issues (including devolution of natural resource jurisdiction to territorial governments), scientific research and cooperation, and a range of fields relating to economic and community development. He served as Director of Constitutional Law (1986-92) and Special Advisor on Constitutional Affairs (1992 to 1997) with the Government of the Northwest Territories. In his international work, Mr. Funston was directly involved as a member of the Canadian delegation in the negotiations leading to the creation of the Arctic Council in 1996 and has participated in the work of the Council since its inception. He chaired the committee (1996-1998) which drafted the Arctic Council Rules of Procedure. Since 2002 Mr. Funston has been the Executive Secretary to the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group Secretariat during the Icelandic, Russian, Norwegian, and Danish chairmanships of the Council. Mr. Funston authored the report entitled “Arctic Energy,” which was submitted to Arctic Council Ministers at their biennial meeting held in Tromsø, Norway in April 2009. In August 2009 he prepared a paper for the United Nations Environmental Program on the effectiveness of Arctic-relevant multilateral environmental agreements. Mr. Funston is a member in good standing of the Law Societies of Northwest Territories (active) and Alberta (inactive). He holds degrees from Trent University, the University of Cambridge (King’s College), and the University of Alberta.

Alf Håkon Hoel

Alf Håkon Hoel is a political scientist whose research interests center on resource management and environmental politics in international relations, in the polar areas in particular. His research has addressed international cooperation in the management of living marine resources, Arctic affairs and international ocean governance. Recent publications include an edited volume on international oceans governance and articles on Arctic politics. Hoel was a lead author in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and is currently leading another Arctic Council project on the implementation of ecosystem-based oceans management. Hoel lives and works in Tromsø at nearly 70 degrees north, is chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Tromsø and Professor II at the Norwegian Polar Institute. He also has broad experience from the policy world at the domestic as well as at the international level.

Timo Koivurova

Professor Koivurova is the Director of the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEM/Arctic Centre). Koivurova’s current research includes topics such as the legal status of indigenous peoples, law of the sea in the Arctic waters, the role of law in mitigating/adapting to climate change, EU’s role in a changing world and the function and role of the Arctic Council in view of its future challenges. He has been involved as an expert in several international processes globally and in the Arctic region. He was a co-leader of a global research project on the theory and practice of transboundary environmental impact assessment, co-director of EU-funded EU-Canada Relations in the Law of the Sea and Ocean Governance project, co-director of the EU-funded Arctic transform and leader in the Nordic Council of Ministers funded “The recognition of indigenous property systems within Arctic states”. He is also a Co-editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Polar Law and the co-chair of IUCN’s Arctic Task-force.

Elena Nikitina

Nikitina is the Director at Eco-Policy, a non-profit research center, Moscow. Her research focuses on domestic and international environmental institutions, natural disaster management, and Russian climate policies. She was a lead author in the 3rd and 4th IPCC assessment reports. Dr. Nikitina is involved in research on various aspects of sustainable development in the Arctic, including Norway-Russia bilateral cooperation in air pollution control (University of Tromsø-Norwegian Research Council); Arctic international regime formation (Ford Foundation), Russia’s northern environmental policies (FNI); implementation/effectiveness of international environmental commitments (IIASA) and behavior of industrial enterprises in the North. She is involved in consultancy for the UNDP program on environmental capacity building in the Murmansk region, for the Danish Environmental Support Fund. She also participates in and coordinates international research projects for the EU and publishes widely in Russia and the West.