We are thrilled to welcome Maël as part of our team at the Iceland Ocean Cluster while he is in Iceland for the next few months.  He has already contributed significantly to work on our Hack the Ocean project – helping us explore the results of our co-location coffee and in mapping out how much sludge might be produced from Iceland´s growing land-based salmonid aquaculture sector.

Maël is a recent graduate of the Master in Environment, Development, and Peace, with a specialization in Sustainable Food Systems at the United Nations mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica. His areas of expertise encompass natural resource management, food production and innovation, food security, climate justice and adaptation, environmental governance, conservation, and ecotourism. Maël honed his skills through extensive fieldwork with local and Indigenous communities in rural Costa Rica. His deep-seated passion and keen interests for Arctic ecosystems and keen interest in Arctic issues led him to join twice the Arctic Circle Secretariat, Reykjavík, Iceland, as a Program Coordinator, in preparation for the Arctic Circle Assembly 2022 and 2023. As a Junior Consultant for the Arctic Economic Council, Norway, Maël authored a report on the current state and prospects of the food sector in the Arctic region, mapping northern food systems and offering specific and cross-cutting recommendations on policy measures for Arctic governments. When he is not hiking somewhere in the Arctic, Maël is a passionate weightlifter and CrossFitter.