The Emerging Leaders program - new perspectives for work and everyday life in the Arctic

This year Emerging Leader from Akvaplan-niva, Eirik Haugstvedt Henriksen, is born and raised in Tromsø and holds a PhD in biology from UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His expertise is on freshwater biology working with fish and parasite ecology. Eirik is fascinated by the way that parasites are embedded in food webs and provide information on the state and functioning of Arctic ecosystems. Following his work with this at the university he has worked for the government with spatial planning.

Eirik (right) at Arctic Frontiers Big Picture session on the Green Transition (Photo: Trude Borch, Akvaplan-niva)

Eirik started in his current position as a researcher with Akvaplan-niva a couple of years ago. Here he works with pollution in freshwater ecosystems, anadromous fish and parasites on Svalbard – among other things.

Eirik (front) in some of the many active discussion rounds with the other Emerging Leaders participants (Photo: David Jensen - jensenmedia).

Having grown up in the Arctic Eirik cares alot about the region and hopes that his work can contribute to a future healthy Arctic. He states the following about his participation in the 2025 Emerging Leaders program:

- This was indeed a very nice and learning experience. I have met so many nice people and acquired new perspectives that I will bring with me, both in my work and everyday life. We have been presented with a magnitude of challenges and opportunities for the Arctic, and we have used this to discuss the way forward for the best possible future for the region and its inhabitants.

The Emerging Leaders group with mentors (Photo: David Jensen - jensenmedia):

From left: Linda Simensen, Eirik Haugstvedt Henriksen and Amanda Ziegler (Akvaplan-niva). Linda and Amanda coordinated the Emerging Leaders program. (Photo: Trude Borch/Akvaplan-niva)