NAMMCO - Key Persons
Albert has a PhD in Population Ecology (University of Barcelona, 2013) and ample international experience as a researcher in animal population dynamics. Before joining NAMMCO, Albert worked as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Agder (Norway), quantifying the abundance, survival and spatial ecology of coastal fish and lobster in and around Marine Protected Areas in Southern Norway. Previously, he also conducted demographic research on Atlantic cod at the Institute of Marine Research (Norway), researched salmonid ecology and taught population modelling at the University of Oviedo (Spain) and worked as a seabird ecologist for the Non-profit organization ‘Bretagne Vivante' (France).
Due to his background in applied ecological research, Albert is strongly interested in the management of natural resources using robust scientific knowledge. In the past, he has been able to determine the role of natural vs. anthropogenic factors on the dynamics of different animal populations, and his findings have led to improvements in the management of harvested species and protected areas, both in Norway and abroad. Besides, Albert is also interested in environmental education and in sustainable food production and consumption, and has been previously involved, on a volunteer basis, in running a nature school and a local food cooperative in Mallorca (Spain).
Albert is from Barcelona (Spain) and moved to Norway with his family in 2018. He has two small children and likes to spend his free time exploring the Norwegian nature with his wife and kids.
Job Titles:
- Marine Research Institute Faroe Islands
- Member of the Committee
Charlotte Winsnes main areas of responsibilities are hunting methods and animal welfare issues, the NAMMCO Observation Scheme, and NAMMCO finances and budgets.
Charlotte Winsnes is Norwegian originating from Oslo. She joined the Secretariat on a permanent basis in September 2000. Prior to this she had worked as an external consultant for NAMMCO in connection with two major Conferences in 1995 and 1997.
Charlotte's academic background includes studies in Social Economics and Social Anthropology from the University of Bergen. After leaving the University she worked as research coordinator for the Norwegian Research Council within the fields of environment and development. In 1992 she moved to Tromsø to organise the joint 5th World Wilderness Congress and 1st Northern Forum Conference. Following a short period as adviser in Akvaplan-niva she returned to the Research Council and worked as Programme Coordinator for the Norwegian National Committee on Polar Research until 1998.
Geneviève Desportes is French and stepped into the office of General Secretary of NAMMCO on 1st April 2015. She has been living in three of the four NAMMCO member countries: five years in the Faroe Islands, one year in Iceland and now in Norway. She also lived 23 years in Denmark.
Geneviève has been involved with the Scientific Committee of NAMMCO since its inception in 1992 and chaired the Committee from 2005 to 2009. She was also the coordinator of Trans North Atlantic Sightings Survey (TNASS) that was conducted under the auspices of NAMMCO from 2006 to 2009.
Geneviève believes in the sustainable and responsible use of natural resources associated to animal welfare, science-based management supported by traditional knowledge (TEK) and transparency in management advice and processes. Her aims are to render NAMMCO more visible as an effective regional management organisation and develop ecosystem approach to management.
Formerly she ran her own biological consultancy in Denmark, working for a variety of government, non-government and international organisations. Her main occupation has been the coordination of projects related to marine mammal conservation, with a focus on abundance estimation and harbour porpoise by-catch mitigation. In 2011-2015, she was also the Coordinator of the North Sea Conservation Plan for Harbour Porpoises, under the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetacean of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Sea (ASCOBANS - CMS).
From 1997-2005, she was employed by the Fjord and Belt Centre, a Danish marine centre, and develop and led the Marine Mammal and Research Department. Geneviève was responsible for initiating and coordinating the research on harbour porpoises, which focused on by-catch mitigation but also encompassed physiology, husbandry, behaviour, acoustics and satellite telemetry.
Geneviève is educated in France, from the Universities of Bordeaux (B.Sc in Biology and Physiology, 1980), Brest (M.SC in Biological Oceanography, 1981) and Poitiers (PhD in Physiology, 1985).
Besides her scientific work, Geneviève has two adult children and has been deeply involved in working with refugees. Between 2006 and 2015, when she moved to Tromsø, she was the chair of a charity association, LINK, supporting refugees in her home-town of Kerteminde in Denmark. In her free time, Geneviève balances between seas and mountains, enjoying activities such as mountain trekking, canyoning, rafting, sea kayaking, winter swimming and bicycling. She also enjoys poetry, theatre, movies and novels.
Job Titles:
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland
- Member of the Committee
Job Titles:
- Marine Scientist
- Scientific and Communication Assistant
Heleen is a dedicated marine scientist who has both an academic background in environmental research and hands-on experience with marine mammals. She is particularly interested in human impacts on the marine environment.
She obtained her MSc. in the interdisciplinary field of Industrial Ecology where she learnt to integrate technical, environmental, and social aspects to come up with holistic solutions to environmental issues. During her studies, she traveled to Svalbard to learn about the possible impacts of the oil industry on the Arctic marine ecosystem and how these can be mitigated. She specialised in Life Cycle Impact Assessments and worked on quantifying the impacts of marine noise pollution on cetaceans within this framework.
Heleen has experience working as a field assistant for the Alaska Whale Foundation, collecting and analysing data for projects that examine humpback whale health, foraging ecology, and social behaviour. She has also previously volunteered in animal care for SOS Dolfijn, a rehabilitation centre for small cetaceans in The Netherlands, and worked in ecotourism as a naturalist on whale watching boats in New Zealand. More recently, she became a qualified Marine Mammal Observer and Passive Acoustic Monitoring operator.
Heleen was born and raised in The Netherlands but came to Norway over five years ago, drawn by the outdoors. She loves both the roughness and the beauty of the Arctic and takes every opportunity to be out in nature, whether that be through sailing, hiking, or freediving.
Ian is from Canada and has been living in Tromsø since 2019. His areas of expertise include business administration, project management, and communication. With a diverse professional background spanning various business environments, he brings a versatile skillset that contributes to the enhancement of the operational efficiency of the Secretariat. Ian previously worked as a Director for a Canadian media company for ten years and had also roles in a multinational public relations company, a brokerage firm, and a bank.
He holds a master's degree in peace and conflict transformation from UiT The Arctic University of Norway as well as a bachelor's degree in general management from McGill University, specializing in finance and strategic management. Ian also has a minor in political science with a focus on international relations and a certificate in journalism. With his effective approach and a commitment to continuous learning, Ian combines his diverse professional background and academic achievements to contribute to the growth and success of NAMMCO's Secretariat.
Ian enjoys the beautiful nature surrounding Tromsø and likes to go hiking in his spare time. He also loves the Norwegian language and is always looking for ways to improve his skills in that field.
Job Titles:
- Scientific and Communication Assistant
Jana is from Germany and recently acquired her M.Sc. in Marine Biology from Stockholm University. She formed interests in conservation, species distribution modelling and the impact of anthropogenic threats on cetaceans during her studies, which she implemented in her master thesis on spatial and temporal habitat use of humpback whales in East Australia. Based on her love of bowhead whales, her goals are researching cetaceans in the Arctic to contribute to their conservation. She came to NAMMCO to learn about how research results are used and implemented in conservation.
In her free time, Jana enjoys exploring nature by bike or canoe and is willing to learn how to ski in Tromsø as she loves snow. She has a great interest in plants and likes to experiment with makeup.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Secretary, Scienc
- Deputy Secretary, Science
Maria is a marine mammal biologist. She moved from Greece to Ireland to do a master's in marine biology, and stayed there to complete her PhD at University College Cork. Her doctoral studies investigated bottlenose dolphin abundance and distribution patterns. She has conducted postdoctoral research in both Ireland and Greece, as a member of collaborative projects that examined overlaps between human activities and marine mammal movement: in MaREI (Science Foundation Ireland's Centre for Energy, Climate, and Marine Research), she helped map and measure the risk of different species' exposure to anthropogenic underwater noise; working at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, she quantified the interactions between cetaceans and artisanal fisheries, as well as the environmental impact of small-scale fishing. Maria has also taught marine biology at Perrotis College (American Farm School, Thessaloniki).
Maria's research has always been driven by the urge to develop simpler and more sustainable ways of doing things, whether that involves using platforms of opportunity rather than expensive and logistically challenging dedicated surveys to monitor cetacean populations or calculating the optimal number of fishing nets to minimise a vessel's carbon footprint. She also believes strongly that research and management of systems involving human livelihoods should include user participation. As such, she has incorporated the knowledge and lived experience of fishers when designing fishery surveys or experimenting with alternative fishing methods.
In joining the NAMMCO Secreteriat, Maria aims to contribute her expertise towards the development of sustainable practices in the Arctic. Given her background, her primary objective is to quantify and reduce the risk of marine mammal bycatch in fisheries, while an ongoing project will be to facilitate more direct participation of hunters and fishers in conservation and management planning.
When she isn't studying the sea, Maria enjoys walking beside it, swimming in it, or kayaking on it. She also dabbles in arts and crafts of every kind and loves getting lost in bookstores.
Marina Metić is NAMMCO's new intern. She comes from Croatia but has lived in Norway for the past two years. She fell in love with the sea and marine mammals, particularly whales, as a kid and since then her mind was set on studying these creatures, who they are, where they live and how to protect them. She earned her bachelor's degree in marine science at Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia, and a master's degree in biology from the University of Bergen, Norway. While studying, she learned about conservation biology and realised that that branch of science is for her. For her master's project, she investigated temporal and spatial variations in body condition of harbour porpoises along the Norwegian coastline, as well as the implications of such differences for this species.
She hopes that her time at NAMMCO will help her learn more about how research results are implemented in real life, in conservation efforts and policy making. Ultimately, she wants to contribute to furthering the knowledge, understanding, and conservation of all marine resources.
In her spare time, she loves to relax with a cup of tea or coffee and a good book or movie. She enjoys exploring nature and is looking forward to seeing everything northern Norway has to offer, from snowy winter to polar nights illuminated by northern lights.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Secretary
- Altuna Deputy Secretary, Communications
Naima El Bani Altuna is the newly appointed Deputy Secretary, responsible for Communications at NAMMCO. With a background in geology (BSc in Geology and MSc in Paleoceanography), Naima has pursued her career across various international settings, including the Basque Country, Italy, France, Canada, Norway, and the UK.
In 2021, she earned her PhD in marine geology from UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, focusing on the historical interplay between ocean circulation and abrupt climate shifts in the Nordic Seas and the Barents Sea. Post-PhD, Naima continued working as a researcher within UiT's ARCLIM-The Arctic Ocean under warm climates research group.
With a strong desire to make a societal impact, she joined Arctic Frontiers, initially as the Young Program Coordinator (2021-2022), later overseeing Side Events and the Emerging Leaders program (2022-2023). Throughout her career, Naima has been dedicated to share climate change-related scientific knowledge in multiple languages, including Basque (her mother tongue), Spanish, and English, to engage a broader audience. Her mission is to make knowledge accessible to all.
In her new role at NAMMCO, she aims to continue her commitment by facilitating collaborations and communication between scientists, knowledge holders, users, policymakers, and the public, in the context of sustainable and responsible management of marine mammals in the North Atlantic. Naima looks forward to understanding how scientific and traditional knowledge complement each other to influence policymaking and contribute to informed decision-making, which is NAMMCO's core mission.
Originally from Bilbao, Naima has embraced Tromsø as her home. In her free time, she is a devoted plant mom (with over 60 house plants), navigating the challenges of Arctic plant care. She is also a sociable person, who likes learning new languages, cherishes knitting with friends and enjoys being outdoors in the captivating Arctic scenery.
Job Titles:
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute & Icelandic Seal Center, Iceland
- Member of the Committee
- Vice - Chair ( Iceland )