Research Professor

Arctic Centre

Sanna Kopra’s research focuses on Arctic geopolitics and global environmental politics. She is the author of China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change (Routledge 2019) and a co-editor of Chinese Policy and Presence in the Arctic (Brill Publishing 2020, with Timo Koivurova). Currently, Sanna leads three research projects: Rethinking International Relations in an Era of the Planetocene: Case Arctic Ocean Up to 2050 funded by the Research Council of Finland (2023-2027), A Planetary Approach to Global Arctic Politics funded by the University of Lapland’s internal strategy funding (2022-2024), and Climate Responsibility as a Cornerstone of Multilateral Cooperation? funded by the Kone Foundation (2022-2025).

Junior Researcher

Katharina Heinrich holds a master’s degree in Polar Law from the University of Akureyri, Iceland, and a master’s degree in Coastal and Marine Management from the University Centre of the Westfjords, Iceland. Her research focuses on Arctic and Antarctic Law and Policy, Environmental Law, Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Management under consideration of ecosystem dynamics and climate change impacts. Katharina works on the following projects: Transboundary governance models of biodiversity protection: case studies for an enhanced protection of natural resources in Europe; Rethinking International Relations in an Era of the Planetocene: Case Arctic Ocean Up to 2050; and ICEBERG – Innovative Community Engagement for Building Effective Resilience and Arctic Ocean Pollution-control Governance in the Context of Climate Change.

Researcher

Arctic Centre

Liisa Kauppila is a China researcher and a futurist. Her research interests include China’s economic engagement in the Arctic and Nordic countries, technology related aspects of great power rivalry, experimental futures research methods and relational theory. Kauppila works in the project Rethinking International Relations in an Era of the Planetocene: Case Arctic Ocean Up to 2050.

She has published peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and policy-oriented reports and facilitated five major Delphi studies at the intersection of social science and art.

Researcher

Arctic Centre

Paula Tulppo is a PhD candidate in the field of Administrative Science and in her PhD research she scrutinizes European Union’s cross-border cooperation as a tool for regional development at the northern border region between Finland and Sweden. She graduated as a Master of Administrative Sciences from the University of Tampere, with Regional Studies as a main subject. Paula works in a project Transboundary governance models of biodiversity protection: case studies for an enhanced protection of natural resources in Europe.

Academy Research Fellow

Arctic Centre

Vesa is a political geographer who works as an Academy Research Fellow in the project “Rethinking the territory of geopolitics: spatialities, temporalities and materialities of Arctic geopolitics”, which is funded by the Research Council of Finland (2024—2028). The key objective of his research is to dismantle the prevailing spatial ontology of territories and the associated understanding of geopolitics that are the key drivers in many a socio-ecological crisis today. Before the current position Vesa worked in the project “A Planetary Approach to Global Arctic Politics”. Put together, his previous and current research seeks to integrate more-than-human thinking into research on Arctic geopolitics and promote ways of thinking that enable the realization of socio-ecological justice.

Visiting Researcher

Adrian Braun holds a doctoral degree in social sciences and business studies awarded from the University of Eastern Finland. The dissertation had a strong thematic focus on Corporate Social Responsibility in the European Arctic with consideration of natural resources exploitation. Currently, Adrian puts emphasis on the novel developments around sustainable investments and links this topic partly to Arctic and Sub-Arctic regional plans.

Junior Researcher

Currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Lapland, Marco Ghisetti holds degrees in world politics and international relations and in philosophy. He has worked and conducted research in Europe, Russia, and Australia. He is the creator and leader of the Italian-language scholarly, peer-reviewed “Classics of Geopolitics” book series. He also participates in the current “second rebirth of Geopolitics,” which advocates for a spatially grounded approach to international relations research. His primary areas of study include geopolitics of the Arctic, classical and history of geopolitical thought and North American geopolitics.

Visiting Researcher

Karoliina Hurri is a postdoctoral researcher in the project “Climate responsibility as a normative cornerstone of multilateral cooperation? ” funded by the Kone Foundation. Her research focuses on questions related to global climate governance, UNFCCC negotiations and climate geopolitics. Karoliina holds a Ph.D. in World Politics (University of Helsinki) focusing on climate leadership and particularly China’s role in climate negotiations. In the project, she is interested in future climate injustice and irresponsibility.

Visiting Researcher

Salla Pasula holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the university of Lapland. Her primary research interests center around the relationship between climate change and security. Her doctoral dissertation examines how the authority and legitimacy of multinational corporations as security actors is constructed in an increasingly complex climate governance architecture, and analyzes the political and institutional effects of this process from security governance point of view. The research is focused especially on the Arctic region and the region’s interaction with global systems.

Postdoc Researcher

Marlene Payva Almonte’s research concentrates on international environmental law, climate change law and governance and human rights. Marlene’s approach to research is interdisciplinary and transnational in essence, with an emphasis on socio-ecological justice, climate litigation, corporate responsibility and global ‘green’ transformation issues. Her current research addresses the legal and political aspects related to new conceptualisations and governance practices for a ‘planetary society’, taking as an empirical case the Arctic region. Marlene holds a PhD from the University of Liverpool.

Visiting Researcher

Arctic Centre

Olena Podvorna is a Ukrainian scholar at risk and a non-residential postdoctoral researcher at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland. Her research focuses on geopolitical and security changes in Northern Europe and the Arctic resulting from the two Russian invasions of Ukraine, with particular emphasis on NATO’s presence in the region.

From 2023 to 2025, she led the DFG-funded project “A New Role for NATO in the High North? The European Arctic and Russia’s War Against Ukraine” at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Germany). Olena holds a PhD from Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.

Visiting Researcher

Arctic Centre

Marja Helena Sivonen earned her PhD in Social Sciences (Sociology) from Tampere University in March 2025. She currently works as a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute and is a visiting scholar at AIR during 2025–2026. Her research spans climate mitigation and adaptation from social sciences point of view, energy transitions, security, justice, and Arctic affairs. Grounded in social constructivist perspectives, she explores how discourse shapes societal change. She is also a vice-chair of the Finnish Arctic Society.

Visiting Researcher

Arctic Centre

Marco Volpe’s research focuses on China´s engagement in the Arctic region with a specific look at the Chinese epistemic community´s debate related to Arctic issues. His research comprehends analysis of Chinese language-based literature. He holds a Master´s degree in Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Rome La Sapienza, an Mres in East Asian Studies from the University of Leeds and a Master in Sustainable Development, Geopolitics of Resources and Arctic Studies from the Italian Society for International Organization. He is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Social Science of the University of Lapland.

Visiting Researcher

Arctic Centre

Yue Wang is a Doctoral Researcher in International Relations at Tampere University in Finland. His research lies in the overall theme of international politics and governance in the Arctic. More specifically, he focuses on China and the Arctic, Arctic energy politics, and unintended consequences of international cooperation in the Arctic. Yue holds a MA degree (cum laude) in International Relations from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and a BA degree with honours in History from China.

Visiting Researcher

Arctic Centre

Xinyuan Zhang (Olivia) is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Lapland with a background in international relations and media studies. Before transitioning to research in Europe, she spent nearly eight years reporting on economic, political, and technology news in China for an international audience. Her research explores China’s economic engagement in the Arctic and Nordic regions, BRICS involvement in polar affairs, and China’s AI policies. She has contributed to projects on China’s evolving policies in the critical minerals industry and their impact on Norway, as well as China’s domestic discourse and actions in the Bering Strait and Bering Sea.