Speakers and presenters

Ottilia Thoreson, Moderator

Ottilia has worked in the Baltic Sea region for over a decade leading on marine governance issues related to regional and European policies from a catchment approach. Ottilia led the Baltic Ecoregion Programme for the WWF between 2009-2021, and was the NGO’s representative observer in the HELCOM Head of Delegation. Under her tenure, she engaged with different actors to find solutions to mobilise engagement in marine issues as well as raise ciritical views on the advancement of member states’ meeting the commitments of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. With a background in marine environmental protection, she continues her pursuit for a better marine environment. Today, she manages the marine and coastal development contribution portfolios for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Jana Wolf, BLUES Project coordinator

Jana Wolf is the HELCOM BLUES project coordinator. She has worked with several projects at HELCOM with various topics relating to HOLAS 2, biodiversity, databases and sufficiency of measures.

Volker Dierschke, Activity A2.1: Bycatch

Volker Dierschke co-chairs the joint marine bird expert group of HELCOM, OSPAR and ICES. He is a marine bird expert for more than 30 years. With his private consultancy company Gavia EcoResearch, he is currently engaged in assessments of the marine environment in the frame of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and in developing management plans for protected areas in the German parts of the Baltic Sea and North Sea.

Elisabeth Bolund, Activity A2.2: Fish

Elisabeth Bolund is a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, focusing on food web dynamics and ecological interactions of fish, mainly in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea

Marie Johansen, Activity A2.3: Pelagic habitats

Marie Johansen is an active member of HELCOM phytoplankton expert group and lead for Blues activity on, on the overall assessment of pelagic habitat which includes both phyto- and zooplankton indicators She is a plankton expert at the Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute where she is also responsible for national monitoring of phytoplankton.

Anita Gilles, Activity A2.4: Harbour porpoise

Anita Gilles leads the OSPAR Marine Mammal Expert Group, former co-chair of the ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology and HELCOM indicator co-lead for harbour porpoise abundance and distribution. She is a senior scientist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover where she is also responsible for the German national monitoring of harbour porpoises.

Henrik Nygård, Activity A2.5: Foodweb/BEAT

Henrik Nygård is working on HELCOM BLUES topics related to integrated assessments of biodiversity and food webs. Henrik works as a senior research scientist at the Finnish Environment Institute with monitoring and assessment of the Baltic Sea, mainly focusing on benthic habitats.

Eva Blidberg, Activity A3.1: Beach litter

Eva Blidberg is a member of the HELCOM Expert Group on Marine Litter (EG-Marine litter), the OSPAR Intersessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter (ICG-ML), and the EU Technical Group on Marine Litter (TG-Litter).
She is working on HELCOM BLUES Activity related to marine litter aspects, and more specific on beach litter. She has been working on marine litter issues for over ten years at Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation and coordinates the national beach litter monitoring programme on behalf of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management.

Elke Fischer, Activity A3.2: Microlitter

Elke Fischer member of the HELCOM Expert Group on Marine Litter (EG-Marine litter) and the EU Technical Group on Marine Litter (TG-Litter). She leads Activity on the progress development of microlitter indicator. She is a senior researcher at the University of Hamburg where she is also head of the working group for (micro)plastic contamination.

Aleksander Klauson, Activity A4.1: Continuous noise

Aleksander Klauson member of the HELCOM Expert Network on Underwater Noise (EN-Noise) and the EU Technical Group on Underwater Noise (TG-Noise). He leads Activity on underwater noise. He is a professor at the Tallinn University of Technology where he also heads the research group on underwater acoustics.

Mirko Mustonen, Activity A4.2: Impulsive noise

Mirko Mustonen participates in Activity on underwater noise. He is also a researcher at the Tallinn University of Technology in the research group on underwater acoustics. He has been working on underwater noise topics since 2014.

Antti Iho, Activity A1: Effectiveness and measures

Antti Iho leads Activity on effectiveness of measures. He is a senior scientist from Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke. His research has focused on environmental policy, particularly on controlling agricultural nutrient loading. Currently, he has also been working with groups focusing on biodiversity protection, for instance on applying the recommendations of Dasgupta review to Finnish societal landscape and on facilitating sustainability transition of hydropower.

Luke Dodd, Activity A1: Effectiveness and measures

Luke Dodd manages the Expert Group on Social and Economic Analyses (EG ESA) and previously involved in similar work in the EU co-funded projects ACTION and Pan Baltic Scope. He is the HELCOM liaison for Activity on effectiveness and measures. He works as a project researcher at the HELCOM Secretariat.

Jannica Haldin, BLUES Project manager

Jannica Haldin is the manager of the BLUES project. She is Deputy Executive Secretary of HELCOM and a marine biologist with extensive experience in international environmental policy. Her work focuses on biodiversity, conservation, monitoring, status assessment and climate change and she is closely engaged with the implementation of global, EU and regional level international frameworks, working with organisations such as CBD, ICES, IUCN, OSPAR, UNESCO and UNEP.