Employees
Ann-Helen Ernstsen
Ann-Helen is the director of Marfo. She studied Maritime Arctic Expertise at UiT and holds a master’s degree in Technology and Safety in the High North. She has worked for Nordland County Council and as a senior engineer at the Norwegian Coastal Administration’s Emergency Preparedness dpt..
Ada Derdowska Pedersen
Ada works at Marfo through her participation in the Look North trainee programme. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Oslo, as well as a master’s degree in marine biology from the University of Copenhagen and the Scottish Association for Marine Science. Ada has previously worked at Avfall Norge and with Simula Research Laboratory.
Ann Helen Hellevik
Ann Helen works on official studies and clean-up tools, as well as heading up the National Coordination Council against Marine Litter. She is a fisheries science graduate with a master’s degree in marine food from the Arctic University of Norway. She worked as a researcher at Møreforsking for 20 years. She previously spent three years working at Sunnmøre Outdoor Council as Head of Marine Litter.
Anja Meland Rød
Anja works on OSPAR, the beach cleaning tools and other areas within marine litter. Anja holds a M.sc in international environmental studies from the NMBU and Universidad de Costa Rica. She has worked on climate projects for the Norwegian Development Fund, environment at municipality level and conducted research on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Annsofie Kristiansen
Annsofie’s work has a particular focus on sea-based sources. She holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from UiB and specialised in Norwegian-Russian fisheries management. She was previously the CEO of the Norwegian Coastal Fishermen’s Association, where she worked with public administration, research and policy environments on regulation of fishing and fishing tools in the coastal fleet.
Helga Bårdsdatter Kristiansen
Helga predominantly works on the national beach clean-up project and Rent hav. She holds a master’s degree in biology from the University Centre in Svalbard and the University of Oslo. In recent years, Helga has been working as an expedition manager on the Hurtigruten expeditions cruise. Whilst there, she launched Hurtigruten’s “war on plastic” project. Helga’s main expertise is in polar waters.
Håkon Arnljot Arctander
Håkon is a lawyer and his work spans a large range of activities at the centre. His background is from the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. There, he primarily worked on procurement processes and contract monitoring.
Inger Sandnes
Inger works on communication and dissemination. She holds a master’s degree in communication studies from NTNU. She previously worked as a communications advisor at NTNU and Lånekassen.
Line Fredriksen
Line works with finance, payroll, and HR. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and management from Nord University. She has previously worked in the procurement department at Ullevål hospital, at DNB and as a finance manager at Bil i Nord Lofoten.
Lise Maria Strömqvist
Lise works on communication and dissemination at the centre and is the web editor. She trained in the humanities at the NTNU, has multiple years of experience as a journalist and studied as an author in Tromsø. She has worked on port and coastal management for the Norwegian Coastal Administration and wrote the book “The Port – a story about Øksnes, the Government and fishing in the north”.
Mads Homleid Busvold
Mads predominantly works on the National Beach Cleaning Project. He is trained as a chemical engineer at the University of Stavanger. He has previously worked as an engineer and project manager at the Municipality of Vestvågøy.
Maria Antonsen
Maria predominantly works on the national Rydde tool. She also works on waste solutions for ports, the national beach cleaning project and the Lighthouse Lofoten conference. Maria holds a master’s degree in Arctic Marine Biology from UiT. After completing her studies, she worked for three years within the waste industry.
Marit Martinsen
Marit works on HSE, HR, strategy, environment and quality. She is a qualified quality auditor and general teacher with an intermediate degree in English. She has previously held various roles in upper secondary education with Nordland County Council and has worked as a Quality Manager in the development of medical devices, as well as working with master data/ERP in Insula.
Marie-Fleurine Olsen
Marie-Fleurine works, among other things, international cooperation and official studies. She holds a master’s degree in regional planning and cultural understanding from UiT. She has previously worked for the County Governor of Troms and Finnmark with emergency planning, regional planning and climate.
Ragnhild Nyland
Ragnhild works with a special focus on sea-based sources to marine litter. She trained as an environmental manager at UiT/NMBU and as a media engineer with NRK. Ragnhild has worked as an environmental and quality manager in a maritime construction company and as a project manager within nature-based business development.
Silje Grande Henriksen
Silje works with strategies, organisation, and HR. She holds a master’s degree in public health science from NMBU. She has previously worked in social planning, public health, and climate/environment at the Municipality of Vågan and as an advisor within HSE and organisational development at Unicare.
Siril Borgersen
Siril works on communication and dissemination. She is trained as a journalist at Volda University College and has also completed two years of film studies at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She previously worked as a journalist and radio producer with NRK and as a journalist at TV2 and Lofotposten.