The European Marine Board Young Ambassador Programme, which was launched in March 2019, currently has four active Young Ambassadors. The first two Ambassadors started in April 2019, and after a positive evaluation by the EMB Board has continue on a similar basis, with two new Ambassadors joining every year.
The Ambassadors are selected from an open call of applications. The EMB Young Ambassadors engage with EMB for a two-year period, and then join the EMB Young Ambassadors Alumni.
Read all about their activities and events where you might run into them here.
EMB Young Ambassadors 2023-2025
Alexandra Hahn
EMB Young Ambassador 2023-2025
After graduating from high school, Alexandra volunteered for a year in nature conservation at the German Wadden Sea coast. She obtained her BSc from the University of Rostock with a guest semester at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She completed her Master studies in Biological Oceanography at EMB Member Organisation GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany. Since 2023 she is a PhD Student in the Marine Ecological Genomics group at GEOMAR where she investigates local adaptation to various stressors in Baltic Sea copepods to assess how populations might react to a future changing ocean. She also has a passion for ocean themed art and shares her work on exhibitions and social media. You can find her on ResearchGate, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Riwan Leroux
EMB Young Ambassador 2023-2025
Riwan Leroux is a researcher in aquatic ecology with a PostDoc position at the Deep-Sea laboratory (BEEP) at EMB Member IFREMER, France. He works with Marjolaine Matabos and Jozée Sarrazin on evaluating the impact of research activities on hydrothermal vent fields. After a PhD in Canada, where he worked in trophic ecology and specialized in big data analysis, he chose the deep sea to unravel the impact of human activities in these remote areas. His PROTECT project, standing for “impact indicators in a deeP-sea maRine prOtecTed arEa and reCommendations for management”, is at the interplay between research and public policy support to co-construct management strategies. You can find him on Twitter, ResearchGate and Weebly.
EMB Young Ambassadors 2022-2024
Juliette Aminian Biquet
EMB Young Ambassador 2022-2024
Juliette is a researcher in ecology and conservation sciences, with broad interests for all natural sciences, socio-ecosystems functioning and protection. She has been involved in various projects, notably on the impact of fisheries, evolutionary consequences of climate change, our perception of nature, or population monitoring in several ecosystems. She is involved in scientific mediation about biodiversity. Juliette is now specializing in marine ecology, as a PhD student at the Centro de Ciências do Mar, thanks to a scholarship from FCT, a Portuguese EMB Member. She is studying marine protected areas in the European Union, describing the protection they were designed to deliver, and investigating the underlying reasons that led to these levels of protection, from the EU to the national scale, including the influence of individuals in these processes. She hopes her work can help to improve the socio-ecological benefits of the EU spatial protection. You can find her on ResearchGate for more information.
Alfredo Santiago Garcia de Vinuesa Gutierrez
EMB Young Ambassador 2022-2024
Alfredo grew up in Extremadura, Spain, away from the sea. However, he always showed an enormous interest and curiosity in the marine world. Alfredo obtained a BSc in Marine Science in 2010 from the University of Cádiz, and just after, he moved to work in the Barcelona Institute of Marine Science (ICM-CSIC). From there, he completed his studies with an MSc in Biodiversity and a PhD in Marine Science, both granted by the University of Barcelona. During his PhD, Alfredo focused his research toward the study of trawling impacts over especially vulnerable Mediterranean marine ecosystems to improve their management, working very close with stakeholders like fishermen’s, NGOs and policy makers. Since then, Alfredo has been a great defender of participative management. He has now returned to Cádiz, where he is currently a Postdoc at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) – an EMB Member Organisation - working together with stakeholders, and trying to improve current Guadalquivir Estuary management through participative processes. You can find him on Twitter and ResearchGate.