Dr. Renuka Badhe
Function:  Executive Secretary
Email: r.badhe@nwo.nl
Biography:  LinkedIn profile
Twitter: @drrenukabadhe

Renuka has Masters in Environmental Science, and Land Economy, and a PhD that looked at effects of climate change on southern ocean algal photo-physiology. Over the last 25+ years, she has worked in areas ranging from polar oceans, climate change, and at the science policy nexus, and the last 15 of these in leadership positions.

Dr. Maria Grigoratou

Function: Executive Secretary Designate

Email: mgrigoratou@europeanpolarboard.org

Biography:www.mariagrigoratou.com

Maria is a Biological Oceanographer with expertise in plankton ecology and experience in Science Diplomacy and Coordination. She holds a PhD in Marine Ecology and Ecosystem Modelling (Bristol University, UK), an MSc in Environmental Biology (University of Crete, Greece), and a BSc in Marine Sciences (Aegean University, Greece). Before joining EPB, Maria was a Scientist and EU Coordinator for the G7 Future of the Seas and Ocean Initiative at Mercator Ocean International (France), and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (USA). She has extensive experience leading workshops, organizing initiatives, and fostering international collaboration. She currently serves as a lead author for the IPBES monitoring assessment (Chapter 4).

Ms. Eva Horovčáková
Function:  Communications Officer
Email:  e.horovcakova@nwo.nl
Biography:  LinkedIn profile
Twitter: @evkahorov

Eva specialized in the Arctic during her master studies of International Politics & Migrations at Aalborg University in Denmark (Culture, Communication and Globalisation programme). During her studies she gained many relevant experiences as a Communications, EU & Arctic Affairs trainee at the International Polar Foundation in Brussels and by volunteering at various organisations.

Ms. Marije Tempel
Function:  Project Officer
Email: m.tempel@nwo.nl
Biography:  LinkedIn Profile 

Marije conducted her Master research on Svalbard during her study in Human Geography. She later on represented the Netherlands during the Emerging Leaders program of Arctic Frontiers where she expanded her network in the Arctic science community. She continued active engagement in events, such as the Dutch Polar Symposium and the Dutch state visit to Norway. Marije has been chairwoman at the Arctic Explorer Foundation since 2020.

Ms. Nina Lavrenteva
Function: Secretariat Handover support (p/t)
Email: ninaepb@gmail.com
Biography: LinkedIn Profile

Nina has a Masters degree from the University of Strasbourg where she majored in cross-border cooperation and neighbourhood policies. In the past few years she conducted research on international politics and regional governance in the Arctic region at the University of Liège. She was also a visiting researcher at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland in 2021-2022.

The EPB Secretariat also works with consultants on a regular basis, both short and long term: currently we work with consultants for the purposes of HR, Accounting, Web development services, IT support for Polardex, Archiving, and Design.

Previous members of the Secretariat include Joseph Nolan, Pjotr Elshout and Griffith Couser.