The European Polar Board is excited to announce and welcome a new Executive Secretary, Dr. Maria Grigoratou! 

Dr. Grigoratou 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 has worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (USA) and as a Scientist and EU Coordinator for the G7 Future of the Seas and Ocean Initiative (FSOI) at Mercator Ocean International (France). Through her active involvement in 13 EU and nationally-funded research projects across France, Greece, the UK, and the USA, Maria has gained valuable experience in adapting to diverse regulatory environments and cultural contexts to promote cross-country collaborations, while recognizing the complexities of achieving consensus on its implementation. She has nine years of experience in leading workshops, taking initiatives, organising actions, developing reports, and fostering collaboration among experts from various regions and countries. She currently serves as a lead author for the IPBES monitoring assessment (Chapter 4).

As the current hosting period of the EPB Secretariat at the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in The Hague comes to an end, we wish Maria all the best in her new role leading the EPB Secretariat at Umeå University in Sweden (find more information here).

On another note, the EPB will soon say goodbye to Dr. Renuka Badhe, who has been an asset to the EPB serving as EPB's Executive Secretary for 10 years (2 terms) and making substantial contributions to advancing European polar research. We thank her for all her hard work and wish her all the best in the future.