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 2024-2026
Virginia Morejón
EMB Young Ambassador 2024-2026
Virginia, originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, discovered her love of marine life during her first visit to the Galapagos Islands. She obtained a BSc in Marine Biology from Florida International University and is now based in Ireland, where she earned an MSc in Applied Coastal and Marine Management from University College Cork. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD funded by an EMB Member Organisation the Marine Institute, Ireland, and hosted at the School of Geography at University College Dublin. Her project focuses on understanding cumulative pressures affecting the Irish marine environment, with the aim of developing a GIS-based tool that supports decisions in Marine Spatial Planning. She is very passionate about safeguarding marine wildlife and ecosystems and hopes to get more involved and to learn about bridging the gap between scientific research and actionable measures for marine conservation - which motivated her to join the EMB ECOP Network, as she is eager to explore how marine science outputs can best inform policy-makers. You can find her on ResearchGate.
Laura Ciriminna
EMB Young Ambassador 2024-2026
Laura is a postdoctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Marine Biology and Resources at the University of Palermo, Italy, part of EMB Member Organisation CoNISMa, where she conducts research on echinoderm aquaculture and sustainable feed production. In particular, she is involved in evaluating, through biochemical tracers, the effect of feed produced from food processing waste on the maintenance and growth of sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Furthermore, she is working on the application of commercial sea cucumber species in multi-trophic integrated aquaculture contexts. She has been also involved in projects related to assessing the distribution of echinoderms along the Italian coasts and the effects of trawling on these marine invertebrates, to obtain data to support management and conservation practices. You can find her on ResearchGate and Instagram.
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. He is also a member of the Deep Sea and Ocean Health working group. You can find him on Twitter, ResearchGate and Weebly.