Alessia Capasso, a national of Italy, joined FIAM as an intern for a period of 11 months. Alessia obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Web Design in 2014, and a Master’s degree is Advertising Communication from the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples in 2016. After a three-month internship in Kyoto, Japan, at GoodDesignWorks LTD., a Japanese company that focuses on sustainable design, she was hired as design coordinator at The Roman Guy, an Italian-based American tour operator. She has also worked as a freelance designer for many Cultural Associations and EU projects. While in FIAM, Alessia will support relevant work of the team with all the design assets, in addition to supporting the Globefish Communication Manager with online and offline graphics.

Dandan Liu, a national of China, joined FIAM as an intern for a period of 6 months. Dandan obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Resources and Development Economics in 2015 from Shandong University of Finance and Economics, China. Dandan is currently a third year Master student in the Economics and Management Department of Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China, and some of her research consists in industrial correlation measurement in fishery economy as well as recreational fishing. In FIAM Dandan has worked with Marcio Castro De Souza and Weiwei Wang with relevant work of the Chinese Fish Price Report, in addition to supporting the GLOBEFISH Communication Manager with researching online interactive solutions for online communication and some translation work.

Fahma Fiqhiyyah Nur Azizah, an Indonesian national, joined FIAM as an intern for three months. She is currently undertaking a Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan. Her research is centered on sustainable aquaculture management, specifically on the future prospect of eco-certification of whiteleg shrimp farming in Indonesia. She holds both a master’s and a bachelor’s degree from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia. During her internship with FAO, she was central in the creation of commodity profiles for fishery products, including a full profile for shrimps and prawns. In addition, she helped write the subsections on disease outbreak in the shrimp aquaculture and on sustainability in shrimp fisheries and aquaculture, both of which will be published in the upcoming Shrimp Book 2.0.

Lucía López de Aragón Olesti, a national of Spain, joined FIAM as an intern for a period of six months. Lucía holds a BA in International Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, since May 2018.  In June 2019, she also completed a specialization course on the European Union at the Diplomatic School in Madrid, Spain. She worked for six months at Women for Africa Foundation under the Learn Africa scholarship program. This Foundation focuses on promoting equal rights and opportunities for African women, contributing to the progress of the continent. During her internship, Lucía supported relevant work of the Blue Forum, in addition to integrating the concept of gender by researching new strategies to implement Gender Equality in the Blue Forum.

Violetta Costanzo, an Italian national, joined FIAM as an intern for a period of three months. Violetta obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental sciences in 2016, and a Master’s degree in Marine biology from Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona in 2019. While completing her Bachelor's degree, she spent two months in France doing an internship on marine symbioses at Université Nice Sophia Antipolis. During the last year of her Master of Science, she went to the Institute of Marine Research (Havforskningsinstituttet) in Bergen, Norway, to lead her Master thesis project at the department of Contaminants and Biohazards. During her three month internship, Violetta gathered information from literature on the sorption process of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on plastic polymers, to eventually write a review paper.

Alessandra Amoruso, Italian citizen, has joined FIAM for a 3 months internship in February 2016. Alessandra holds a Bachelor degree in "Science of Linguistic and Cultural Mediation" from la Sapienza University in Rome and two linguistic certifications as Ditals II (Certified in advanced competence in teaching Italian to different cultural learners) and Celi Examiner (Certified in competence as an Italian examiner). Her main duty during the internship was to translate the GLOBEFISH website from English to Spanish. During her period in FIAM she worked in close collaboration with the GLOBEFISH Communication Manager and the GLOBEFISH Information Advisor, as well as with INFOPESCA, the FISHINFONEtwork organization based in Uruguay. 

Keisuke Yanehashi, a Japanese national, has joined FIPM for a 2.5 months internship. Keisuke is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Agricultural and Global Fisheries Science – Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo/Japan. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agrobiological Resource Sciences from The University of Tsukuba/Japan. During his internship with FIPM he will contribute to map ecosystem services to Blue growth, and study economically efficient management recommendations for follow up work.

Helene Ringen, a Norwegian national, is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Strategy, Organization and Leadership at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. She holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from The Norwegian School of Economics. During her bachelor degree she was part of "International Business Project", an extensive research project that included a field trip to Tanzania. The project investigated opportunities and challenges for Norwegian companies investing in Tanzania, as well as the impacts on the local Tanzanian communities. In February 2014, she participated as a volunteer in the XIV session of the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held in Bergen, Norway, as part of the FAO Secretariat. Helene has joined FIPM for a 2.5 months internship because of a general interest in sustainability, international and economic development and food issues. During her internship with FIPM she will work on Trade in Fishing Services.

Maria Flinder Stierna, a Norwegian citizen, holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH, Norway), of which she spent one semester at Universidad de Granada (UGR, Spain). Before and whilst studying, Maria has been a Store Manager in an ethical retail company as well as having volunteered for several positions. As a Board Member of the student union’s aid organization, NHH Aid, in 2012, she went on a UN field trip to Malawi with UNICEF. This trip and another 6 months of travelling through South-America have reinforced her strong motivation for working with eradication of poverty. She is currently working as Communications Advisor for the Norwegian Fundraising Association, co-operating closely with most Norwegian NGOs. She has also been working as pilates instructor due to her interest in health, exercise and nutrition. Maria is interested in global sustainable development and international relations, and will pursue two degrees when she starts graduate school: first a Master’s in International Management through the CEMS network, studying both at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI, Chile) and at NHH, and then a Master’s in Economics at NHH.  During her 2.5 months internship with FIPM, Maria will analyse the usage of the GLOBEFISH website, to contribute to its development and a new communications strategy. She will also do research on the Blue Growth Initiative.

Lara Hensel, a citizen of Germany, holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). In 2013 she spent a semester abroad at San Diego State University in the US where she was studying Economics. In order to practically complement her studies, Lara has joined the Organization Team (Marketing/Fundraising) of Main Model United Nations, a simulation of the United Nations at Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, and the International Society for Human Rights at her university. In 2014 she undertook an internship (Fundraising/Marketing) at an NGO in Cape Town (South Africa) which works with underprivileged children in order to improve their education and their personal development. Her Bachelor degree thesis was about what kind of liabilities governments, individuals and companies have in the global fight against poverty and the equalization of the living standards, in a United Nations context. Lara has joined the FIPM team for a 4.5 month-internship because she is very interested in sustainability, international and economic development and nutrition. During her time with FIPM, Lara will work mainly on trade and labor issues in fisheries and aquaculture. After the internship she will undertake a Master Course in the field of sustainability, environmental economics or international public policy.

Melanie Torrie, a Canadian national has joined FIPM as an intern for a period of three months. Melanie has graduated from The Norwegian School of Economics and Ivey School of Business in June 2014, with a double Master’s degree in Energy and Natural Resource Management and International Management. Her Master degree thesis was on "the future of electricity generation in Kenya: an economic and physical analysis". She participated as a volunteer in the XIV session of the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held in Bergen, Norway, in February 2014, as part of the FAO Secretariat. Since graduating, Melanie has worked with the Environmental Investment Organization based in the UK. She helped to create an indexed investment fund that encourages large multinationals to be transparent about carbon emissions and improve carbon policies. Melanie has also worked with the National Bank of Canada, The Medes (an online journal focused on social justice) and ENE Hub (an initiative by the Norwegian School of Economics as a forum for discussion of issues related to Energy, Natural Resources and the Environment). During her internship, Melanie will be conducting a study on the co-management of fishery and petroleum resources, with case studies on Norway, Indonesia and Angola.

Mai-Thi Ta is a student from Paris where she is currently pursuing a Master in Management at ESCP Europe business school and will graduate this year. During her various trips to Vietnam, her country of origin, Mai-Thi volunteered for an NGO helping rural farmers. She has witnessed the economic contribution of  fisheries to development and its impact on people’s daily lives. It motivated her to join the FIPM team for a six-month internship where she will analyze the fisheries and aquaculture value-chain. She will collect relevant data and determine a methodology to estimate the value of the overall sector. She is very interested in economic development, agriculture sustainability and food issues in general. 

Yasmina Nahi, a citizen of Morocco, is currently studying marketing and communication at Kedge Business School in Marseille, France. She has joined the FIPM department for a 6 month internship, where she mainly will work for Globefish. Specifically she will make a review of the current situation of Globefish and make analysis on its operation and administration, in the hope to further improve its efficiency and publicity. It is also envisaged that Yasmina will assist in the collection and analysis of fisheries related market information, including web-based media. She will contribute directly to the preparation of Globefish publications in the next six months. After the internship with FAO she will move to Bremen Germany with the Erasmus Programme and further her study on environment related food science and nutrition.

Kathrin Bacher, a Swiss citizen, holds a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Zurich (Switzerland). In October 2014 she obtained her PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of Barcelona (Spain). For her thesis, Kathrin investigated the interactions between marine fish farming, wild fish populations, local fisheries and stakeholder groups in Catalonia (Spain). During her time at FAO as a consultant, Kathrin will explore relevant areas of research on perceptions of aquaculture and develop a strategy for the improvement of these perceptions.

Conor Fitzpatrick is a citizen of Ireland. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science from University College Dublin (UCD). He spent a semester abroad in 2010 studying Food science at Michigan State University, in the US. He is currently working towards a European Masters in Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition from the University of Leuven, Belgium. Conor has spent five months in Tufts University, Boston, working on his master’s thesis project, assessing the physical activity environment of Boston public schools. Conor is also a certified fitness instructor, rugby coach and has studied personal nutrition and sports psychology. He has a keen interest in nutrition and health and believes fish and seafood are an important part of a healthy diet. His internship in the FIPM department will focus on how trade in fish impacts the availability and accessibility of certain micro nutrients in selected countries. A large part of his coursework has stressed the importance of working with others and he has gained all the necessary interpersonal skills to make him successful in his new role.

Andreas Kamoey is a graduate student at Nagoya University in Japan, where he is pursuing a degree in Business and Economics. He is writing his graduate thesis on how Norwegian fish exporters can create a competitive advantage in the Japanese market of salmon and trout and will graduate in August of 2015. Prior to attending graduate school, Andreas went to undergraduate school in Oslo at BI Norwegian Business School, were he obtained his Bachelor in Business and Administration.  As a part of his undergraduate studies he was an exchange student in South Korea for 1 year, where he wrote his undergraduate thesis about how Confucian values affect Korean corporate culture. After obtaining his Bachelor degree in Business and Administration, Andreas moved to Japan where he has been living for almost 2 years, first in Osaka and now in Nagoya city. During his internship Andreas worked mainly with Audun Lem and wrote a Globefish Research Programme report about the Japanese market of imported seafood and seafood products.

Anika Seggel holds a B.A. in European Politics and Economics from Maastricht University (NL) and a M.Sc. in Environmental Management and Food Security from the University of Edinburgh (UK) and has graduated from the latter with distinction in November 2013. In her dissertation Anika has focussed on consumer perception of organic food labelling in Scotland. In order to practically complement her studies, Anika has been active as Head of the Marking Committee of the United Nations Student Association Maastricht. Moreover, she has worked as an intern with the Delegation of the EU to Indonesia. In that context she has focussed on ASEAN, food security, and forests in Indonesia. After having finished her M.Sc., Anika has organised a trade conference in Berlin directed at stimulating sustainable urban food production. Being highly interested in fish as an integral nutritional component, she has done an internship with FIPM in which she has conducted a comparative analysis on the mechanisms employed by the US, the EU, and Japan to prevent IUU products from entering their markets.

Kristian Hauge Solheim has graduated from The Norwegian School of Economics in June 2014, with a Master’s degree in business analysis and performance management. His Master degree thesis was on “purchasing social responsibility”. He participated as a volunteer in the XIV session of the Sub-Commitee on Fish Trade of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held in Bergen, Norway, in February 2014, as part of the FAO Secretariat. Kristian has entrepreneurship experience with a Norwegian company, working with marketing, websites, videos and apps. During his internship, Kristian has assisted FIPM in the day-to-day implementation of the Globefish project. In particular, in developing a new communication strategy for Globefish.

Mina Kishino is a graduate student at the University of Tokyo in Japan and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology in March 2014. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Agriculture at the university’s Laboratory of Global Fisheries Science. During her internship, Mina reviewed the previous record of the discussions at FAO and other relevant meetings with respect to the ITQ (Individual Transferrable Quota) in fishing operations in the world. Mina investigated and evaluated pros and cons of the ITQ system using available documentation in FAO.

Yu Shinohara is a graduate student of the University of Tokyo in Japan and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts in March 2014. Thereafter she started a Master’s degree in Agriculture at the university’s Laboratory of Global Fisheries Science to study gender roles and acceptance of minority groups (especialy sexual minorities) in fishing communities in coastal areas of Asia. During the internship, Yu has reviewed the previous record of the discussions at the FAO and other relevant meetings with respect to gender issues in fishery and fishing communities. In particular, she has examined the roles of women and minorities during the recovery period from large natural disasters such as large tsunamis or typhoons.

Katherine Tsantiris is from the United States, and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Environmental Management at Yale University. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and Resource Economics from the University of Connecticut, where she graduated in 2012. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Katherine interned with the Centre for Marineline Conservation and Community Development (MCD) in Vietnam. While at MCD, Katherine focused on implementation barriers to the adoption of international sustainability guidelines for small-scale fisheries. At Yale, she is focusing on sustainable fisheries management in the context of market-based incentives for sustainable development. She interned at FAO in the summer of 2014, where she worked with Victoria Chomo to explore the accessibility of third-party ecolabels for fisheries and aquaculture operations in developing countries.

Ihab Lembirik, a French national, is currently studying at the Business & Finance School "ISEG" in Lyon, where he is preparing an MBA in International Relations and Business. During 2013, Ihab did an internship with "bioMérieux Marcy l’Etoile", a French company working in the field of pharmaceutical diagnosis, mostly with groups like Sanofi or Pfizer. During his three months internship with FIPM, he assisted in the planning of a new Globefish website, organized content and updated the market report section at the website.

Gemsheer Chalil is an Indian national who is currently living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is an MBA holder from Cardiff University and an MA holder in International Business from Leeds Metropolitan University. Before coming to FAO, Gemsheer gained experience in the fisheries industry by working for his family-owned seafood business located in the Middle East. His work involved managing the company’s Oman operations, studying fish landing trends from landing sites and researching on new markets and products for the company. During his two month internship with FIPM, Gemsheer worked with Dr. Audun Lem, Branch Chief of FIPM, on researching about the seafood markets of the near East, mainly focusing on developments in market, trade and consumption trends. In addition, his research also involved analysing aquaculture developments in the Middle East.

Kiran Prasad M R has a Bachelors in Food Science from ANGRAU, Hyderabad with a thesis on by-product utilization (dried carrot pomace) for "Development of High Fiber, Carotene-fortified Wheat Flour". Currently he is part of an Erasmus Mundus Master programme in "Sustainable Management of Food Quality" and will graduate this September. He has pursued Nutrition, Quality, Processing, Organic Legislation, GIS and Agro-Food Marketing at Montpellier, Bari, Potenza and Zaragoza. Kiran has over three years work experience as Senior Operations Officer handling quality, logistics and trade-support for "Value Added Agricultural Products Division" at the Agri-Business Headquarter of ITC Limited (a Forbes A-list company, winner of the World Business Award from UNDP). During his internship, Kiran will work on the potential use of by-products from fish processing with particular focus on safe and nutritious products for human consumption.

Omar Penarubia is from the Philippines. He obtained his bachelor degree in Food Technology from University of the Philippines-Los Baños. He is a senior student in Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition from KaHo Sint-Lieven (Belgium), Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), Hochschule Anhalt (Germany) and Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (Portugal). Before his studies in Europe, Omar worked in private food companies in the Philippines as Food Safety/Quality Assurance Officer. His work involves quality assurance from fast food production to restaurant commissary operations and from material analysis and inspection to company inspectin and audit. During his internship in FIPM, Omar will work closely with Jogeir Toppe, on the potential use of by-products from milkfish production with particular focus on safe and nutritious products for human consumption.

Anja Greenshields is a German and British national currently living in Sweden. She graduated in European Law from Maastricht University in 2012 and has just completed her first year of the Lund University Master of Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science. Before coming to FAO, Anja worked for a Swiss private eco-labeling NGO. She was part of the evaluation team where she undertook the initial evaluation of the fisheries and aquacultures wishing to become certified and also assisted the marketing team. She has gained other work experiences from an agricultural business in Ghana, teaching and volunteering activities. In her three months at FIPM, Anja will work mainly under Dr. Victoria Chomo on the topic of eco-labeling and international trade regulations. She will be examining links between the various fisheries-relevant WTO agreements and private certification schemes in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Gina Sun is a third-year student at Princeton University and her academic interests include molecular biology and organic chemistry, as well as their applications toward the intersection of health and the environment. During the past three summers, she worked in research laboratories on areas ranging from gene therapy to drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. To pursue her long-term interest in food security and nutrition, at FIPM she is researching the fatty acid composition of several important carp species in global aquaculture to assess their value as healthy, economical, and environmentally sustainable food choices.

Aina Randrianantoandro comes from Madagascar. She is graduated in Political Sciences from the University of Antananarivo, and holds a Master of second level in International and Public Affairs from University Luiss in Rome. In 2011, Aina undertook a volunteership at FAO/AGPM, working within the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and carrying communication activities (edition of training materials, communication kits, website updates, etc.) and undertaking background researches for the Secretariat. Before coming back to FAO, she has  worked as an intern in IFAD, assisting the Country Program Manager of Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius; her activities also included the implementation and follow-up of IFAD projects, liaison with the projects partners, and the follow-up and finalization of projects reports. During the 6 months internship at the Fisheries Department, Aina is working on activities related to the management of fisheries projects in Africa: increasing the visibility of closed projects and helping in monitoring the ongoing ones.

Emma Dermitzaki holds a bachelor degree in Agricultural Biotechnology and a Masters degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Agricultural University of Athens. Currently, she is in the final year of a Masters Degree in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition from Dublin Institute of Technology, University of Porto and KaHo Sint-Lieuven in Belgium. Prior coming to Rome, she was working as a research intern at the food safety department of the National Food Research Centre of Ireland where she studied antibiotic resistance determinants in the food chain. During her internship with FIPM, she was involved in a project studying prevalence rates of heavy metals in fish around the world with emphasis on cadmium, lead and arsenic and researching spatial patterns and temporal trends of heavy metal contamination.

Felix Dent originally from Ireland, accumulated experience and interest in the fisheries sector through a family business and he graduated with a master’s degree in economics from Charles University in Prague in 2012. The focus of his studies was econometrics and economic policy analysis. Prior to coming to Rome, Felix had completed an internship at the Czech NGO PASOS in Prague in the summer of 2011. He interned at GLOBEFISH from September to December 2012, during which time he assisted with the preparation of a number of publications by providing qualitative and quantitative input and analysis related to the global seafood market. In addition, he conducted research into the current state of the world market for shark meat and fins, intended for a future update of an FAO report.

Jennifer Bae a US national hailing from Baltimore, Maryland. She is in her final year at Northwestern University, studying Economics, International Studies, and Spanish. Prior to coming to Rome, Jennifer worked as a non-profit consultant at a microfinance NGO in Cochabamba, Bolivia for two months and directly afterwards, studied abroad in Valparaíso, Chile for three months. While in Valparaíso, Jennifer wrote a short research paper on the current state of and disadvantages facing artisanal fishermen in Chile. During her three-month internship with FIPM, she has primarily worked on a comprehensive project that analyses the dynamics of value-chains in international fish trade to arrive at policy recommendations. In addition, she has assisted FIPM staff in the areas of marketing and trade, focusing on value-chains, quality and safety, and certification.

Christopher Wingard has a Masters degree in economics from Lund University, Sweden, focusing on development economics and trade theory. His thesis was on the economic effects of rules of origin in Thailand’s tuna trade. Prior to coming to Rome, Christopher did a 5-month internship at FAO’s Nordic Information Office in Stockholm. During his two months with FIPM, he is assisting in creating a databank on relevant fishing quotas for 2011-12  mainly for use in the production of GLOBEFISH Highlights, the GLOBEFISH quarterly on trends in international seafood markets. Besides quotas, the databank will include estimates for actual catches and information on the institutional arrangements for the setting of the quotas.

Anna Child graduated with a Masters in public health from The University of North Carolina and has over five years of experience working in the fields of agriculture and fisheries. Her studies and work experience focus on promoting health through community economic development, improving food systems and building capacity with food producers. She co-founded Core Sound Seafood, a community supported fishery initiative, which connects small-scale fishers to local, high-value markets. For her internship in the FIPM service, she worked closely under Jogeir Toppe, Fisheries Industry Officer, to research and draft a TCP proposal to build capacity among rural fish-processing cooperatives in Ghana, developing initial process and outcome evaluation indicators, ensuring the proposal's relevance to regional offices and staff and exploring how low-value, highly nutritious fish could be utilized within the Ghana School Feeding Programme. Additionally, Anna worked under Dr. Audun Lem, Senior Fisheries Industry Officer, to research the economic viability of the small-scale, artisanal fishing sector worldwide and helped disseminate information about the community supported fishery model. 

Sara Tesfabruk was an intern at FIPM during the summer of 2011 where she was involved in the project  "A value-chain analysis of international fish trade and food security with an impact assessment of the small-scale sector". During this time she provided technical editing for project reports from national and international consultants and assisted in maintaining the project website. She is passionate about the fishery industry, especially the area of fish consumption and marketing of fishery products in developing and developed countries. Sara has BA in Business Management from the University of Asmara in Eritrea and a MSc in Marketing and Consumer behaviour from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Sara’s master thesis was titled "The effect of different information factors on acceptability of triploid salmon".

Elise Cevetello was an  FIPM intern during  July and August 2012. During her two months with FIPM, Elise maintained the GLOBEFISH information exhibit during the meeting of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) and  responded to publication requests generated at the conference. She  also  edited reports and made updates to the GLOBEFISH website. She is an American national, who has lived in Rome for the past four years while earning her BA degree in Communication from the American University of Rome. Elise would like to go on to use her skills to help protect biodiversity.