Researcher
Elana Wilson Rowe
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Dr Elana Wilson Rowe is research professor (part time) at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Wilson Rowe’s research and expertise areas include governance of nature and changing power relations in the Anthropocene, Arctic and ocean governance and geopolitics, and Russian climate and Arctic policymaking. Her publications explore how the interplay of diplomatic practices, security rivalries and expert/environmental knowledge shape outcomes and understandings in regional and global policy fields.
She is the author of Russian Climate Politics: When Science Meets Policy (Palgrave, 2013) and Arctic Governance: Power in cross-border relations (University of Manchester, 2018). She was a member of Norway’s committee establishing research priorities for the UN Ocean Decade. She holds a BA in Russian and Geography from Middlebury College (USA) and an MPhil and PhD in Geography/Polar Studies from the University of Cambridge (2006). More publications and links can be found on Google Scholar.
Wilson Rowe was the PI and led a 5- year major grant from the European Research Council (#80335, 2019-2024. Read more about the Lorax project here). The aim of this project was to understand the broader regional and global repercussions of governance efforts anchored in sub-global ‘ecosystems’ or ‘ecoregions’ and how the power relations enacted around ecosystems shape regional and global ordering. Wilson Rowe has also led projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.
Expertise
Education
2002-2006 D. Phil., human geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
2001-2002 M. Phil., human geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
1997-2001 B.A., Geography/Russian, Middlebury College, Vermont, USA
Work Experience
2023- Professor of International Relations, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
2006- Senior Research Fellow/Research Professor, NUPI
2006-2022 Senior research fellow, NUPI 2010- Adjunct Professor at Nord University
2002-2006 Teaching Assistant/Supervisor, Geography Department, University of Cambridge
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersPolhavet Arctic Ocean 2050: Science Plan
Polhavet / Arctic Ocean 2050 unites Norwegian and international scientific expertise in a 10-year programme to understand the present and guide the future of the Arctic Ocean . Through interdisciplinary research and innovation and international collaboration , the programme will deliver knowledge and tools for sustainable use, conservation, and geopolitical resilience in a changing Arctic. This Science Plan was written by the Polhavet / Arctic Ocean 2050 working group established by the 18 partner institutions. Co-author from NUPI is Elana Wilson Rowe. Other authors are: A., Årthun, M., Dodd, P., Jentoft, S., Renaud, P., Müller, M., Dankel, D., Bertino, L., Bluhm, B., De Lucia, V., Ellingsen, K., Husum, K., Ingvaldsen, R., Jensen, Ø., Jørgensen, L. L., Jørgensen, S. L., Langehaug, H ., Mooney, P., Østhagen, A., Øverjordet, I. B., Oye, V., Pedersen, M. P., Skodvin, K. E., Søreide, J. E., Sørensen, A., Storelvmo, T., Thorsnes, T., Tjiputra, J., Wilson Rowe, E. & Yoccoz, N.
Polhavet Arctic Ocean 2050: Implementation Plan (2026 -2028)
Polhavet / Arctic Ocean 2050 unites Norwegian and international scientific expertise in a 10-year programme to understand the present and guide the future of the Arctic Ocean. Through interdisciplinary research and innovation and international collaboration, the program me will deliver knowledge and tools for sustainable use, conservation, and geopolitical resilience in a changing Arctic. This Implementation Plan covers the period 2026 -2028 and details the specific tasks the 18 partner organizations in the Norwegian Consortium plans to work on in this period. Co-author from NUPI is Elana Wilson Rowe. Other authors are: A., Årthun, M., Dodd, P., Jentoft, S., Renaud, P., Müller, M., Dankel, D., Bertino, L., Bluhm, B., De Lucia, V., Ellingsen, K., Husum, K., Ingvaldsen, R., Jensen, Ø., Jørgensen, L. L., Jørgensen, S. L., Langehaug, H ., Mooney, P., Østhagen, A., Øverjordet, I. B., Oye, V., Pedersen, M. P., Skodvin, K. E., Søreide, J. E., Sørensen, A., Storelvmo, T., Thorsnes, T., Tjiputra, J., Wilson Rowe, E. & Yoccoz, N.
Keeping your cool: Arctic security challenges across time and space
The dispute over Greenland has drawn broader attention to Arctic security among NATO allies, EU member states, and beyond. As the most immediate tensions related to Greenland may subside, heightened interest in – and awareness of – security challenges in the region will persist and warrants nuanced discussion and international coordination. These developments set the tone for this Input Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable at the 2026 Munich Security Conference.
Governing nature and the making of world order
How have efforts to govern nature and address urgent global environmental challenges shaped, transformed or undermined processes of world ordering? Chapters in this book explore how efforts to govern nature have transformed – or are transforming – how we understand and practice world politics. Bringing together a team of contributors from around the world, the book traces this inquiry across diverse international policy fields, from security and peacebuilding through science cooperation and governing ecosystems to the politics of economic growth. Taken together, the book offers a conceptually ambitious and empirically grounded account of how the governance of nature and the making of world order intertwine and calls for a research agenda to attend to the growing impact of this interrelationship.
Arctic ambitions: Norway’s new High North strategy
How does the new Norwegian High North strategy situate Norway and its northernmost countries in Arctic and global politics? What are the new prior...
Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable: The geopolitics of Arctic economic activities
This brief memo supported discussions at the MSC Arctic Security Roundtable 2025 of the Munich Security Council, which has a particular focus on economic drivers and how they impact security and governance in the region. The memo directs attention to key vectors, both long-term and more recent, that are at the intersection of economy, security and environment across national borders in the Arctic.
A warmer Arctic in colder geopolitical climate: What role for the private sector?
• The Arctic is experiencing considerable physical and geopolitical change affecting states, Indigenous peoples and various stakeholders. • Private sector actors are also affected by climate change, geopolitical developments and economic trends in the Arctic, although the impacts on and potential governance role of the private sector in securing safety and stability in the Arctic are often neglected in policy analyses. • This policy note outlines key stressors in the region and gives recommendations as to how the private sector can contribute to a safe and stable Arctic by supporting governance and sharing knowledge.
Ecosystems and Ordering: A Dataset
This article presents a dataset, examining how global ecosystems are governed, offering data about cooperation initiatives around 221 cross-bordered ecosystems. This sample of cases was selected from a list of 1525 “meta-ecosystems” catalogued by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and a team of scientists (terrestrial ecosystems, [6]; freshwater ecosystems, [2]; and marine ecosystems, [9]). The 221 ecosystems were selected because they are shared by four or more bordering countries. Departing from this unit of analysis, we researched the cooperative cross-border governance anchored in each ecosystem and categorized each of these based on the level and type of cooperation. In generating this dataset, our coding scheme was designed to also capture cases of non-cooperation: when our search protocol did not result in the identification of any initiative for an ecosystem, the ecosystem was coded as a “zero case.” When we found initiatives connected to the ecosystems, our coding typology specifically classified cooperation initiatives along two dimensions: cooperation geographical scope and cooperation scope (single or multi-issue). The dataset presents ecosystem-anchored cooperation initiatives, as well as wider initiatives that may address ecosystem issues, to systematically attend to the question of the extent to which and in which form ecosystems are addressed in transboundary governance efforts. The dataset allows for further study of ecosystemic governance patterns, enabling analysis of the causes and consequences of cooperation, since it can be easily integrated with both the ecosystem and state-level data. The dataset is presented in two .csv files and has been handled with R software in order to present the visualization.