Dr Ricardo Roura is an Antarctic conservation professional and independent scholar with extensive experience in research, analysis and advocacy in Antarctica and the Antarctic Treaty System. He serves as senior advisor for the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), the official environmental NGO expert/observer to Antarctic Treaty System fora, and has participated extensively as an ASOC in its two main decision making diplomatic fora, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and their advisory bodies. Aside from having experience in Antarctic Treaty bodies, he has spent fourteen seasons in Antarctica, including wintering-over, with among others Greenpeace International, the Argentine Antarctic program, and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). He has also conducted research in Svalbard with the Arctic Centre, University of Groningen (Netherlands) where he earned his PhD. Originally a geologist/geomorphologist, he “migrated” to the social sciences and is now a critical social scientist with broad research interests on human behavior and human-environment interactions in the polar regions. More recently he has focused on the geopolitics of Southern Ocean conservation. Recent publications include: Roura, R.M. (2023). Spatial protection tools as indicators of the ‘health’ of the Antarctic Treaty System. The Geographical Journal 89-1, 25-39 https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12482; Frame, B, Liggett, D, Lindström, K, Roura, R. & van der Watt, LM (2021) “Tourism and heritage in Antarctica: Exploring cultural, natural and subliminal experiences”, Polar Geography https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2021.1918787; and Roura, R.M. (2021) “Antarctic time travel: The environment Protocol”. Antarctic Affairs, VIII 5-22 http://antarcticaffairs.org/antarctic-time-travel-the-environment-protocol-2.
