alina.bykova@thearcticinstitute.org
Los Angeles, California
French, Russian
Alina Bykova is a Senior Associate, the Editor-in-Chief of the editing team and a Leadership Group member at The Arctic Institute She also works on Russian writing and translation for the website. Her research interests include Arctic and Soviet environmental history with a focus on energy and industry. She is a PhD candidate in history at Stanford University. Alina is writing her dissertation on the history of extraction on Svalbard, Norway.
Alina earned her masters in European and Russian Affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto in 2019. Her masters thesis was about the rise and fall of Soviet mining settlements on Svalbard. Prior to her work in academia, she completed a Bachelor of Journalism at Ryerson University and worked as a breaking news reporter at the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper.
This report examines extraction on Svalbard, which takes many forms, including mining, hunting, fishing, scientific research and tourism.
June 27, 2023
The second part of this two-part series explores the example of Norilsk in further detail to examine varying Soviet Arctic experiences.
December 21, 2021
Comparing Pyramiden and Norilsk offers insights into two Soviet Arctic experiences: idealism and reality; both important to socialist realism.
December 14, 2021
Permafrost thaw is caused by climate change and threatens life in the Arctic and beyond. TAI’s series aims to shed light on permafrost thaw.
April 13, 2021
Permafrost melt is threatening the Arctic and the rest of the world. A global effort is needed to stop permafrost melt.
October 1, 2020
Pyramiden was a socialist utopia in the Arctic, until it was abandoned in 1998. Now you can visit it to see the Soviet Union frozen in time.
December 9, 2019