Dr. Apostolos Tsiouvalas

Dr. Apostolos Tsiouvalas is a Senior Fellow at The Arctic Institute and serves as the editor-in-chief of the Institute’s weekly publication, The Arctic This Week.

His research explores the intersection of polar law with philosophy, history, and geography. He is particularly interested in legal theory, legal anthropology, legal pluralism, new materialism(s), Indigenous rights, and environmental law in the Arctic. Apostolos is also the co-founder of the initiative Critical Polar Jurisprudence, which organizes annual thematic events on these topics. Additionally, he is a Research Fellow at the Hellenic Polar Zones Society.

Apostolos’ primary affiliation is as a Researcher at the Norwegian Center for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS) at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, where he earned his PhD in May 2025. His doctoral project examined the normative and ontological relationship between the law of the sea and motion in the Arctic Ocean from a kinopolitical perspective, combined theoretical research in critical legal geography with empirical legal research conducted with the semi-nomadic Inughuit communities of Avanersuaq, Greenland. Apostolos also holds an LL.M. degree in Polar Law from the University of Akureyri in Iceland, an Mphil in Indigenous Studies from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and a BA degree in Law from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where he completed his legal traineeship. In 2014, he also studied international and European law at the University of Trier in Germany.

Apostolos first joined The Arctic Institute in 2019 as a Research Intern for the AlaskaNor project, where he worked on assessing the status quo and opportunities within fisheries and aquaculture in Alaska. Previously, he held research assistant positions at the K.G. Jebsen Center for the Law of the Sea and the Sami Law Research Group at UiT, the Stefánsson Arctic Institute, and the PAME Working Group of the Arctic Council.

To date, Apostolos has disseminated his research at several fora and published in leading journals dedicated to Arctic research. Amongst his publications, he has authored several chapters in the Yearbook of Polar Law.

Apostolos’ passion for the Arctic extends beyond his academic pursuits, as he an outdoors enthusiast, who has worked as a fjord, northern lights, and museum guide, as well as a photographer, in Northern Norway.