Josephine Nymand is a biologist and holds a PhD in wildlife population biology and an MSc in petrel breeding biology from the University of Copenhagen. She is head of the Department of Environment and Mineral Resources at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. Josephine is also presently chair of the Greenland Research Council, to which she was appointed in 2017.
Josephine is native to Greenland and has been engaged in research topics related to Greenland since she was an undergraduate student at the University of Copenhagen. Applied science has always been an important issue for her work.
Since 2007, Josephine has worked as a scientist at GINR on monitoring effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, effects of caribou grazing on vegetation, and on giving management advice to the Greenland Government about the sustainable use of caribou and muskoxen. Since 2010, her work has also included monitoring the environmental effects of exploration and exploitation of extractive minerals. Before working at GINR, Josephine spent several years working at the Danish National Environmental Research Institute (now Danish Centre for Environment and Energy).
Josephine has hands on experience with incorporating local knowledge and traditional use of resources into e.g., oil spill sensitivity atlases. Presently, Josephine is lead scientist in the group advising the Government of Greenland on environmental issues related to the extractive industry.