Thomas Nilsen

Svalbard oil spill exercise ahead of increased shipping

How to clean up the shoreline after a major oil spill in freezing cold will be simulated.
September 15, 2016

Norilsk says blood-red river spillage caused by heavy rain, weather diary tells another story

«Abnormal rains became the reason for Daldykan River Case,» reads the headline in a press-release sent out by Norilsk-Nickel on Monday, nearly a week after the first social media photos of the blood-red river started to appear.
September 13, 2016

Russia mulls underwater nuclear reactors for Arctic oil

Design institute assures the small reactor meets IAEA’s safety standards.
September 12, 2016

Murmansk hopes Hurtigruten will extend voyage

Murmansk eyes many new visitors after the city became Russia’s visa-free window for passengers en route from Norway.
September 08, 2016

Murmansk teams up with Harbin

China’s famous winter tourism city signs sister-city agreement and sees good prospects of business cooperation with Russia’s Arctic capital.
September 08, 2016

What happened in the forest outside Arkhangelsk?

A powerful explosion toppled trees and flashed away the soil in a huge circle, but still no official information about what locals believe could be secret rocket crash.
September 07, 2016

Levada Centre pollster listed as foreign agent ahead of elections

Vladimir Putin’s ruling party United Russia got all time low in the latest poll before the Ministry of Justice took action.
September 06, 2016

Goliat remains shut down, Norway orders plan on how to avoid power outage

ENI has received a notification of order to identify and implement necessary measures following the loss of power on the Barents Sea platform last Friday.
August 31, 2016

Statoil announces major Barents Sea drilling campaign in 2017

After two years without drillings, Norway’s oil major again looks north.
August 30, 2016

Norilsk-Nickel's half-year profit $1.3 billion

Largest taxpayer on the Kola Peninsula makes big money, despite Russia’s economy just marked one and a half year of recession.
August 30, 2016

Pages

Thomas Nilsen is editor of the Independent Barents Observer with its news desk located in Kirkenes, northern Norway. He has a long experience in media cooperation across the borders in the high north of Europe, both as radio- and newspaper reporter all the way back to the days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Nilsen has been editor of Barents Observer since 2009.

He was Deputy Head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat from 2004-2009. Until 2003, he worked 12 years for the Bellona Foundation’s Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and general environmental challenges in northern areas and the Arctic. 

Thomas has been traveling extensively across northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia since the late 80’s working for different media and organizations. He is also a guide at sea and in remote locations in the Russian north for various groups and regularly lectures on security issues, environmental and socio-economic development.

Thomas Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Mobile: +47-90573143

thomas@thebarentsobserver.com
@nilsen.thomas