I am a social scientist, hold Ph.D. degree in History from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, M.A. degree in Indigenous Studies from the same university and Russian M.A. degree in Pedagogy from Murmansk Arctic State University (MAGU).

My interests include minority studies with focus on Indigeneity, Ethnohistory, Intergenerational transmission of indigenous cultures and languages, Language endangerment and Assimilation, as well as Socio-cultural aspects of involuntary resettlements of indigenous peoples from their traditional territories.

I am a Kildin Sámi scholar and carry out research in my own indigenous community – the Sámi of the Kola Peninsula, North-West Russia. In 2010-2006, I was employed by the worldwide international research programme “DOBES- Documentation of Endangered Languages” and “The Kola Sámi Documentation Project (KDSP)”, initiated by The Humboldt University of Berlin. In 2006-2009, I was awarded by 3 scholarships for research training at the University of London, the Radboud University in Netherlands and Ministry of Research in Paris, France.

During my research career, I had approximately 15 publications. These publications include peer-reviewed book chapters (Routledge and Berghahn books publishers), contribution to chapters (Oslo: Cappelen Damm akademisk) along with conference papers and M.A., Ph.D. monographs. In 2015, I served in editorial board of the multiauthored monograph on material culture of the Kola Sámi people, published by academic publisher “Drozdov-na-Murmane” in Murmansk, Russia.

In the past years, I gave approximately 20 invited talks and guest lectures at international conferences, workshops and research schools. I participated in approximately 10 research dissemination activities in media, in particular radio podcasts (NRK, KulturSápmi), local journals and newspapers Ávvir and Nordlys, web-articles and documentary films on national channels (NRK, NRK Sápmi, BBC Russia). In addition, I arranged various international seminars and conferences both at UiT and other relevant fora. The publications and dissemination of research findings are produced in several languages: English, Norwegian, Russian, North and Kildin Sámi.

Currently I work on publication of research monograph based on my PhD thesis by Routledge publishers and teach various B.A. and M.A. courses at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino, Norway.