Elena Knyazeva is a PhD Candidate at the Law Faculty, University College Cork, Ireland. She obtained her Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University, Russia. Elena also completed her Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies Degree at Bodø University College, Norway. In addition, she was a researcher in the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law of the Arctic Centre (University of Lapland, Finland). 

The working title of her PhD thesis is “The Protection of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples within the Russian Federation under International Human Rights Law”. Elena also has a particular interest in Arctic Governance. She is in her 5th year of doctoral studies and is working under the supervision of Dr Seán Ó Conaill.