He is currently involved in two main research projects related to governance of marine resources, one at the regional (Baltic Sea) level and one at the global level. The FORMAS funded BEAM and Regime shift projects are part of a Swedish strategic research initiative to improve the scientific understanding of the Baltic Sea. Henrik is working in a group of researchers, including social, natural and multi-disciplinary scientists with a particular focus on understanding the human dimension of the Baltic Sea.

He is also contributing to research on marine governance in the global marine project Nereus - predicting the future oceans, funded by the Japanese Nippon foundation.

Henrik has a PhD in marine ecology from Stockholm University and his thesis described the effects of fisheries and fish stock dynamics on marine birds, and interest he gained from Triangle Island field station in the North East Pacific. Seabirds can function as indicators of change and studies of seabird population parameters can communicate the multiple and interacting impacts human activities and natural variability have on marine ecosystems — see www.balticseabird.com for more information on seabird research in the Baltic Sea.

He is also engaged in a global network of seabird researchers with an ambition to understand linkages between forage fish dynamics and seabirds.

Fisheries management and compliance are aspects of particular interest within the field of marine governance. During 2009 and 2010, Henrik did a post-doc at Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada, supervised by Professor Rashid Sumaila. Dr Tony Press at the University of Tasmaina also acted as supervisor. This post-doc gave him the opportunity to engage in social science theory and methods, in a study of non-compliance in the Southern Ocean and the emergence of international cooperation.

Henrik is also subject editor for Ecology and Society and board member in the Marine Science Centre at Stockholm University.