Monthly Archives: March 2022

Elnaz Barjandi

Master of Ceremony, Project Engagement and Implementation officer, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU

Elnaz Barjandi is Project Engagement and Implementation Officer at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute. She supports the Institute’s operational delivery and implementation of research programmes/projects as per the WMU Ocean Research Agenda. Elnaz coordinates the Institute’s outreach, conferences and events, and respective donor reporting. Prior to joining WMU, Elnaz worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Denmark, as Operational, Administrative & Finance support at the Office of Information Technology and Management (OIMT). She supported the general operations, and coordinated the ICT and Green Energy service delivery to UNDP Country offices world wide. Elnaz has a BSc. and MSc. in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School (CBS), and attained knowledge in economics, international development as well as operations and management in organisations, leading people and processes with focus on sustainability. She is an alumni of the Rhodes Academy of Ocean Law and Policy 2019, as well as recipient of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Foundation’s Value-based Leadership Diploma 2014 and Fulbright’s European Student Leaders Scholarship 2008. Elnaz academic and professional experiences have heightened her knowledge for sustainable development, international diplomacy and strategy, ocean governance, as well as capacity building, organisation and leadership for human empowerment and equality.

Aspasia Pastra

Postdoctoral Fellow, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

Dr. Aspasia Pastra has been appointed as a Post-Doc Fellow and Maritime Policy Analyst at the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. To date, she has been involved in a number of State-of-the-Art Regulatory Projects in maritime policy, ocean technology, environmental protection, and port governance, including those that have been funded by the government of Canada. Dr. Pastra has published extensively in the field of maritime policy and governance, maritime robotics & techno-regulatory advancements and global environmental change. 

Dr Pastra holds a B.Sc. degree in Public Administration from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Greece and an MBA from Cardiff University in the UK. She was granted a scholarship in memory of the ship-owner George P. Livanos for the World Maritime University in Sweden and received an MSc in Maritime Administration. She was awarded her PhD in the area of corporate governance from Brunel University in London. She has extensive experience in shipping as she worked for many years in large shipping companies. She has also participated in the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), as a member of the Greek Delegation.

Roxanne Graham

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU

Roxanne is a Research Assistant and PhD Candidate in Maritime Affairs at World Maritime University, Sweden. She is also an Instructor at St. George’s University’s Biology, Ecology and Conservation Department. Roxanne completed her Master of Marine Management Degree at Dalhousie University, Canada in 2016. Prior to her graduate studies, Roxanne was a Project Assistant at Roberts Caribbean, Ltd., Environmental and Development Consulting. Roxanne has experience in conducting environmental consultancies and contributing to several environmental related national reports for Grenada. She currently serves as Editor to the Grenada National Ecosystem Assessment.  Roxanne’s research interest include marine ecology and conservation, ocean related policies, and coastal zone issues in small island developing states. Roxanne is  also the Vice-President of Gaea Conservation Network, Grenada and the Managing Director of Face of Grenada-Beauty with a Purpose.

Kristal Ambrose

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU

Kristal Ambrose also known as ‘Kristal Ocean’ is an environmental scientist studying marine debris and plastic pollution in The Bahamas. After sailing across the Pacific Ocean in 2012 to study the Western Garbage Patch, Kristal was inspired to return home to The Bahamas to spark a plastic pollution revolution. Her career in the environmental field spans over a decade as she has been working diligently on plastic pollution research and education in her country.

She is the Founder and Director of Bahamas Plastic Movement (BPM), a non-profit organization geared towards raising awareness and developing solutions to plastic pollution. She has brought awareness of plastic pollution globally and was instrumental in The Bahamas’ 2020 single use plastic ban. Kristal has been featured in the Sierra Club Magazine and Coastal Living Magazine and was named an Ocean Hero by musician Jack Johnson and she is also the recipient of the 2014 Environmental Youth Leader Award from The Government of The Bahamas. In 2020, she was named the Goldman Environment Prize Winner for Islands and Island Nations for her work with The Bahamas’ single use plastic ban.

She is currently based in Malmö, Sweden at the World Maritime University as a PhD Candidate studying marine debris monitoring in the Wider Caribbean Region. In 2022, she published her first children’s book, Kai and Gaia Discover the Gyre, about an ocean-loving young Bahamian girl named Kai (Ocean) who is inspired to bring an end to ocean plastic pollution after her best friend, a sea turtle named Gaia (Earth), becomes stuck at sea in a trash gyre.

Tricia Lovell

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU

Tricia Lovell has over two decades of experience in fisheries management, environmental conservation and broader ocean governance. She holds a Masters of Marine Management from Dalhousie University and is a United Nations Nippon Foundation Fellow. Tricia has served as Antigua and Barbuad’s National Focal to the Ramsar Convention as well as the Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Focal Point to the Convention on Biological Diversity. She has also served as the Deputy Chair to Antigua and Barbuda’s National Ocean Governance Committee.

Kahlil Hassanali

PhD Pending November 2022 and Research Assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU

Kahlil Hassanali has been a PhD candidate at the World Maritime University – Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute since September 2019. He successfully completed his oral examination in September 2022 and is awaiting graduation later this month. Kahlil has over nine years’ experience as a research officer in marine policy and governance at the Institute of Marine Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom) and an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Reading (United Kingdom). Additionally, he was a 2013-2014 recipient of the United Nations-Nippon Foundation of Japan Fellowship where he received advanced training in ocean affairs and Law of the Sea. He was also a 2017-2018 Hubert Humphrey Fellowship recipient in the field of Natural Resources, Environmental Policy and Climate Change. Kahlil currently serves as lead negotiator for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Environmental Impact Assessment in the ongoing negotiations of the BBNJ Agreement.  

Sarah Mahadeo

Research Fellow, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

Sarah Mahadeo a Research Fellow in the Closing the Circle Programme which looks at exploring challenges and advancing potential solutions to marine debris, Sargassum and marine spatial planning (MSP) in the Eastern Caribbean. Sarah has more than 7 years’ experience working both in terrestrial and marine planning. Prior to joining WMU, she worked with the MSP global initiative of the IOC-UNESCO for capacity development activities on MSP and the Blue Economy in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as on a series of policy briefs related to MSP on a range of topics including Climate Change, Ocean Governance and Capacity Development. Her work in MSP also includes an internship at Nordregio in Stockholm Sweden in 2018, where she was involved in the Pan Baltic Scope project. Sarah was previously employed as a Town Planner in the Ministry of Planning and Development in Trinidad and Tobago from 2011 until 2020 (with a hiatus for study from 2016-2018). Her work in land use planning involved assessment of applications for building and the development of land and contributing to policy reviews and other planning guidance. She was also a member of the working committee which produced the national standards for accessible buildings and facilities. Sarah’s educational background includes the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Maritime Spatial Planning, jointly conferred by the University of Seville, Spain; University of Azores, Portugal and University IUAV of Venice, Italy. She also holds a BSc in Urban and Regional Planning from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland and a BSc in Biology from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Her research interests include stakeholder engagement in planning, land-sea interactions, marine and terrestrial planning integration and developing MSP in small island states.

Luciana F. Coelho

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the World Maritime University, Member of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative, MSc in Environment, Politics & Society UCL, Masters of Law, University of Brasilia. Before joining WMU, Luciana worked in non-governmental organisations providing legal support to improve the scientific in-take in legal and policy instruments. Her research looks into the implementation of UNCLOS’s provisions on marine scientific research by Small Island Developing States.

Kristie Alleyne

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant
WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

Kristie Alleyne is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus with a
background in Marine Biology and Environmental Management. During her Bachelors
degree Kristie became very interested in behavioural ecology which led her to work with the
Bellairs Research Institute, examining the behavioural traits of cleaner gobies on both
sponge and coral microhabitats in Barbados. With an increased love for ecology and
conservation, Kristie pursued her post-graduate studies in marine management with specific
interest in social-ecological interactions. Subsequent to her Masters in Resource and
Environmental Management where she specialised in Coastal and Marine Resource
Management, she was appointed to the post of Research Assistant at UWI-CERMES where
she worked primarily on fisheries and sargassum related projects. After working on a
variety of sargassum projects for 2 years, Kristie now pursues a PhD degree at the World
Maritime University where her main research focuses on spatiotemporal analysis of
sargassum influx events in Barbados.