Category Archives for "Moderators"

Shuo Ma

Vice-President (International) and Professor
World Maritime University

Dr. Ma is a professor of Maritime Economics and Policy at World Maritime University. He is also Vice-President (International) of the University and responsible for the University’s Outreach programs which include Asia-based MSc. Programs, Post-Graduate Diploma courses by distance learning, professional development short courses and the newly developed activities related to E-learning Solutions. 

He has taught shipping management and port management subjects at the University, including maritime economics, the subject that he has been teaching as a foundation study subject of WMU’s MSc. Program in Maritime Affairs. He has acted as visiting professor, external examiner, and research fellow in a number of Asian and European Universities. He has been involved in a number of research projects for private as well as public organizations. His latest book on “Economics of Maritime Business” was published by Routledge Taylor & Francis in 2020.

He holds a PhD degree in economics from the University of Paris.

Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs

Vice-President (Academic Affairs) and Professor
World Maritime University

Professor Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs is Vice-President (Academic Affairs) of the World Maritime University (WMU), a university established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

He oversees and directs the development of the academic agenda and related activities to strengthen the academic profile of the University, and is responsible for the academic developments needed to keep WMU as the global centre of excellence in maritime and ocean education, research and capacity building. In this, he is supported by a wide range of experience gathered over two decades, during which he has taken on increasingly responsible academic and managerial roles at WMU.

Professor Schröder-Hinrichs is an internationally recognized maritime safety expert with special emphasis on the implementation and enforcement of the legal instruments of the IMO, the parent body of WMU. Professor Schröder-Hinrichs has been involved for more than 20 years in numerous capacity-building missions during which he advised IMO member State administrations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Northern America as well as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea areas on issues related to their international obligations under various instruments of the IMO.

In recent years Professor Schröder-Hinrichs developed a strong interest in the implications of increased levels of automation and new technologies in maritime transport. He was the principal investigator for “Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work”, which was commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and launched in 2019.

Andrew Birchenough

Technical Officer for Office for the London Convention/Protocol and Ocean Affairs, Marine Environment Division,
International Maritime Organization (IMO)

Andrew is the Technical Officer for the Office for the London Convention/Protocol and Ocean Affairs at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). He has a background in applied environmental research, focusing on marine pollution and ocean and coastal zone management, and holds a doctorate from Newcastle University. He joined the IMO in 2017, his primary task being to support the implementation of the London Convention and Protocol, the international treaties that regulate the dumping of wastes and other matters at sea. He is also involved in the Office’s Ocean Affairs portfolio, including the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) and in other IMO Marine Environment Division work including on Particular Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs), matters related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and leading on anthropogenic underwater noise. Prior to joining IMO, he worked for Cefas and was responsible for providing scientific policy and regulatory advice to UK Government and regulators on the potential risks and impacts to the marine environment, and represented the UK at international and regional fora. 

Fredrik Haag

Head of the Office for the London Convention/Protocol and Ocean Affairs,
Marine Environment Division, International Maritime Organization

Fredrik Haag has a background in applied environmental research, focusing on marine and coastal zone management, and holds several postgraduate degrees; an MSc in Earth Sciences and a Licentiate of Philosophy (Phil. Lic.) in Environmental Impact Assessment from Uppsala University, Sweden, as well as a Master in Maritime Affairs from the World Maritime University. Fredrik joined IMO in 2006, and represents IMO in several UN wide processes, and has been deeply involved in matters related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), as well as the Joint Group of Experts on Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP). As head of the Office, his primary task is to support the implementation of the London Convention and Protocol on dumping of wastes and other matters at sea, but he is also involved in IMO’s work on PSSAs, marine litter, noise and ship-strikes. He has also contributed to work on GHG emissions from ships and Ballast Water Management.

H.E. Geneviéve Jean-Van Rossum

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the International Maritime Organization

A career diplomat, Geneviève Jean-van Rossum has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the International Maritime Organization in 2019. 

Before that, she held bilateral positions in the Embassies of France in Haiti (1984-1986), Jordan (1996-1999) and Burundi (2013-2016), in Paris (Southern Africa desk, US desk), as well as multilateral positions abroad (Permanent Representation of France to the UN in Vienna 2004-2008) and in Paris (Permanent Delegation of France to the UNESCO 1990-1992). She has also held senior positions in relation with finance and human ressources at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in particular as Deputy Director of Programmes and Network at the Directorate General for Globalisation (2010 to 2013).   

In the most recent period, she was Special Representative in charge of Bioethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (2016 to 2019).  

She holds a bachelor degree in Foreign Languages from the University of Clermont-Ferrand and a master’s degree in International relations from the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques.

She was made “chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite » et de « la Légion d’honneur».

Ms Jean-van Rossum is married and has four children.

Dorota Lost-Sieminska

Deputy Director and Head of Legal Affairs Office, Legal Affairs and External Relations Division
International Maritime Organization (IMO)

Dr Dorota Lost-Sieminska is a Deputy Director and a Head of the Legal Affairs Office in the Legal Affairs and External Relations Division of the International Maritime Organization where she leads her team in the provision of legal advice in various complex subjects of international law, treaty law, maritime law, law of the sea and all other areas related to the activities of the Organization. She regularly represents IMO at various international meetings and conferences, including at the Meetings of the States Parties to UNCLOS and at the IGC on BBNJ. She also regularly lectures at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta, World Maritime University in Malmo and Queen Mary University of London.

Before joining IMO in 2011 she was a Director of the Maritime Transport and Inland Navigation Department in the Ministry of Transport in Warsaw, Poland and, among other duties, lead the Polish delegation to various UN and EU meetings.

Dorota obtained Master of Laws and PhD in international maritime law from the University of Gdansk, Poland and master of maritime law and the law of the sea from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta. She is also an advocate admitted to the Bar in Gdansk and a member of the Polish Academy of Science and the Polish Maritime Law Association.

H.E. Marie Jacobsson

Ambassador
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Ambassador Marie Jacobsson is the Principal Legal Adviser on International Law at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She was a Member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) 2007-2016 and Special Rapporteur for the topic ‘Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts’. She is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, a designated arbitrator under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, designated arbitrator under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and designated conciliator of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE. She is designated Special Representative for Inclusive Peace Processes by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Member of the Swedish Women Mediation Network.

Marie Jacobsson’s work focuses on international peace and security matters. She has extensive experience of high-level multilateral and bilateral negotiations on such matters as law of the sea, polar law, international environmental law, boundary delimitation, regional security affairs, international humanitarian law and arms control.

She is Associate Professor of International Law at Lund University and holds a Doctor of Law from that University.