Category Archives for "Contributors"

Tafsir M. Johansson

Assistant Professor, World Maritime University, WMU-Sasakaw Global Ocean Institute

‍Dr. Tafsir Matin Johansson is an Assistant Professor at the World Maritime University-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (GOI) in Malmö, Sweden. Tafsir is a techno-policy analyst with a Ph.D. in Maritime Affairs from the World Maritime University, and an LLM in Maritime Law from the University of Lund, Sweden. His duties at the GOI include ocean governance and policy research, teaching and developing innovative policy models to better assess drivers and indicators relevant to ocean research agenda.

Tafsir has published extensively on maritime and ocean issues including: techno-regulatory dynamic governance, Arctic governance, vessels of concern, corporate social responsibility, marine pollution, climate change, conflict management and trust ecosystem, and Brexit and fisheries. Tafsir has worked on or led a number of multidisciplinary projects, including: regulatory development projects funded by Transport Canada (Government of Canada) since 2014, as well as those funded under the Canadian Government’s Oceans Protection Plan covering numerous topics critical to the maritime and ocean domain. Currently Tafsir serves as a CO-PI in a European Union Horizon2020 Programme funded project titled “Overcoming Regulatory Barriers for Service Robotics in an Ocean Industry Context” (BUGWRIGHT2; GA 871260).

George Theocharidis

Professor of Maritime Law & Policy, World Maritime University

George Theocharidis is a Professor of Maritime Law & Policy at World Maritime University. He is a member of the Piraeus Law Bar & a qualified advocate before Areios Pagos (Supreme Court) with extensive litigation practice, as weel as a full member of the Hellenic Maritime Law Association since 2000. Prof. Theoccharidis is a upporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) since 2004 and is a consultant of the IMO E-Roaster.

His research interests concentrate on Carriage of Goods by Sea, Marine Insurance, Conflict of Laws, Methodology of Law, Ship Arrest and Maritime Policy. He is the author of the books “Tort Liability of the Sea Carrier under Hague-Visby Rules” (2000), “The Co-ownership on Vessel as legal form for the exercise of maritime commercial activity” (2008) and co-author of “ Greek Maritime Law” (2015). He has also published several articles (“All About Freedom of Contract? Bunker Supply Arrangements Post-Res Cogitans in Global Context”, “Mechanisms of Protection From Non-Contractual Modes of Recovery in Sea Carriage – A Comparison Between Common Law and Civil Law Systems”, “Relationship between forum shopping and flag in satisfaction of security rights on a ship”, “Jurisdiction for Provisional Relief under the Brussels Convention in Maritime Context” et al.) His published research work in international referred periodicals (J.Mar.L&C., R.H.D.I.) has received numerous citations from courts and legal theory (Heidelberg Report).

Co-author of the Training Package on “Maritime Transport Policy”, instructed by IMO TCD. Member of the Working Group of the Legal Committee of IMO pertaining to “Measures to Prevent Unlawful Practices Associated with Fraudulent Registration and Fraudulent Registries of Ships”. Joint Rapporteur of the International Working Group of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) on “Liability for the Wrongful Arrest of Ships”.

Holder of LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a Ph.D. from Aristotle University (Greece)

Christina Voigt

Professor of Law at the University of Oslo, Norway

Dr. Christina Voigt is an internationally renowned expert in international environmental law and teaches, speaks
and publishes widely on legal issues of climate change, environmental multilateralism and sustainability. From 2009-2018, she worked as principal legal adviser for the Government of Norway in the UN climate negotiations and negotiated the Paris Agreement and its Rulebook. Professor Voigt is Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) and Co-chair of the Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee. She
also is a mother of two young boys, Victor and Oscar.

Atsuko Kanehara

Professor of International Law at Sophia University

Professor Atsuko Kanehara is a Professor of International Law at the Sophia University in Japan. Experience include:

• Former President of the Japanese Society of International Law.
• Member of the Governing Board of IMO International Maritime Law Institute.
• Councilor for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
• Advocate for the Government of Japan in “Southern Bluefin Tuna” Cases.
• Counsel for the Government of Japan in “Whaling in the Antarctic” Case. 
• Policy Adviser for the Japan Coast Guard.
• Member of the Committee on Submarine Cables and Pipelines under the International Law Association

Professor Kanehara delivered a course of lectures at The Hague Academy of International Law in 2017, entitled “Reassessment of the Acts of the State in the Law of State Responsibility―A Proposal of an Integrative Theoretical Flamework of the Law of State Responsibility to Effectively Cope with the Internationally Harmful Acts of Non-State Actors,” which was published in Recueils des cours, Vol. 399 (2019). Her recent publications in English are: “Refining Japan’s Integrative Position on the Territorial Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands,” International Law Studies, Vol. 97 (2021); ”Covid-19 and the Law of the Sea: Japan’s Port State Jurisdiction in Relation to the Diamond Princess,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 64 (2021); ”Interplay between the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Other International Law for Building a Comprehensive International Maritime Order,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law Vol. 63 (2020): ”The Use of Force in Maritime Security and the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement under the Current Wide Understanding of Maritime Security,” Japan Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2019).

Alla Pozdnakova

Professor, the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo Law Faculty

Alla Pozdnakova holds a doctoral law degree from the University of Oslo (2007), LL.M in International and European Law (2001) from the Riga Graduate School of Law and a law degree from the University of Latvia Law Faculty (1999). Pozdnakova is co-editor for law journal Oslo Law Review published by the Scandinavian University Press, a board member of the Norwegian branch of International Law Association, member of the Northern Areas Committee and Chair of the Research Group International Law and Governance at the University of Oslo. Pozdnakova teaches EU/EEA law, administrative law, law of the sea and Arctic law at the University of Oslo. She has published on a broad range of topics of public international law, law of the sea, EU competition law, environmental law, Arctic and comparative law. Her research interests also include outer space law and she is a member of the Space Law committee tasked with the preparation of a draft proposal for the new Norwegian Outer Space Act. She is a co-editor for the forthcoming book titled ‘Environmental Rule of Law for Oceans: Designing Legal Solutions’ at Cambridge University Press.

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.

Clive Schofield

Head of Research, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, World Maritime University Continue reading

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.

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.