Category Archives for "Speaker"

David Santillo

Senior Scientist
Greenpeace International

Dr David Santillo is a marine biologist and analytical chemist who works as a scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, based at the University of Exeter in the UK. In addition to his research on environmental pollution, David has represented Greenpeace International at meetings of the Scientific Groups and Governing Bodies of the London Convention and London Protocol since the mid-1990s, contributing to the development of guidance and regulations (including those relating to marine geoengineering activities) and bringing other emerging issues of concern to the attention of those meetings.  He has also played an active role in meetings under the OSPAR Convention over the same period, including work within committees addressing the offshore oil and gas industry, hazardous substances and the protection of biodiversity from human activities.  David has co-authored papers and technical reports on a wide range of environmental issues, including a number of recent collaborative studies on plastic pollution in marine and freshwater systems, and in a personal capacity was a contributory author to GESAMP Report No. 108 on sea-based sources of marine litter, published in 2021.  He recently contributed to a perspectives paper in the journal of the Institute of Environmental Sciences reflecting on the role that NGOs have played in the development of the environmental agenda in the 50 years since the Stockholm Conference. 

Enrique Vargas Guerra

Head of the IMO Audit Division at Directemar Chile
Chair for Scientific Groups Meetings of the Scientific Groups on London Convention and Protocol 2022-2023

Commander Enrique Vargas is a graduated naval officer from the Chilean Naval Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree as a Maritime Administration Engineer and multiple studies related to environmental protection and climate change, including a Master’s Degree in Maritime Affairs with a specialization in Maritime Safety and Environmental Protection, from the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden (2006)

Between 2012 -2021 served as Head of the Marine Environment Protection and Marine Pollution Service of the Chilean Maritime Authority (DIRECTEMAR) and since 2017 as Head of the Climate Change Office of the Chilean Navy.

In these positions he was responsible for implementing the environmental policy and international regulations in the roles of the Maritime Authority, leading working groups for the development of technical guidelines in matters related with environmental impact assessment and compliance of activities that take place in the marine environment.

During the last 10 years, he has represented Chile at multilateral forums on environmental protection, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the APEC Forum. He has also managed technical cooperation programs in the Latin American Region and the Community of Caribbean countries (CARICOM), as well as projects of the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation forum (APEC).

Since 2012 he has been linked to the issues associated with the London Convention and Protocol, participating as head of delegation in the meetings of the Scientific Groups and as well as Contracting Parties.

In 2015 he was elected as the vice-chair of the Scientific Groups for the “London Convention and Protocol (LC / LP)”, assuming as Chair of the meetings in 2020.

Currently he is the head of the IMO Audit Division at Directemar, responsible for arrangements to the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) in Chile.

Nilüfer Oral

Director
Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore
Member of UN’s International Law Commision

Nilüfer Oral is Director of the Centre of International Law (CIL) at the National University of
Singapore, and a member of the UN International Law Commission, where she is also Co-
chair of the Study Group on Sea-level rise in relation to international law. She was a climate
change negotiator for the Turkish Ministry (2009 – 2016).  She also appeared before the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.  Nilufer Oral is a Distinguished Fellow of the
Law of the Sea Institute at Berkeley Law (University of California Law Berkeley); Senior
Fellow of the National University of Singapore Law School; and Honorary Research Fellow
at University of Dundee. She is a member of the Legal Experts Group of the Commission for
Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law. She is currently a member if
the Steering Committee of the World Commission of Environmental Law, and a member of
the Board of Governors of the International Council on the Environment. She was a member
of the IUCN Council for 2012-2016.

Dr. Oral is on the board of editors of several academic journals and has published widely in
international journals and books.

Chris Vivian

Co-Chair WG41
Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP)

Dr Chris Vivian is currently a co-chair of GESAMP Working Group 41 on ‘Ocean Interventions for Climate Change Mitigation’ (formerly the Working Group on Marine Geoengineering).

He retired from Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (an agency of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in October 2016 where he had 30 years’ experience in an advisory role to UK Government on national and international issues relating to the environmental impacts of various human activities in the marine environment.

From 1989, he was a UK delegate in international meetings under the Oslo (now OSPAR) and London Conventions dealing with waste disposal at sea in the North-East Atlantic and the whole world respectively. He was the Chairman of the Scientific Groups of the London Convention and London Protocol from 2008 to 2011 and was the Chairman of the OSPAR Convention’s Biodiversity Committee that dealt with species/habitat protection issues as well as the impacts of human activities from 2006 to 2010.

At the London Convention/Protocol meetings Chris was heavily involved in the discussions on ocean fertilisation and marine geoengineering from 2007 and chaired the working group that finalised the amendments to the London Protocol on marine geoengineering in 2013.

He received a BSc in Geology and Oceanography in 1971 and a PhD in Marine Geochemistry in 1975, both from the at University College of Swansea in Wales.

Betsy Valente

Chief of Freshwater and Marine Regulatory Branch
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Betsy manages a diverse portfolio focused on protecting and restoring waters of the United States, including wetlands, and protecting ocean waters. More specifically, Betsy leads efforts associated with the Clean Water Act section 404 wetlands program and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, which implements U.S. policies and international obligations relating to ocean dumping.

Since 2009, Betsy has led and contributed to London Convention/London Protocol (LC/LP) activities for the United States, led national ocean dumping management efforts, and supported EPA’s marine pollution control programs generally. Betsy has served as the Chair of the LC and LP Contracting Parties Meetings since 2020, having previously served as a vice-chair from 2014 to 2019. Betsy has also supported water sector emergency response and resiliency efforts.

Prior to joining EPA, she worked as an environmental scientist, focusing on contaminated sediments in the Great Lakes, urban wet weather pollution, and water quality issues. Betsy has conducted research in the United States as well as in the Brazilian Amazon and Great Barrier Reef regions. Betsy received a bachelor’s degree from Denison University and a Master of Applied Science from James Cook University.

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).

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.

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.