Programme Principle Investigator and Associate Research Officer, WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, WMU
Dr. Aleke Stöfen-O’Brien is Associate Research Officer at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. Her research interests include law of the sea, marine environmental protection and sustainable ocean governance. Prior to joining the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, Aleke worked at the Federal Environment Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Montréal, Canada, the European Commission, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as well as the WHO/Europe representation to the EU working on aspects such as marine environmental protection, marine litter, aquaculture, sub-seabed CO2 capture and storage, capacity-building and broader aspects of international and European law. Aleke was awarded with several scholarships and awards and received funding for her studies from the University of Maastricht, the German National Merit Foundation, Carlo-Schmid- Fellowship as well as the German Research Foundation. Her research has received several awards and distinctions, including the runner-up for the European Society for International Law Monography Prize 2015. Aleke has been involved in different intergovernmental processes, including serving as delegate in the German delegation to the Ministerial Conference on Plastic and Marine Litter from 1 to 2 September 2021, UN Global Compact for the Oceans and she co-convened Chapter 12 on Marine Litter of the Second World Ocean Assessment.