Aleke Stöfen-O’Brien

Aleke Stöfen-O’Brien is an Associate Professor of Ocean Sustainability, Governance & Management at WMU's Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute. Her research examines legal and policy frameworks for marine environmental protection, focusing on plastic pollution governance and equity dimensions of ocean management.

She leads the WMU-Nippon Foundation 'Closing the Circle' project addressing marine debris in the Eastern Caribbean and contributes to global policy processes including the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations. Her work emphasizes science-policy interfaces and SIDS perspectives.

Publications consistently address marine plastic governance, analyzing legal instruments like UNCLOS and the London Convention. Recent work focuses on implementation challenges of emerging treaties and equitable governance frameworks for ocean sustainability.