Dr. Aleke Stöfen-O’Brien, LLM is an Associate Professor (Research/Ocean Sustainability, Governance & Management) at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden. Her research interests include law of the sea, marine environmental protection and sustainable ocean governance.

Prior to joining WMU, Dr. Stöfen-O’Brien served at the Federal Environment Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. Dr. Stöfen-O’Brien has extensive professional experience at the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Montréal, Canada, the University of Trier, the Marine Unit of Directorate-General Environment (DG ENV) of the European Commission, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as well as the WHO/Europe representation to the EU. Dr. Stöfen-O´Brien has also been participating in the intergovernmental process towards the development of an international plastic treaty under the auspices of the UN Environment Programme as part of the delegation of the International Maritime Organisation.  

Dr. Stöfen-O´Brien's research work has seen her participate in numerous international scientific collaborations, including that of co-convening Chapter 12 on marine debris and dumping of the United Nations Second World Ocean Assessment. She has also contributed to The Economist Plastics Management Index (in collaboration with the Nippon Foundation) as well as The Economist Invisible Blue report on marine chemical pollution. Dr. Stöfen-O´Brien currently  serves also as convenor of a working group on legal aspects of the ocean-atmosphere interface of The international Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS).

She is strongly engaged in teaching at WMU as well as other Universities on subject such as public international law, law of the sea and ocean governance, among others. She has been an invited lecturer to the Yeosu Academy of the Law of the Sea, UN DOALOS Fellowship Programme as well as the Philippine Law of the Sea Academy, among others.