Jade Jones is currently working on her PhD at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics under the supervision of Dr Richard Caddell and Professor Elen Stokes. Previous research projects include a socio-legal critique of the EU seal fur regime and a legal evaluation of environmental protection provisions applicable to the area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Jade’s doctoral thesis is focused on the development of a legally binding and cross-jurisdictional network of Arctic marine protected areas (MPAs) – key research themes include the role of the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), and the relationship between environmental conservation objectives and social equity considerations of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in the design and management of Arctic MPAs.

Dr. Richard Caddell is a Reader in Marine and Environmental Law at Cardiff University, Head of the School of Law (2022-23) and a Principal Investigator within the Ocean Nexus Programme, researching the topic ‘Brexit, Devolution and the Sea’. His project examines the legal powers over the marine environment across the UK in the context of the devolution settlements and the repatriation of legislative competences through the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Caddell’s primary research interests engage the law of the sea, international environmental law and human rights, and he has published widely on biodiversity conservation, marine environmental regulation, fisheries governance and Polar law. He is the author of Migratory Species and International Law: Challenges of Transboundary Conservation (forthcoming, 2024) and co-editor of Research Handbook on Climate Change and Biodiversity Law (forthcoming, 2023), Wetlands and Intrenational Environmental Law: The Evolution and Impact of the Ramsar Convention (forthcoming, 2023), Strengthening International Fisheries Law in an Era of Changing Oceans (2019) and Shipping, Law and the Environment in the Twenty-First Century (2013). Caddell regularly acts as a legal advisor on environmental and marine issues and is an academic member of Francis Taylor Building, Inner Temple, the UK’s foremost Planning and Environment Law set of barristers.

Dr. Wilf Swartz is the Deputy Director of Ocean Nexus and Associate Professor, Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University. His research focuses on the role of public policies in shaping the socioeconomic outcomes of coastal communities. His initial focus was on the role of seafood trade policies and on the fisheries subsidies’ impacts on sustainability. The latter research resulted in Wilf working for the World Trade Organization during its failed negotiations on the global rules on fisheries subsidies as a part of the Doha Round in 2011. Over the past several years, Wilf’s interests have included private governance measures and their roles in shaping the seafood supply chains, including the role of sustainability certifications and Corporate Social Responsibility. Currently, his work centered around economic security and social safety nets in fishing communities from Atlantic Canada to the coasts of Japan.