Dr Philomène Verlaan FIMarEST
Special Advisor, Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea
Dr. Philomène Verlaan JD PhD FGS FIMarEST FSUT is an oceanographer specialising in the biogeochemistry and related ecology of deep-sea ferro-manganese nodules and crusts (PhD, Imperial College, London). She has participated in 26 oceanographic research expeditions (most recently September 2024), as well as in nine research submersible dives (to 2000m water depth), so far. She is also an attorney (JD; Florida Bar) specialising in international law of the sea, with a particular focus on the marine environment and marine scientific research. She is the author of 65 refereed (many invited) international publications in her two professional specialties.
These complementary qualifications enabled her to build a career assisting international public and private entities in negotiating the complex interface between marine science and law of the sea to achieve environmentally and commercially responsible uses of marine resources through the development and implementation of legally binding international instruments that are governed by sound science and the rule of law.
She currently serves as a Special Advisor to the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (www.acops.org.uk), and as a Visiting Scientist with the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawai'i (www.hawaii.edu).
