Dr Sarah Lothian

Dr. Sarah Lothian is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Barrister at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS). Sarah decided to embark upon a career in Academia after spending 12+ years in the legal profession. In 2021, Sarah graduated with her PhD from the University of Sydney, where she also completed her Bachelor of Arts/Law (Honours) degree. Sarah has also completed a Masters degree in Maritime Law (With Distinction) at the University of Nottingham and a Masters degree in Family Law at the College of Law, Sydney. Sarah’s book, Marine Conservation and International Law: Legal Instruments for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction published by Routledge in 2022, provides a comprehensive assessment of the BBNJ negotiations and situates those negotiations against a broader historical context by examining how the Grotian concept of freedom of the seas continues to have significant influence on the conceptualization of contemporary ocean problems and solutions to them. Sarah’s book analyses each of the four elements of the BBNJ package deal and proposed potential areas of compromise on the more contentious negotiating issues. Her most recent publications include ‘The BBNJ Agreement: Through the Prism of Deep-Sea Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems’ published in Ocean Development and International Law and a book chapter entitled ‘International Cooperation: The Linchpin to the Successful Implementation of the BBNJ Agreement’ to be published in the Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Policy and Law. Sarah’s research expertise involves multi-faceted aspects of international law, ocean governance and marine environmental law and her teaching portfolio encompasses core areas of the law of the sea as well as specialized electives that align with her areas of research such as marine resources law, maritime regulation and enforcement and biodiversity law.