MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2024 12PM EST / 6PM CET

This program was recorded as a live webinar on November 25, 2024. Watch it in its entirety here or on our YouTube channel.

The ABA ILS International Criminal Law Committee and ILS International Animal Law Committee present the first of a three-part webinar series on Blue Crimes impacting aquatic animals, humans and our environment.

Moderator: Jamie McLaughlin, Programming Vice Chair, ABA ILS International Animal Law Committee. Ms. McLaughlin is Vice President of the UIA International Association of Lawyers Animal Law Commission and Associate Staff Attorney of the Nonhuman Rights Project.

Speakers:

Valentina Crast is the Campaign Director for Sea Shepherd, Faroe Islands. She has been an animal rights advocate for 12 years, working in various roles, including leading pressure campaigns and conducting investigations. She also ran for the European Parliament in 2024, focusing entirely on animal advocacy. Valentina began her long-term commitment to Sea Shepherd’s efforts to end whaling in 2012, spending four months in Japan documenting the slaughter and captivity trade in Taiji. As Campaign Director for Sea Shepherd’s work in the Faroe Islands, Valentina oversees on-the-ground activism, secures documentation, and gathers evidence related to the Faroese drive hunts. Additionally, Valentina represents Sea Shepherd in The Stop the Grind Coalition, focusing on collaborative political pressure on the Government of the Faroe Islands within the European Parliament, and exploring legal strategies to end whaling in Europe.

Zoi Aliozi is an international academic, lawyer, and activist specializing in climate justice, and human rights education, through the disciplines of law and philosophy. Based in Europe, she is a cosmopolitan thinker who has spent the last two decades living, studying, and working across multiple countries globally. Her interdisciplinary PhD research on state-terrorism earned her the First Award for Young International Philosophers. Before transitioning to academia, she practiced criminal law, which continues to inform her research and teaching. Her unique ability to bridge legal practice with academic theory makes her an influential voice in both fields. Dr. Aliozi’s passion for criminal law extends into her research on climate justice, human rights, animal rights, and the rights of nature, approached through the lens of international criminal law (ICL). Her recent work focuses on integrating criminal law concepts, such as ecocide, into climate justice theory. With over two decades of teaching experience at top universities, Dr. Aliozi blends legal expertise, philosophical insights, and climate justice advocacy to shape international human rights education, global policy, and academic thought. Dr. Aliozi currently serves as an EU Climate Pact Ambassador, raising awareness of the climate crisis and advancing green education on climate justice by driving meaningful climate action. She has contributed to the creation of the ‘Maastricht Principles for the Rights of Future Generations‘ and serves as a senior research evaluator for climate justice within ‘Horizon Europe‘ at the European Commission. In 2024, Dr. Aliozi founded ZA Global Academic & Comms Consultancy, providing expert academic services in human rights and climate justice education, and policy advisory, and using cutting-edge digital tools to drive meaningful impact through eComms.

Lori Marino is a neuroscientist formerly on the faculty at Emory University in Atlanta. She is currently Adjunct Professor of Animal Studies at New York University, where she teaches graduate courses on Captive Wild Animal Welfare and the Psychology of Human Exceptionalism. She is the founder and President of the Whale Sanctuary Project and Executive Director of The Kimmela Center for Scholarship-based Animal Advocacy. Lori’s scientific work focuses on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales (as well as primates and farmed animals), and on the effects of captivity on wild animals. She has published over 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and magazine articles in these areas. Lori also works at the intersection of science and animal law and policy and is the Co-Director (with Professor Kathy Hessler) of the Animal Law and Science Project at George Washington University and Adjunct Professor at the Vermont Law and Graduate School.