Dr Aref Fakhry joined WMU in 2014 as an Associate Professor. He mainly lectures in WMU's MSc Maritime Law and Policy specialisation. His areas of expertise are commercial maritime law, maritime security, marine environmental law, and ocean governance and policy. Aref carries 15 years’ experience as a lecturer at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) and the International Ocean Institute. Aref concurrently lectures at the Faculties of Law of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Lebanon, and the University of Malta. He has acted as a consultant for IMO, REMPEC, UNEP, UNCTAD and the European Commission. Aref earned his PhD from the University of Southampton where he studied the implications of piracy in the Horn of Africa on maritime contracts. He is an advocate registered at the Montreal Bar in Canada. He is also a member of the Canadian Maritime Law Association. He is a citizen of both Lebanon and Canada. He speaks fluently Arabic, English and French, and has a good level of Spanish