Dr Okafor-Yarwood appointed Vice Chair of African Ocean Decade Taskforce

When Dr Ifesinachi (Ife) Okafor-Yarwood talks about the sea, she doesn’t just see tides, shipping lanes, or fishing quotas. She sees people, power, history, and possibilities. She sees how oceans connect lives and livelihoods, and how decisions taken in conference halls ripple out to coastal villages thousands of miles away.

This summer, Ife, who is a lecturer in Sustainable Futures in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, was appointed member and Vice Chair of the African and  Adjacent Island States Ocean Decade Taskforce, and she is taking that vision to a global stage. Convened by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Taskforce is charged with helping to shape the Ocean Decade Africa Roadmap – a blueprint for how science, policy, and communities can work together during the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). 

“It’s an honour, but also a responsibility,” she reflected. “This role is about ensuring African voices, historical and local knowledge, and local realities are not only acknowledged but actively shape how we reimagine, govern and protect the future of our oceans.” 

Ife has built a reputation as one of the most incisive voices in debates on maritime governance, the blue economy, environmental justice, and maritime security. A Pew Marine Fellow, she blends law, history, political science, and Indigenous epistemologies into a uniquely multidisciplinary approach. 

Her projects range widely – from investigating the gendered impacts of fisheries closures in Ghana and incorporating historical and local knowledge into contemporary fisheries governance to examining how sovereignty and governance play out across the Amazon rainforest and the Gulf of Guinea in the context of climate change governance.  

“Whether it’s small-scale fishing communities or global shipping networks, the same questions arise,” she explained. “Who gets to decide? Who benefits? Who is left out? And how do they respond to their vulnerabilities?” 

Beyond her research, Ife is co-editing a landmark six-volume series, The Law of the Sea – Contemporary Norms and Practice in Africa. It’s a project that signals a growing shift: centring African perspectives in a field long dominated by Western narratives. 

She also serves as an advisor to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Global Maritime Crime Programme, while her outreach work, including podcasting and public speaking, aims to make complex issues of ocean governance accessible to a wider audience. 

Her new appointment to the Task Force ties these threads together. The group’s mandate includes shaping policy priorities, mobilising partnerships, and fostering inclusive engagement across scales and sectors, including encouraging the co-design of actions that integrate the voices of women, youth, and holders of Indigenous and local knowledge. 

For Ife, it also connects directly back to St Andrews. “This role aligns beautifully with the University’s vision for sustainability and global partnerships,” she said. “I’m excited to integrate what I learn into my teaching and to explore how we, as a community, can contribute to fairer, more inclusive approaches to ocean governance.” 

In a town defined by its own coastal heritage, her work offers students, and the wider university, a reminder of how looking outwards across the sea can mean looking forward.