CWOGSL Team
Daud Hassan S.M.
Executive Director
Daud Hassan S.M.
Professor Daud Daud Hassan is a leading scholar in international and comparative marine environmental law and ocean governance. His research addresses global and regional environmental issues that are of international significance. Professor Hassan’s research spans many countries and jurisdictions including Australia, Bangladesh, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, South Pacific, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. Many of his publications have been translated into and/or cited in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Finnish, Swedish and Bengali languages.
The international stature of Professor Hassan’s work has been recognized by Visiting Professorships at various universities across Asia and Europe including the University of Essex, UK; Bern University, Switzerland; Waseda University, Japan; Baptist University, Honk Kong; University of Lapland, Finland and Ankara University, Turkey. Professor Hassan is a member of the Specialist Group on Oceans, Coasts and Coral Reefs for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and a member of the International Law and Sea Level Rise Committee for the International Law Association (ILA), Global Branch. He holds editorial membership with a number of international law journals including the Yearbook of International Environmental Law. Professor Hassan is a former JSPS (Japan Society Fellowship for the Promotion of Science) Fellow.
Professor Hassan served as the Founding Director of the International Ocean Governance Centre (ICOG) at the University of Western Sydney (WSU) and Professor and Head of Law at the University of South Pacific. He also served as the Director of Higher Degree Research, Head of Interdisciplinary Law Programs at WSU School of Law and Director of Research and Postgraduate Programs at Victoria University, Australia
Professor Hassan holds a PhD in the Law of the Sea and is actively engaged in supervising PhD students in the areas of International and Comparative Environmental Law, Law of the Sea and Climate Change and International Human Rights Law. To date, Professor Hassan has ,overseen 18 successful PhD completions.
Sandeep Kindo
Senior Research Fellow and Advisor
Sandeep Kindo
Sandeep Kindo, Ph.D., is a professor and founding faculty member of O.P. Jindal Global University, teaches courses primarily at the law school, and has offered classes in the languages and literature school. His research expertise is in custom, property, and indigenous identity recognition in twentieth-century India. As a public scholar, Dr. Kindo offers expert input to various international organizations, including shadow reports to the United Nations. His recent articles include “Continuing Custom: Indigenous Inheritance in the Indian Supreme Court’s Kishwar v Bihar Dissent,” Australian Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 25, No. 1, Article 02: 23-37, 2024. Dr. Kindo earned advanced law degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in South Asian humanities. He has received various awards, such as the Ford Foundation International Fellowship, the Franklin Family Fellowship at Stanford University, and the Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Previously, Dr. Kindo served as the South Asian Librarian of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library System, where he worked with collections development management and research instruction. He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. In 2014, Dr. Kindo served on the Advisory Board of Routledge South Asia Archive at Taylor & Francis Group, Washington, DC. Dr. Kindo has held academic positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the National Law School of India University-Bangalore. From 2009-2011, he directed the Center for Human Rights Studies at Jindal Global University Law School.
In 2008, Dr. Kindo worked as the Research Analyst for the joint Stanford-World Bank Management Practices Program in India under Professor Nick Bloom’s supervision at the Department of Economics, Stanford University. In 2004 and 2005, he was appointed Alumni Officer at the Ford Foundation’s International Fellowship Fund at the Institute of International Education in New York City. There, he was charged with designing and implementing alum programming for the global scholarship program comprising social justice leaders in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Russia. In 2003 and 2004, Dr. Kindo worked with Harvard anthropologist Dr. David Maybury-Lewis at Cultural Survival Inc. in Cambridge, MA, where he liaised with the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Besides his academic and international education sector experience, Dr. Kindo has practiced immigration law in Santa Clara, CA, and public interest law in India.
Dr. Kindo has appeared as a panellist on Dialogue Television at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.
Saurabh Sood
Assistant Director
Saurabh Sood
Saurabh Sood is an Associate Professor at Jindal Global Law School. He earned a BA LL.B. (Hons) from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, an LL.M. from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, and a Ph.D. from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. His doctoral research focused on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, emphasizing the regulatory and transactional aspects of international corporate activities. His current research interests include analyzing corporate environmental liabilities, sustainability, and the environmental effects of business operations. He particularly examines how corporate law, governance, and regulation can address environmental risks and encourage responsible practices. At Jindal Global Law School, he teaches courses such as Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Governance, Business and Environmental Regulation, and Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility. Sood actively participates in academic research and scholarly discussions at the nexus of corporate law and environmental governance. His publications cover cross-border transactions, corporate governance, and environmental compliance, contributing to ongoing debates on sustainable and accountable business practices.
Tony George Puthucherril
Director
Tony George Puthucherril
Tony George Puthucherril is a Professor of Law at O.P. Jindal Global Law School in India and a Senior Research Fellow with the International Ocean Institute in Canada. As a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar, he earned a Ph.D. in Sea Level Rise, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and Coastal Law, along with an LL.M. in Maritime Law from Dalhousie University. He also holds a research-based M.Phil. in Water Law from the National University of Juridical Sciences in India and has qualified for the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s National Committee on Accreditation exams for international lawyers. His notable publications include “From Shipbreaking to Sustainable Ship Recycling: Evolution of a Legal Regime” (Martinus Nijhoff, 2010), referred to as “a groundbreaking work” on this topic, and “Towards Sustainable Coastal Development: Institutionalizing Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia” (Martinus Nijhoff, 2014), described as “a book that should be read by coastal policymakers and decision-makers from all countries.” He teaches and researches primarily in International Environmental Law, Climate Change Law, Sustainable Ocean Law and Policy, and Water Law.
Vaishnavi P Narayani
Research Fellow
Vaishnavi P Narayani
Vaishnavi Narayeni is a PhD scholar at the Centre for Postgraduate Legal Studies, Jindal Global Law School, and an Assistant Professor at the School of Legal Studies, Central University of Karnataka. Her PhD research examines how to strengthen the legal governance of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. She holds an M.L. in International Law and Organisations from the University of Madras, graduating first and receiving the President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Medal and the University Merit Fellowship. She completed her B.A., B.L. (Hons.) at the School of Excellence in Law, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, and has qualified for the UGC-NET with JRF. She was awarded the 2025 Doctoral Scholarship by The Hague Academy of International Law (July–August 2025).
Ms. Vaishnavi teaches Public International Law and Environmental Law, and has previously taught Labour Law, Statutory Interpretation, Human Rights, Constitutional Law, and the Law of Evidence. She has received the Chief Minister’s Commendation Card from the Karnataka government for her leadership, team spirit, and service in the National Cadet Corps. Her research focuses on the Law of the Sea, International Environmental Law, Climate Change, and Human Rights, with an emphasis on their intersections and sustainable development. She has presented her work at multiple national and international forums, including as a panellist at the Indian Society of International Law’s 60th Anniversary Conference.